Sultanate ranks fourth in cybersecurity, says UN survey

Muscat, July 21 - Oman has been ranked among the top 10 countries for its commitment towards cybersecurity, according to a latest United Nations survey on e-governance and e-participation. The Sultanate has been ranked fourth after Singapore, USA and Malaysia in the list. It is followed by Estonia, Mauritius, Australia, Georgia, France and Canada. “These 10 countries have managed to establish coherent cybersecurity strategies while significantly improving their ICT mechanisms. Since these member states are leaders in their regions, they could foster the creation and development of different forms of collaboration with neighbouring countries to improve regional cybersecurity cooperation,” UN E-Government Survey 2018 has said.

The Sultanate has been listed among countries that have advanced more than 30 positions on E-Participation Index of 2018 to 43 from the 2016 ranking of 76. Oman has been ranked second in the Arab region on E-government Development Index. It has improved by 22 points (81 per cent in 2018) in online services, three per cent in telecom infrastructure index (54 in 2018) and three per cent in human capital index. Among the top 10 countries, Denmark ranks highest. Since 2016, Denmark has been implementing a digital strategy, setting the course for Danish public sector digitisation efforts as well as their interaction with businesses and industry. Denmark has also made digital government-citizen interactions mandatory without excluding those unable to use digital services. — ONA