Abu dhabi: The UAE has emerged as a leader among Arab states in the domain of information and communications technology (ICT), as indicated by the 2025 Network Readiness Index (NRI) released by Portulans Institute in collaboration with the World Governments Summit. The UAE holds the 26th position globally, attributed to significant investment in and adoption of future technologies.
According to Emirates News Agency, the NRI is recognized as a prominent global index evaluating the application and impact of ICT in economies worldwide. The current edition, titled 'AI Governance in a Global Context: Policy and Regulatory Approaches', assesses the network-based readiness of 127 economies based on their performance across four pillars: Technology, People, Governance, and Impact, with each pillar consisting of three sub-pillars and 53 variables.
The UAE demonstrates notable strengths in access to digital infrastructure and openness to future technologies, ranking 5th and 6th respectively. It excels in mobile network coverage and Internet access in schools, both ranked 1st, and in the adoption of emerging technologies, ranked 3rd. The UAE is also recognized for government promotion of emerging technologies and digitized public services. Furthermore, the country's digital infrastructure is supported by affordable handset prices and strong international internet bandwidth. However, there is room for improvement in the regulation of digital technologies, particularly concerning privacy protection by law content.
Rafael Escalona Reynoso, CEO of the Portulans Institute and co-editor of the NRI, remarked that the NRI 2025 underscores the importance of governance quality and institutional execution in determining digital readiness outcomes, particularly in the governance of advanced digital technologies like AI.
The report highlights three Arab economies-Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia-that outperform expectations in digital performance relative to their income levels. Regionally, Saudi Arabia ranks second, followed by Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. Overall, 12 Arab states are featured in this year's NRI.
Reflecting on the theme of the year, Bruno Lanvin, co-editor of NRI, noted the new phase of the AI race, marked by the consensus on AI's transformative power and divergent approaches to AI business models and governance. These divergences must be reconciled to navigate future technological, societal, and economic changes.
The NRI, initially launched in 2002 by the World Economic Forum, was redesigned in 2019 to integrate technology, people, and governance for effective impact on the economy, society, and the environment. The 2025 edition represents the seventh iteration of the redesigned NRI model, which addresses topics from AI and IoT to the role of digital transformation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
