“The Impact of e-Economy on MENA Region Development:

Recommendations of the International Conference
“The Impact of e-Economy on MENA Region Development:
Global Competitiveness, International Regulations and Strategic Partnerships”
The RAK Department of Economic Development hosted in collaboration with the
Ministry of Economy, The College of Information Technology –UAE University, the
RAK e–Government Authority and The American University of Ras Al Khaimah, the
International Conference “The Impact of e-Economy on MENA Region Development:
Global Competitiveness, International Regulations and Strategic Partnerships” during
the period 14-16 March 2015. The opening ceremony speeches where addressed by
HE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Kayed Al Qasimi, President of RAK Department of
Economic Development, HE Engineer Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of
Economy whose speech was addressed by HE Mohammed Saleh Sheluah, adviser
to the Minister of Economy on his behalf, and the conference keynote speaker Mr.
Osman Sultan Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications
Company, du. The event gathered 56 speakers representing 22 countries and
national, regional and international organizations including global experts,
researchers and leaders from official and private entities, centers, and academic
institutions. The conference schedule comprised six sessions for corporate papers
and twelve for individual papers, in addition to the opening panel discussion which was
devoted to the elite. The main conference recommendations presented at the closing
session, which discussed the three day session reports' results, were as follows:
1. Strengthen horizontal and vertical levels of e-/Smart Government services
integration.
2. Enable one-stop access to e-government services for businesses.
3. Adopt smart accountability and regulation mechanisms in order to :
a. Face the risks and regulate the ethical aspects of e-services/commerce,
and smart applications.
b. Preserve privacy and protect information and data.
c. Raise the awareness of and educate the community on how to deal with eservices/commerce, and smart applications.
4. Drive customer mindset psychological preparation for e-commerce, by the
deployment of this culture through the media and social networks.
5. Evaluate the opportunity of founding institutions supporting Islamic e-Commerce
in the MENA region to meet the growing demand for such services, as is the case
for Islamic banking.
6. Develop human competencies and culture in its comprehensive sense to keep up
with the challenges of knowledge economy and e-economy.
7. Develop educational curricula based on a wise combination of traditional and
contemporary educational methods and models, based on modern information
and communication technology tools and smart applications, and employ good
data and information to prepare students for professional career in e-economy.
8. Promote Arabic as a dealing language in various areas of e-economy.
9. Explore new unconventional horizons for smart service applications in areas such
as rehabilitation and treatment, public health awareness, safety and security in the
MENA region.
10. Review experiences and check best practices in the field of e-services such as
Dubai Smart Government, in the perspective of benefiting from these at the
federal and regional levels.
11. Prepare the MENA region to keep up with the post-industrial revolution phase or
the digital revolution 4.0: smart factories and smart tooling.
12. Employ smart government applications to attract and retain local and foreign
investments.
13. Strengthen coordination and integration among economic bodies and entities in eeconomy fields, and inclusion of R&D related programs in RAK Government plans.
14. Adopt modern technology and its applications such as cloud computing.
15. Develop close cooperation between RAK government and institutions active in
innovation and creativity in the field of e-economy locally, and between Southeast
Asia and the MENA region to share knowledge and best practices in that field
regionally.