United Arab Emirates Policy Report

The League of Arab States' Digital Development Framework
The League of Arab States developed a comprehensive digital development framework for the modernization of industries and various other aspects of the educational and public sectors of all member countries in 2018. The Arab Digital Economy Vision develops a common digital development strategy, built on five dimensions. These include a digital foundation (1), digital innovation (2), digital government (3), digital business (4), and digital citizen (5). The dimensions themselves are further categorized as enablers and influencers, with specific development areas, such as software solutions like algorithmic automation, hardware solutions for smart grids or smart cities, and general questions of governance, policy, and regulatory development.[1] China, within the framework, is analyzed through case studies on all five dimensions. Specific recommendations are made from these case studies on how the analysis of China’s national digital strategy can be used to advance Arab economies and governments. In addition to China, the framework includes case studies of the USA, African, European, and Asian digital strategies.

Digital Infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates has one of the best-developed fiber optics networks worldwide. The country consistently ranks among the top five performers of fiber optic penetration to households and industrial users in several indices that measure global fiber optics development.[2] The general state of digital infrastructure is high in quality and quantity. Several Chinese companies, like China Unicom and Huawei, have offices and dedicated personnel for digital infrastructure-related projects in the UAE.

Ambivalence in Digital Economy and Cybersecurity
Contrary to infrastructure, other areas, such as e-commerce or server infrastructure, trail behind compared to developed digital markets. Additionally, skilled workforces in IT sectors or ICT research are low in number compared to market size and the state of digital infrastructure. The ambivalence of UAE’s digital infrastructure and digital economy is also visible in its digital cybersecurity laws. The cybersecurity law, first instated in 2012 and amended in 2018,[3] has similar clauses and provisions as its Chinese counterpart. Article 29 penalizes, with a possible prison sentence, the spread of rumors, which harm the nation, its institutions, and the general societal peace of the country. Article 28 penalizes the publication of information that could be deemed harmful for state security and its affiliations. Articles 28 and 29 are further declared part of national security and related laws.

Chinese Investments and Research Collaborations
In summary, the UAE is a country with contradicting characteristics. With a very high state and quality of digital infrastructure and a low capacity of its digital economy, other countries show higher potential for economic investments. Chinese entities, despite the low economic potential of the UAE, are heavily invested in numerous research projects, submarine fiber optic cables, smart military drones and missile systems, as well as 5G development.[4] In 2018, the Khalifa University and Alibaba Cloud launched the Joint Innovation Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Clean Energy.[5]

Conclusion
In summary, dependencies on Chinese entities are uneven and concentrated within certain niche sectors. Inside these sectors, China provides technological expertise and hard- and software solutions but competes with other countries in the region and internationally. The semi-saturated market provides fewer opportunities for economic development, while simultaneously Chinese entities are highly invested in the country relative to its nominal size and its GDP ratios.