IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Close cooperation between government and non-government entities and telecommunication operators in the UAE is required to achieve the transformation from eGovernment into mGovernment, Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Group told Gulf News on the side lines of the Mobile Government Forum.

He described this transformation as a drastic leap in the governmental system.

Emphasizing the need to focus on measures to further enhance government services, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed called for creative efforts to provide services on par with global standards, adding that an innovative government thinks ahead and breaks the routine to become No 1.

DubaiNow — an app for all city services — aims to offer citizens and residents a one-stop-shop experience for all government interactions.

The acceleration of digital services in Dubai is evident as the outbreak of Covid-19 has compelled residents to switch more to online services. And Smart Dubai’s popular application, DubaiNow, is gaining popularity as registered users have soared to 515,000, said Wesam Lootah, CEO of the Smart Dubai Government Establishment.

Loads of smartphone apps or online facilities are here to make life easier for you. You can book a taxi, direct emergency workers, check Metro timings, pay utility bills, check medical fitness test requirements, start a business or pay traffic fines or parking fees from your phone or tablet. Dubai has recently launched an “m-government” initiative to make more public services available on smartphones. That’s in addition to the 2,000 e-government services on the web. We’ve listed some of the most important e-government or m-government apps that could make help make many of those drab, time-consuming procedures a breeze. Happy apping.

The smartapp will alert road users so they can find alternative routes…

Dubai Police have launched a new feature on their smartphone app, which will alert road users when there has been a serious accident or there are temporary road closures.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has added 22 new services all relating to the toll gates system, Salik, in a recent update to Dubai Drive app. The step is part of RTA’s efforts to improve its services and make them more accessible to customers by saving their time and effort. It also supports the Dubai Government digitisation and improving customers experience strategies.

“The new batch of services added to Dubai Drive app encompasses 9 main services and 13 subsidiary ones. The package includes a dashboard recapping the latest activities of the account such as the existing balance, top-up of Salik account, offence management, and the removal/addition of vehicles without visiting service centres or contacting Salik Call Centre,” said Eng. Maitha bin Adai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency, RTA.

Over 50 students took part in this event from Khalifa University, Ajman University of Science and Technology, the University of Sharjah, UAEU and the Higher Colleges of Technology; and have learned how to equip themselves to secure a role in the fast evolving world of mobile government.

Dubai eGovernment and the Emirates Identity Authority on Monday launched the “My E-identity” initiative which will enable the public to avail of the services of 20 government bodies through the mobile phone or the Internet by using their Emirates ID card from October.

This was announced at a press conference in Dubai on Monday. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai eGovernment, and Ali Al Khouri, Director General of the Emirates Identity Authority, and Wissam Lootah, Assistant Director General of Dubai eGovernment, were present.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has viewed a report on the results of the transition to m-government at a meeting with government officials on Saturday.

Sheikh Mohammed said that an accomplishment rate of 96.3 per cent was reported by the government’s most important 337 departments providing services on a daily basis to customers at the end of the two-year timeline set for shifting to m-government and m-services.

The Ministry of Interior's Smartphone platform was launched for all types of smart phone operating systems: Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows. It provides many direct services to link users electronically to a number of service providers in the country, such as vehicle inspection and insurance companies. The platform also provides an integrated comprehensive link to the ministry's website through the Unified Login mechanism (username and password) to obtain services from any channel of electronic communication. Users can register once using the Single Sign-On property directly on the website or through smart phones, and gain access to all the available ministry's services.

The mobile phone electronic services, initiated on Wednesday, are directed to the companies and firms that use 'Mirsal-2' in processing customs transactions, apart from other clients and staff.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Executive Director, Customers Management, at a customs announcement event said the move is aimed to make customs services accessible round-the-clock with a variety of free, advanced and easy to reach electronic services.

Commenting on the latest service enhancements, Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, Chief Executive Officer of DED’s Business Registration and Licensing BRL Sector said the Department focuses on keeping pace with the technological advances in Dubai and the UAE, chiefly to enhance the ease of doing business.

While doing this, DEWA has paid great attention to time, speed and accuracy, especially at the launch phase leading to the fact that customers can now perform many tasks without resort to logging on to DEWA's website.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that it has transformed all its services into smart services, in line with the emirate’s smart city initiative.

Dubai’s smart city initiative aims to ensure that all government services such as those provided by DEWA will be accessible, quick and efficient through the use of hi-tech smart devices.

Mohammed Omar Abdullah, undersecretary of the DED, told a gathering of state officials and journalists yesterday that the Government was keen to introduce tech applications in the business sector as part of Abu Dhabi’s 2030 economic plan that seeks to reduce the emirate’s reliance on hydrocarbons as a source of revenue. He said the smart project was still in the feasibility study stage.

This was announced by DM Director-General Eng. Hussain Nasser Lootah, who said the move was in execution of the initiative declared by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai

“Being one of the largest government organisations that renders almost 90 per cent of its services online, the municipality has an effective plan to integrate the entire services under one single app — like i-Dubai — to make it the smartest app available in the country,” said Marwan Ibrahim Nassir, the committee organiser, and head of the director-general’s Follow-Up Office at DM.

The new service was launched during a celebration that was held at Dubai Customs' main building on Wednesday 26 January 2011with the presence of Mr. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Executive Director of the Customers Management division, and Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of the Customs Development Division as well as a number of department's senior executives and representatives of major companies and firms that have partnership with Dubai Customs.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered amending the name of Dubai e-Government to Dubai Smart-Government starting from Thursday, June 30, 2013.

The new name is in consistence with the initiative that was launched by Shaikh Mohammad in May to turn the e-Government into a smart-Government.

Commenting on the dual awards for Dubai eGovernment, Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director-General, Dubai eGovernment said: "I congratulate the eServices team for receiving this double honour, which is in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai for enabling the public to complete their government transactions in one place through a one-mobile stop shop. Such awards clearly indicate our favourable pace of eTransformation in Dubai as traditional government services shift towards eServices, particularly on mobile phones."

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the introduction of a new smartphone app to facilitate the job of parking inspectors, and ease the processing of parking permits.

The step is part of RTA’s efforts to equip inspectors with top-notch devices, and ensure the speedy processing of parking permits as well.