Strategic frameworks
Develop comprehensive digital development strategies at the regional and national levels that keep pace with global developments and allow for monitoring of progress.
All countries use strategic planning and prepare national strategies in various fields to determine their needs, priorities, objectives and implementation plans. The ICT sector is one of the key sectors that need such strategies owing to rapid developments therein and to its significant influence on other sectors. New ICT technologies are being developed, and they have gone beyond simply increasing efficiency and improving performance to carrying out restructuring, as is the case in the digital economy field.
National digital strategies can adopt various approaches, as follows:
- They can be “comprehensive” in describing the desired development in all sectors and areas through the use of ICTs.
- They can also be “sectoral” or specific to a given sector, such as the development of the ICT sector or of mechanisms to leverage its applications in the areas of e-health or the digital economy.
- They can be “thematic”, pertaining to a given theme or a number of interrelated themes, such as the Internet of Things or artificial intelligence.
Targets
1.1.1
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Develop national agendas or strategies for comprehensive digital development in all Arab countries, taking the regional dimension into account.
This indicator refers to the number of Arab countries that have issued comprehensive national digital strategies or digital development agendas, meaning every comprehensive national strategy based on ICTs. The indicator should specify the date of issuance or adoption of the strategy and its current status, and describe progress and achievements towards its implementation.
ESCWA - National Digital Development Reviews 2021.
Baseline value: 12 countries.
Medium-term target value: 15 countries.
1.1.2
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Develop strategies for the ICT sector in Arab countries.
This indicator refers to the number of Arab countries that have an ICT sector strategy, meaning every strategy for the development of the ICT sector as a stand-alone economic sector that produces a range of ICT goods and services. The indicator should specify the date of issuance or adoption of the strategy and its current status, and describe progress and achievements towards its implementation.
ESCWA, National Digital Development Reviews 2021.
Baseline value: 13 countries.
Medium-term target value: 22 countries.
1.1.3
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Develop digital sectoral strategies in Arab countries.
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1.1.4
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Design a national thematic policy in one of the areas of digital technologies in all Arab countries.
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1.1.5
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Adopt an appropriate monitoring and tracking mechanism for digital development in its comprehensive sense at the national level.
This indicator refers to the number of Arab countries that periodically monitor and review the status of digital development at the national level. This means Arab countries that have successfully completed their national digital development review reports in cooperation with ESCWA within the framework of the Digital Development Project, which is periodically implemented.
ESCWA, Digital Development Project 2021.
Baseline value: 12 countries.
Short-term target value: 14 countries.
- Long-term target value: 22 countries.
Proposed actions to achieve Goal 1.1
- Continue to develop and update national agendas and strategies for digital development to keep pace with needs and developments.
- Continue to periodically monitor the status of digital development in the Arab region, and collect the necessary data for related indicators in general and the extent to which national agendas and strategies (if any) are implemented in particular.
- Include regional coordination and integration subjects as an essential part of national digital policies.
- Develop and update sectoral strategies, policies and plans for emerging ICTs on an ongoing basis, and urge Arab countries to share their national plans with each other.
Enhance effective and influential participation in international and regional cooperation tracks.
Shaping the digital development path and building an information society at the national level requires cooperation between the public and private sectors, and with civil society (non-governmental organizations). Cooperation at international and regional levels is key to successfully transitioning towards an information society, particularly in terms of financing and implementing digital development programmes and formulating related action plans.
Many Arab countries have launched national initiatives within the framework of implementing the WSIS Plan of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Most initiatives relate to ICT applications such as e-education, e-health and e-government. It is difficult to adequately assess these initiatives and their impact, especially since most countries do not measure the digital divide and have not kept pace with different aspects of the information society.
Targets
1.2.1
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Enhance participation in regional and global forums related to ICT and its applications.
1.2.2
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Coordinate Arab positions on issues raised in international forums on ICT and its applications.
Proposed actions to achieve 1.2
- Continue and support current work and initiatives to coordinate Arab efforts to enhance Arab participation in international and regional cooperation initiatives.
- Identify regional and global forums related to digital cooperation tracks and maximize the effectiveness of Arab countries in those forums by enhancing participation and coordinating Arab positions and efforts to serve the priorities of the region.
- Develop a consistent approach among Arab countries for dealing with vital issues such as privacy, personal data protection and the scope of national and regional sovereignty in the digital world, especially when dealing with companies that provide cross-border Internet services.
- Launch capacity-building programmes targeting policy and decision makers on international issues and international and regional cooperation mechanisms.
- Review regional and international initiatives on important issues that are in line with the current status of Arab countries.
- Activate local and regional dialogue between stakeholders with the aim of enhancing consensus on Arab positions on global issues.