Strong adoption and delivery, and higher implications for emerging digital government services have placed Qatar in the top position globally for superior digital services, according to a new study released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 

The study titled, Personal and Proactive Digital Government: Accelerating GCC Journey, indicates that digital government services have become an integral part of daily life in Qatar since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BCG study showed that the level of satisfaction with digital government services in Qatar is ranked first for global net experience, with a score of 86% for 2022. Additionally, the digital service offering in Qatar was also met with a positive response from the country’s residents in terms of frequency of access.

Higher than average use of digital government

In total,  58% of respondents in Qatar revealed that they use digital government at least once per week, compared with the global average of 49%.

COVID-related services have emerged as a benchmark for customer expectations, with their fast go-to-market times, frequent new feature updates, and advanced functionality. In fact, the most used digital government services in Qatar echo global patterns, with COVID-related services ranking #1 both regionally and globally, according to Rami Mourtada, Partner and Director for Digital Transformation at BCG.

Overall, GCC countries (including Qatar) offer more sophisticated digital government services, which equates to more complex transactions – including registering or using a job search, accessing COVID-19 services and processing visa, residency, or work permits – which all rank higher in terms of usage than the global averages, where simple transactions like accessing information are still more common.

This level of integration is particularly significant in light of people’s high expectations.

The vast majority of residents from the GCC expect their government to provide services comparable to the best private companies in the world. These include auto-filling forms with available customer data, tailoring or recommending additional offerings and even automating complex tasks like travel bookings or loan approvals.

When governments enter this traditionally private-sector territory, they must make a balanced trade-off between convenience on one hand and concerns about privacy on the other.

BCG Managing Director and Partner Dr Lars Littig said that artificial intelligence (AI) is versatile and can be applied in any sector to help decision-making – and the FIFA World Cup™ is a great example.

As enablers of increasing personalisation and proactivity, he said that AI like digital ID, will become more prevalent in the future of digital government services, and Qatar is leading the way.

Trust and transparency

The Digital Government Citizen Survey study, which includes citizens and residents – spanning 40 countries, 26 digital government services, and almost 30,000 individual responses – also highlighted other findings to understand the broader trends in digital government service delivery.

Overall, GCC residents are satisfied with digital government services, appreciating benefits such as understandable language, multiple platform accessibility and easy access to information. Real-time support and assistance, meanwhile, were identified as pain points, and security for personal information among the issues of concern.

Qatar holds a unique position globally in education, government and the private sector, which together are shaping a bold research-to-start-up pipeline that is paving the way towards ethical commercial sustainability in AI.

BCG Managing Director and Partner Harold Haddad added that while one approach will not fit all countries – each must find the level of personalisation and proactive delivery that meets the needs and expectations of their residents, without trespassing on boundaries and trust.

To this effect, BCG has identified these four factors which must form the foundation of any government’s digital agenda:

  • Trust and transparency – the government must be transparent about how data will be collected, stored, accessed and used, and how breaches will be reported.
  • Value exchange – customers are willing to consent for use of their data in exchange for goods and services they value.
  • No secondary use of data – there should be a single purpose for each consent. Customers see secondary use or combining data as the creation of new data.
  • Right to opt-out – customers value the right to withdraw consent or to opt out of services. This process should be simple and complete.

The COVID pandemic has driven strong adoption and delivery, with higher implications for emerging digital government services. Qatar has risen as a leader in the field, advancing personalised, proactive service delivery.

Overall, Qatar should continue to track people’s evolving needs, while innovating and investing in technology that yields efficiency gains, community benefits and most importantly, value for residents.

BCG’s Digital Government Citizen Survey is one of the most comprehensive digital government surveys in the world. The report draws from the larger global study to focus on the delivery and adoption of digital government services in the GCC region.

Learn more about the regional findings here.

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