In a press statement today, Etisalat UAE announced that it has collaborated with Accenture to introduce the first digital index in the UAE. The initiative will provide businesses and government entities in the UAE with an opportunity to have their digital maturity ranked, and to understand how they can improve this ranking to increase their competitive advantage and drive growth.

The UAE Digital Index will focus on four areas: organization and collaboration, IT and infrastructure, the customer experience, and channels and partners in order to understand how well UAE organizations are doing to leverage digital in areas such as recruitment, employee mobility, digital marketing, social media, e-commerce, and digital supply chain management. Each organization will be ranked against international benchmarks as well as their peers in the UAE.

The Digital index will be rolled out online over the coming days and will be free for all UAE-based companies. Businesses who want to know more about their digital maturity can access the survey online through Etisalat’s website or can apply for an on-site consultation by an Etisalat executive.

“The Digital Index is part of Etisalat’s initiative to be a business enabler for companies in the UAE,” says Abdulla Hashim, senior vice president – digital services at Etisalat UAE, in the statement. “Our aim is to drive awareness of how companies can better use digital solutions to meet the changing needs of their customers, employees and suppliers, and to underline the message that digital maturity is an ongoing journey rather than a single step. We want to encourage digital innovation and the Digital Index will help businesses learn how they can start improving their operations through doing more online”.

Through the Digital Index, Etisalat aims to:

• Assist organizations in gaining a better understanding of today’s digital world in which their business peers and consumers operate
• Clarify what needs to be done to help organizations already on their digital journey, as well as those that have yet to appreciate the potential value of setting out
• Build toward releasing potential revenue growth — realizing that digital technology can help businesses operate more effectively and achieve better results

“Companies that are farther along the digital maturity curve find it easier to develop new services in their established markets, as well as completely new products and solutions for new markets,” adds Omar Boulos, managing director – Middle East, Accenture in the statement.  “Furthermore, using digitization to improve internal processes can lead to cost reductions and margin increases. Digitization is increasingly becoming a prerequisite to defend competitive positions in the market and to drive growth. This Digital Index will help the UAE’s business sector realize what they need to do to achieve both”.