BlackBerry has announced that it is collaborating with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to support the mGovernment initiative outlined and defined by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. BlackBerry is committed in providing support for the initiative through various activities.
The highly innovative mGovernment initiative comes as part of a wider national effort to transform the UAE government from an eGovernment into a fully operational mGovernment and therefore into one of the world’s leading smart governments. The UAE has been ranked second in the world and the first in the Middle East and Africa region in the “Government Usage of ICT” index in the Global Information Technology Report for 2014, jumping 30 places, according to a recent report released by the World Economic Forum.
As part of BlackBerry’s commitment to the mGovernment initiative, the Company is providing the TRA with its full support and expertise in its efforts to establish a Mobile Center of Excellence, including an application lab within the TRA, and will act as one of the driving forces for the project. This will be the first application lab in the Arab region, located in Dubai, and dedicated to verifying the quality and security of mGovernment mobile applications. BlackBerry will assist in developing applications for the BlackBerry® 10 platform, and provide expert support and training to development teams in the government.
“As strong supporters of the UAE mGovernment’s vision, our legacy in mobile communications and technology can play a pivotal role in making the vision a reality. Through our partnership, we will be providing the TRA with expertise, industry knowledge and best practices built over two decades. We bring expertise from our deep heritage in security, application development, enterprise mobility and interface design based on our experience in 165 countries,” said Dave Pryce, Vice President, Government Relations at BlackBerry for EMEA.
As part of its involvement, BlackBerry is also committed to assisting the TRA in developing Application Labs within universities in the UAE to act as a training hub for students and government employees who want to develop applications.
“Working with students and universities to provide education and knowledge transfer for application development will establish this skill as part of the general curriculum in Business and Computer Science courses. We are fully engaged and committed to supporting the TRA, the mGovernment initiative and UAE citizens” added Pryce.
”The mGovernment Lab is an innovative and unique regional project that ultimately reinforces the UAE’s leadership the field of mGovernment. BlackBerry is a valued partner and its extensive knowledge of enterprise mobility, security and developing secure applications will help to move this project forward,” commented H.E Hamad Obeid Al Mansoori the UAE mGovernment’s Director General.
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