UAE Tech Podcast with Paul Bogan: COVID-19 & the Digital Transformation of Government
A key theme of the UAE Tech Podcast is the emerging synergy between government services and digital transformation. It’s not something that is often talked about in the regional entrepreneurship circuit, or in local tech blogs and media. That’s funny, because it’s a palpable trend here in the UAE — perhaps, everywhere.
This week we’re talking with Paul Bogan, Chief Digital Officer for Serco Middle East. Serco is a British company that provides public services support to governments around the world.
“… by coming to private industry, by allowing us to take their data and analyze it in new insightful ways, it’s really driving some of the decision making for government both now, and in the future” — Paul Bogan
Serco have a compelling vantage point on the mega-trends shaping how data is driving government services, how robots work in real life — and not just in the movies — or how COVID-19 is accelerating digital adaptation within large organizations. For reasons of client confidentiality it’s often difficult to go into technical or case study specifics. What is clear, is that things are changing fast, and changing globally.
The discussion takes a look at how private sector organizations are increasingly helping governments with key citizen services in everything from hospitals, to infrastructure. This might involve Internet of Things Devices (IOT) on wheelchairs, robotic cleaning and meal delivery, right up to monitoring systems on mega-malls and automated metro systems.
Future technologies such as blockchain and machine-learning are not only shifting our economies. They are reshaping and merging with government, with the private sector playing a critical role in spawning new relationships and testing hybrid digital systems.
There’s a sense that although these trends are scaling rapidly, they remain in their infancy. Future technologies such as blockchain and machine-learning are not only shifting our economies. They are reshaping and merging with government, with the private sector playing a critical role in spawning new relationships and testing hybrid digital systems.
So how is the UAE positioned to take advantage, and perhaps lead, on some of these trends?
Subscribe to the UAE Tech Podcast on Spotify and iTunes. This article was originally published on Al Bawaba Business.
