His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the initiative on May 22, 2013, to provide services to people round-the-clock through a single log-in and wherever they are.
“We face challenges from some services and, with the Expo 2020, the project is progressing well despite one more year to go,” said Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, director-general of UAE m-Government at Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
TRA held a workshop in Dubai to assess the current situation of the m-Government initiative which was attended by around 70 officials.
He said the next step will be to start some more initiatives in order to generate a smart and integrated sector.
“We are working with banks on one side and with the UAE Banks Federation (UBF) on the other, apart from the telecom operators, du and etisalat,” he said.
UBF is a professional representative body representing 49 member banks operating in the UAE.
To achieve the m-Government vision, there has been a lot of cooperation between federal, public and private entities, said Hessa Eisa Bu Humaid, executive director of government services sector at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The apps are available on Android and Apple play stores. There are currently 103 apps that provide more than 700 services, both federal and local. There are around 1,800 government services available online now.
Al Mansouri said that m-Government will lead to better services for citizens at reduced costs, resulting in increased efficiency and accessibility. The Dubai government had disclosed earlier that 38.1 per cent of its services were now being accessed through the online channel.
The ePay portal in 2013 recorded transactions worth Dh5.6 billion, registering a growth of 27 per cent compared with 2012, while the mPay mobile application registered a 265 per cent increase in transactions in 2013 to Dh31.8 million compared to Dh8.7 million in 2012.
The app combines payments from Dubai Police, RTA, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and etisalat, as well as donations towards Dubai Cares and Al Jalila Foundation.
When asked how many transactions took place on mobile phones, he said he couldn’t provide the number off hand.
Right now the apps are only in Arabic and English and later they will be available in other languages.
“To achieve this vision, lot of cooperation has been happening between federal, public and local entities. His Highness [Shaikh Mohammad] will assess the m-Government initiative next year,” she said.
All the government entities are working “very closely and very hard”. m-Government is a continuation of e-Government, she said.
“There are many clusters like government-to-customer, government-to-government, and government-to-business. The main focus is on government-to-customer and government-to-business rather than government-to-government,” she said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Naushad K Cherrayil
Quelle/Source: Zawya, 04.06.2014
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