Expected start date:

2023•01•01

Expected end date:

2023•08•31

Institute:

UNU-EGOV

Project Status:

Ongoing

Project Type:

Research

Project Manager :

Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen

BACKGROUND

The Government of Qatar (GoQ) and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) have set several ambitious targets for the digital transformation of the country, its public sector and service delivery to stimulate productivity, ease of doing business and end-user satisfaction. However, the digital transformation of the public sector has been since 2018 stagnated, with progress below the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and World average on the UNDESA Electronic Government Development Index (EGDI), in which the Qatari score is currently below both the GCC and Western Asia averages.

Qatar is, by population and geographical size, a small, highly urbanised, high-income country. The country heavily depended on liquid natural gas exports and is, as a result, in the process of diversifying its economy. Knowledge-based economics, society development, finance and establishing the tourism industry were the main areas in the strategy to move towards non-energy resources.

In this context, this project aims to help MCIT to rejuvenate and accelerate the digital transformation in Qatar by presenting recommendations for improving the digital transformation and its performance on the EGDI and delivering better digital services to their citizens, providing expertise through ongoing advisory services, and seminars and workshops for key MCIT experts and Qatari government entities in Guimarães and Doha.

 BENEFICIARIES

The primary beneficiaries of the project are the MCIT and other public entities from the State of Qatar, whose knowledge of good practices and ways to improve the digital transformation of the public sector and the quality of services offered to the citizens will be increased. The other beneficiaries are the users of online service offers in Qatar, who will ultimately benefit from an enhanced online user experience when accessing digital services after the public entities implement the recommendations provided in the context of this project.

OBJECTIVES

One of the main objectives of this project is to help MCIT to be more knowledgeable regarding the main global and regional trends regarding the digital transformation of the public sector, the main weaknesses and gaps of the current Qatari online services catalogue, and online user experience in public portals. The other main objective is to, in agreement with the previous objective, provide MCIT and other Qatari public entities involved in providing digital public services with a set of recommendations and ongoing advice that will help them enhance the provision of online services in the country. A final objective is, as a positive side effect of the activities developed in the context of this project, to help the state of Qatar improve its ranking and score in the UNDESA EGDI.

ACTIVITIES

Six specific activities revolving around three main activities are part of this project:

1. Recommendations

1.1 Analyse and benchmark Qatar’s performance on the EGDI and its sub-indexes, 2003-2022, and assessment of key Qatari governmental portals.

1.2. Recommendations for rejuvenating and accelerating the digital transformation in Qatar and its performance on the EGDI.

2. Ongoing Advisory Services

2.1. Advice for improving Qatar’s performance of the EGDI.

2.2. Advice for accelerating the digital transformation in Qatar.

3. Capacity Development

3.1. Organize a Capacity Development Seminar for key MCIT experts at UNU-EGOV’s facilities in Guimarães, Portugal.

3.2. Organize a Capacity Development Workshop on digital transformation and EGDI for key Qatari stakeholders in Doha.

OUTCOMES

The project outcomes include:

Analysis, benchmark and recommendations report.
Ongoing expertise advisory notes or other files.
Capacity development seminar report.
Capacity development workshop report.