To protect people from future pandemics: UAE, Israeli experts to use digital economy

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel have vowed to use the digital economy to protect their peoples and economies from possible future pandemics.

These views were expressed by Emirati and Israeli experts at the "UAE-Israel Future Digital Economy Summit". The summit was held in Dubai on the sidelines of the annual Information Technology Exhibition "GITEX 2020”. The summit was the first formal gathering between the two countries after the Abrahamic peace agreement between the UAE and Israel. Senior government officials and Information technology (IT) experts from both countries attended the conference. Health experts and information technology experts from both countries stated that the coronavirus pandemic had shaken the economies across the globe but said the "crisis" challenges always created "opportunities".

The UAE Minister for Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Omar bin Sultan Al Olama said that the current year had been full of challenges which provided an opportunity to further accelerate the digital economy to meet the challenges. Speaking at the summit, he said that fortunately the UAE already had the technology infrastructure for the digital economy. “In the UAE, our leadership believes that in every challenge there is an opportunity to thrive”, he mentioned the UAE visionary leadership.

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama said that the growth rate of the UAE's digital economy had accelerated since the pandemic. The CEO of Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry David Leffler stated that Israel earned more than $2billion in the health IT sector.

Addressing at the summit, David Leffler said that Israel had more than 25 year expertise in implementing health IT, electronic medical records and big data analysis. He stressed the need for cooperation between the two countries in health and related technologies.

The event has attracted the participation of many government entities from across the UAE which are showcasing their digital and smart transformation initiatives launched as part of the directives of the leadership to enhance the nation’s preparedness for the next fifty years. This is the 40th year of the Information Technology Exhibition “GITEX 2020” in which more than 40 countries have set up pavilions this year .

However, the Pakistan Pavilion is not a part of the exhibition. Pakistani diplomatic officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stated that Pakistani IT experts could not participate due to the coronavirus situation in the country.