The UAE will chair the Agile Nations – a network of countries set up to foster cooperation on innovative regulatory practices between governments.
Comprising seven countries, including the UAE, UK, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Singapore, and Japan, the Agile Nations is a regulatory cooperation network tasked with testing and developing new ways for easier for businesses to introduce and scale innovations across different markets by helping them navigate the ever-evolving regulatory landscape.
The news was announced today by Huda Al Hashimi, UAE’s Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Strategic Affairs, at the Agile 50 Forum of the World Government Summit (WGS2022) in Dubai.
"Our priority as Chair of the Agile Nations is to create a knowledge exchange platform that benefits both the Agile Nations members and the wider international community,"
"The platform aims at creating a global repository of resources and knowledge to serve governments. We also want to explore new policies and agile regulations to support the New Economy, primarily focusing on virtual assets and fintech."
Today, the Agile 50 Forum, a joint initiative by Apolitical and the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Agile Governance, called on nations across the globe to collaborate on shaping the New Economy while highlighting the importance of cross-governance collaboration to address tomorrow’s challenges.
Delivering her opening remarks at the Agile 50 Forum, Al Hashimi said collaboration among governments is the key to navigating disruption, as detailed in the UAE’s latest collaborative report with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
"If anything, the pandemic taught us that there are no borders when it comes to climate change, and there are no borders when it comes to poverty. The Agile 50 Forum recognises the contributions of leaders in agile governance for navigating disruption. Behind this, is a team of unsung heroes from governments and private sector whose work is indispensable in responding to rapid technological change and disruption,"
Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, Deputy Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), joined Al Hashimi for the opening remarks, saying,
"Since the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have unleashed innovations at a pace and scale not seen in generations. However, the crisis has exposed several shortcomings and reinforced previous vulnerabilities at the national level. At a global level, the pandemic also highlighted the need of increasing interconnectedness of countries."
In October, the OCED launched the first in a series of three reports on governance cross-border challenges, in collaboration with the Mohammad bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation, which shows the need for more government mechanisms. The third and final report aims to deliver impactful cross-border solutions.
Schlagenhauf said,
"As witnessed during the pandemic, innovation is a vital tool to address today’s most pressing global challenges,"
"However, government innovations are today confined to national or local borders. Why is collaboration across borders not happening more often?"
The Agile 50 Forum also highlighted the role of advanced technology and creating an enabling ecosystem of innovation hubs and entrepreneurism, as part of the ‘Transforming Governance for Disruption’ discussion.
Rachel Chikwamba, Group Executive of Chemicals, Agriculture, Food and Health Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), said,
"Transformation is about collaboration when we think about fundamentally changing how government works across different hierarchies."
In her comments during the discussion, Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs, also spoke about the need for transformation - with an emphasis on digital innovation.
The Forum also covered another panel discussion on ‘Balancing Transformation & Stability: How can Agility in Government Achieve this Balance’, that examined emerging trends in data protection, public-private partnerships and public sector empowerment.
In her comments, Sidrotun Naim, Deputy Chair of the IPMI International Business School, Advisor of the Indonesia Strategic Institute (INSTRAT) and Commissioner of Priadi.id, stressed the need for governments to listen to citizens when it comes to shaping tomorrow’s governments.
The ‘Agile 50: The World’s 50 Most Influential People Revolutionising Governance’ is an annual list that recognises politicians, civil servants and entrepreneurs who have introduced novel approaches to governance and successfully navigated rapid transformation.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
