| These are as applicable within a business
as they are for a nation, he noted.
"New global IT networks provide
possibility of work and exciting commercial
opportunities that can be perfected in
Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf.
"The role of the leader has to change.
To bring in e-government, the vision has
to be defined and articulated in terms
compelling enough to get others interested
and make the vision a reality," said
Gore, who had headed the 'Reinventing
Government' initiative the U.S. Government
had launched to get its public departments
to go for online services.
"I am sure Dubai will have the same
kind of success as you launch your own
e-government programme.
"But the U.S. should not try to
define the changes or impose its own designs
on others. The approach should be to work
with the less developed countries to bring
the kind of changes that are important
to them."
Rima Hunaidi, assistant secretary general
and director at the UN Development Programme's
regional bureau for Arab states, was another
speaker.
"True, the Arab region is better
off than some others in terms of fixed
phones and PCs, but with 20 computers
for every 1,000 Arab citizens compared
to 200 in the industrialised world, it
still has a long way to go.
"Connectivity is still costly. In
many cases, deregulation of conventional
telecommunications has moved slowly. Monopolistic,
or semi-monopolistic practices, still
dominate the sector.
"The Arab region with 5 per cent
of the world's people has only 0.5 per
cent of Internet users. This represents
just 10 per cent of the level of use in
Southeast Asian countries. That single
statistic underscores the wide disconnect
between Arab society as a whole and ICT
(information, communication and technology)."
Other speakers at the event included
Salem Al Shair, Dubai Government's e-government
service director, Sheikh khaled bin Zayed
bin Saqr Al Nahyan, chairman of Bin Zayed
Group, and Mishal Kanoo, deputy chairman
of Kanoo Group.
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