Jordan drops 19 places in UN’s E-Government Development Index

AMMAN — The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) on Saturday released a policy paper titled “E-Government Development Index: Where Jordan Stands and Future Steps”, which reviewed Jordan’s ranking on the recently published 2020 United Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI).

The paper revealed that Jordan’s e-government ranking on the EGDI has been falling since 2014, having dropped 19 places in 2020, in comparison with 2018, now ranking 117th out of 193 countries, attributing the reason to other countries’ rapid improvement in terms of digital governments, according to a JSF statement.

The paper revealed that Jordan has scored a ranking lower by 40-50 per cent of the best-performing countries.

However, the Kingdom’s performance in the sub-indicators showed that in spite of their ranking on the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII) dropping from 85th in 2018 to 100th in 2020, the Kingdom’s scores in this index have advanced constantly since 2003, thanks to the increase in the number of Internet users.

Jordan also dropped 39 places in the Human Capital Index — from the 76th rank in 2018 to the 115th in 2020. In parallel, the paper noted that the adult literacy rate in Jordan is higher than the global average, while Jordan’s enrolment rates in education is around the global average.  

The paper said that the main reason for the decline in the Human Capital Index is due to the average years of schooling, as Jordan is ranked fourth in the Arab region for the lowest average number of school years out of 15 Arab countries surveyed by UNESCO Education Report.

The average schooling years in Jordan is 10.4 years, some four years lower than the average number of years of education in “middle- high-income” countries.

It was also revealed that Jordan ranking also dropped on the Online Service Questionnaire (OSQ). Jordan’s ranking has declined since 2014, from 116th place in 2018 to 143rd in 2020, as well as Jordan’s performance sitting at a low level in comparison with Arab countries, ranking 12th out of 17 Arab countries.

To improve the Kingdom’s ranking, the JSF paper came with a number of recommendations, including upgrading the Kingdom’s infrastructure, developing the education system, alongside updating the legalisation related to the e-government. The recommendations emphasised adding legitimacy and acceptance to electronic documents and transactions, and highlighted the need of continuous assessment of apps to ensure that the highest levels of security precautions are met.

The UN E-Government Survey, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), is prepared over a two-year period following an established methodology. It looks at how digital government can facilitate integrated policies and services across 193 UN member states. The survey supports countries’ efforts to provide effective, accountable and inclusive digital services to all and to bridge the digital divide and leave no one behind, according to the UN website.