Dubai, 19th April 2012 (WAM) : Mohammed Elzubeir, CEO of Mediastow, the leading media intelligence agency in the MENA region, has hailed the UAE's recent step of rectifying Internet penetration figures as a sign of its maturity in the state of knowledge economy.

In his opening remarks as the Chairperson of the two-day Social Media World Middle East 2012, Elzubeir said that precision of information in the UAE has been growing remarkably in the last decade.

Elzubeir referred to the most recent case study of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) which rescinded the earlier claim that Internet penetration in the UAE had reached 50 percent in 2011, when in reality it was 27.7 percent. The error occurred because the earlier figures were tabulated on the basis of the population figures of 2005, while the population has risen dramatically since that period.

"The UAE has gone a long way in its transition to knowledge-based economy. Following global practices in transparency and learning from the experience of other developed countries have enabled the country to achieve this standing. In early stages, the UAE was content in being innovative but now it is complementing this innovation with transparency and precision," Elzubeir added.

Elzubeir who was addressing an elite gathering of global and regional online and social media companies, said: "The real reasons behind the increased transparency and information sharing in the UAE are the government's firm commitment to integrity and international positioning, supported by relevant agreements and determination to provide credible information." The Social Media World Middle East 2012 held at the sidelines of the Internet Middle East Show discussed the latest in social media and its reflection on internet users in the Arab world.

Elzubeir concluded: "In light the unlimited influence of the social media in the world in general and the Arab world in particular, and in the face of huge online content overload, transparency and credibility remain key factors in the advancement of the region." WAM/TF