The Sultanate of Oman advanced by 6% in the Government Electronic and Mobile Services (GEMS) Maturity Index 2024, issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). It secured 72% rise GEMS index compared to 66% in 2023.

The index measures the maturity of government services provided through electronic portals and mobile applications in Arab countries.

In the Sultanate of Oman, GEMS index is applied to 27 departments and 94 services covering different sectors, including health, education, transport, traffic, police service, finance, justice, municipal and social affairs, commerce and industry, labour and tourism.

The report of the 2024 “Government Electronic and Mobile Services Maturity Index” affirms the achievement of significant progress in the Sultanate of Oman’s performance in basic indicators upon which GEMS index is based.

The report shows that, in 2023, the Sultanate of Oman’s performance in the “service availability and development” indicator rose to 80%, compared to 76.64% in 2023. Its performance in the “service usage and user satisfaction” indicator rose by 63%, compared to 51.95%.

Oman also achieved 78% rise in the “public access” indicator in 2024, compared to 73.78% in 2023. In the “level of development of services” indicator on the electronic portal, Oman’s performance rose by 94% in 2024, compared to 84.45% in 2023. In the “level of user satisfaction through the electronic portal” indicator, its performance rose to 89% in 2024, compared to 76.44% in 2023.

Oman also achieved 60% rise in the indicator of “application availability on mobile platforms” during 2024, compared to 49.97% in 2023. It further augmented its “mobile user satisfaction” indicator to 62% in 2024, compared to 47.76% in 2023.

It is worth noting that ESCWA launched the GEMS index to be used as a benchmark to assess progress in the digital maturity of government services. The GEMS index also helps determine necessary national policies and plans to support digital transition programmes in public institutions in the Arab region.

This year, 17 countries participated in GEMS 2024 index evaluation, which also saw the expansion of government services being evaluated and a rise in key performance indicators aimed to set out new dimensions for government digital services.