February 23, 2026
Methodology About Newsletter
WE THE UAE 2031
The Vanderbilt Terminal for the UAE's National Transformation
INDEPENDENT GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
UAE GDP: AED 2.03T ▲ 5.7% | Non-Oil GDP Share: 84.3% ▼ -5.2pp | FDI Inflows: $45.6B ▲ 48.7% | GDP Growth: 4.0% ▲ -0.3pp vs 2023 | Inflation: 1.7% ▼ +0.0pp vs 2023 | Female Participation: 55.1% ▲ +0.6pp vs 2023 | Population: 11.0M ▲ 4.8% | Emiratisation Rate: 12.5% ▲ 2.1pp | Global Competitiveness: #7 ▲ 3 places | Clean Energy Capacity: 7.2 GW ▲ 18.4% | ADX Index: 9,842 ▲ 4.7% | DFM Index: 4,621 ▲ 6.2% | UAE GDP: AED 2.03T ▲ 5.7% | Non-Oil GDP Share: 84.3% ▼ -5.2pp | FDI Inflows: $45.6B ▲ 48.7% | GDP Growth: 4.0% ▲ -0.3pp vs 2023 | Inflation: 1.7% ▼ +0.0pp vs 2023 | Female Participation: 55.1% ▲ +0.6pp vs 2023 | Population: 11.0M ▲ 4.8% | Emiratisation Rate: 12.5% ▲ 2.1pp | Global Competitiveness: #7 ▲ 3 places | Clean Energy Capacity: 7.2 GW ▲ 18.4% | ADX Index: 9,842 ▲ 4.7% | DFM Index: 4,621 ▲ 6.2% |

Definition

Smart Government is a governance model that leverages digital technologies — including mobile applications, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing — to deliver public services, enhance administrative efficiency, and improve citizen engagement. It extends beyond e-government (digitising existing processes) to fundamentally redesigning how government interacts with residents, businesses, and visitors through data-driven, proactive, and personalised service delivery.

UAE Context

The UAE launched its Smart Government initiative in 2013 under the direction of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, with a mandate to make all government services available through smartphones within two years. Dubai’s Smart Dubai initiative and Abu Dhabi’s TAMM platform are the two most prominent emirate-level implementations. At the federal level, the UAE Government Services Programme tracks service digitisation across ministries. The government has set targets to reduce in-person visits to zero for routine transactions and to achieve 100 percent digital service delivery across all federal entities.

Key Data

As of 2025, more than 98 percent of federal government services in the UAE are available digitally. The UAE ranks consistently among the top five countries globally in the United Nations E-Government Development Index. The DubaiNow super-app consolidates more than 160 government and private-sector services into a single mobile platform. Abu Dhabi’s TAMM platform integrates over 600 government services.

Vision 2031 Significance

Smart Government is a foundational pillar of the UAE’s competitiveness strategy. By reducing bureaucratic friction, lowering the cost of government operations, and delivering services proactively (anticipating needs before citizens request them), the initiative directly supports the UAE’s goal of becoming the world’s most efficient and business-friendly government. It also generates data infrastructure that enables evidence-based policymaking across all national programmes.

  • UAE Cabinet — The executive body directing smart government strategy.
  • Artificial Intelligence — Core technology underpinning smart government platforms.
  • Digital Economy — The broader economic framework that smart government enables.
  • TAMM — Abu Dhabi’s integrated government services platform.