Al Gore Opens Dubai Technology Event

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

25 January 2002

Al Gore, defeated Democrat Presidential candidate in the bitterly contested 2000 US elections, was in Dubai last week to deliver the keynote address at the Dubtech Conference organised by Datamatix.Technology. He praised Dubai for its many achievements, particularly in the infotech sphere, while noting many challenges lie ahead.

"E-government is principally about people and not technology", said the ex-Vice President, who is noted for his interest in the Internet, "Technology will not reinvent government or its functioning - it has to be through new thinking and approach that will vastly magnify the good impact of the changes. Government should not cost as much as it does now. There are also all kinds of challenges in delivering services. Also, the process of change is happening faster than at any time else.

"The new model of management requires a dramatic shift - from a hierarchical approach to a flat organisation. Change in thinking should not only be to the minds of the managers, but those of the managed as well.

"Change does not come about within the executive offices, but at the very edge of the organisation, where you have people who understand the overall objectives but are not authorised or empowered to make decisions. Organisations have to learn from their experience."

Mr Gore congratulated Dubai on its progress: "Dubai has had many successes which are very impressive. You have done a tremendous job on infrastructure and in transforming the way the government operates. But you will, no doubt, have challenges, which is where communication and training comes in. All countries have embarked on the journey to introduce information communication technology (ICT) processes in their governments. No one is at the end point.

"Citizens need to be educated of the potential of new technology and culture. To fully benefit from ICT, governments will first have to undertake the cultural changes in their public services.

"The key issues for any organisation, be it a government or a private business, is to know whether the leaders have the vision and strategy for innovation; do the programmes include human capital and creative use of IT; have the outcomes been clearly drawn up; and do the customers (citizens) know of these policies and outcomes."

Recommended