UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence

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UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Issue 125 - March 2014                         The Official Magazine of Dubai Smart Government

         UAE Government Summit:
Global destination for government excellence
       A review of                         DSG automates         “Dubai Government
 Doing Business Report in                operations of Dubai      towards 2021” and
     the UAE – 2014                          Ambulance          mGovernance benefits
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
eVi sions

  Our country has one work team: mature students
        and employees with leadership skills
     His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
  Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler
  of Dubai, is known for his novel approach that no one
  can predict. His is a vision that precedes its time with
  major government initiatives and a deadline for completion,
  which must be achieved by government entities to ensure
  excellence and innovation.
     No sooner did the work teams from these government
  entities reach the finish line, than HH Sheikh Mohammed
  surprised them with another initiative, making everybody
  realize his philosophy that ‘in the race for excellence, there
  is no finish line.’ We are therefore compelled to move fast on
  the track of excellence, before another round or new initiative
  begins, as we must realize that HH Sheikh Mohammed
  is constantly thinking of the happiness of his people and
  coming up with newer goals to be achieved.

                                  ***
      We are gradually becoming used to these new initiatives
  from our leadership and their commitment to excellence and
  innovation. At the second Government Summit, we actually
  saw and felt the leadership’s trust in the younger generation
  that together is working towards transforming the federal and
  local government into a world-class capital of government
  excellence.
      It was in this context that HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin
  Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of                   face anticipated challenges, but at the same time we are
  Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, opened new           confident that we will surmount these challenges by relying
  prospects for the future government when he launched              on our nationals and their qualifications. This allied with
  the Dubai Government Initiative 2021, which adopts best           Dubai’s many successful experiences and the emirate’s
  international standards to improve government practices and       robust and modern technological structure will ensure the
  services to ensure the happiness, comfort and satisfaction        success of the Dubai Government Initiative 2021.
  of the people.                                                       However, the next stage needs the concerted efforts and
      This initiative has a roadmap drawn up to the year 2021 to    potentials of all Dubai government entities for its success.
  provide advanced services which will be customized toward         It also requires these entities to co-operate positively to
  individual customers. It will work on a single, seamless          reach the smart government of the future in Dubai within
  platform with each customer having a unique identification        the deadline set by the leadership. It is guided by a unified
  number to personalize transactions and run all accounts           strategy that grants safe and highly professional access to
  through a unified call centre for all government entities. So,    the 2021 vision, particularly as we have the support of our
  the future Dubai government will go beyond the concept of         leadership, which gives us a positive energy that constitutes
  efficiency and provide smart and instant services for the first   a strong motive for innovation. For it was HH Sheikh
  time in the world.                                                Mohammed who said: “Our country has one work team - the
                                  ***                               biggest and best team of mature students and employees
      In our vocabulary there is nothing impossible any longer      with leadership skills.”
  as the only option we have is to succeed in a rapidly
  changing world. Innovation, and nothing else, has become
  the world’s most important commodity. We are aware                                                        Director-General,
  that as is the case with all leading mega projects. We will                            Dubai Smart Government Department

                                                                                                      Issue 125 - March 2014   1
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Our Vision

                                                   The vision of Dubai Smart Government is to ease the lives
                                                 of people and businesses interacting with the government and
        w w w. d s g . g o v . a e               contribute to establishing Dubai as a leading economic hub.
                                                   Dubai Smart Government’s mission is to achieve a virtual
                                                 government through the provision of high-quality customer
                                                 focused eServices for individuals, businesses and government
                                                 departments and to promote eServices adoption through customer
                                                 management.
                                                   Dubai Smart Government promotes eServices through
         The Official Magazine of                www.dubai.ae - the unified official portal for Dubai Government
         Dubai Smart Government                  that provides all residents and businesses of the emirate with more
                                                 than 1500 electronic services.
                                                   e4all is the official magazine of Dubai Smart Government, and
                Editorial                        helps in creating awareness of eServices to all segments of society
                                                 and spreading an electronic culture for the well-being of all.

               Executive Editor
            Ahmad Bin Humaidan                                                 Content
        ahmad.binhumaidan@dsg.gov.ae
                                                                           Issue 125 - March 2014
                  Chief Editor

                                                                                         P. 4
               Amer Al Hamayda
          amer.alhamayda@dsg.gov.ae
                                                                                                           4
            Magazine Coordinator                                                            UAE Government
              Jamal Khalifa Almulla                                                         Summit: Global
            jamal.almulla@dsg.gov.ae                                                        destination for
                                                                                            government excellence
                 English Editor
                  Garth Mitchell
            garth.mitchell@dsg.gov.ae

                  Arabic Editor                       P. 7
               Yaqdhan Mustafa
                                                         “Dubai
          yaqdhan.mustafa@dsg.gov.ae
                                                         Government
                                                         towards 2021
              Graphic Designers
                  Fatima Ibrahim
                                                         Initiative” and
                 Ayesha Al Ansari                        mGovernance
                media@dsg.gov.ae                         benefits

                                                                                       P. 10
                 Contact e4all                                                             DSG automates
            Dubai Smart Government                                                         operations of Dubai
                Tel: 04-4056274                                                            Ambulance
               Fax: 04-3532988
                P.O.Box: 90300
           e-mail: quality@dsg.gov.ae
...   An electronic version can be
      viewed on www.dubai.ae
      The articles in this publication reflect
                                                      P. 12
      only the author’s opinions and not                 GDRFA smart
      necessarily those of the Smart
      Government or its staff.                           solutions for
      Republishing of material in this                   tourists
      publication is not permitted without
      attribution of this publication as the
      source.
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
eMonitor

DSG Advisory Board discusses                                     Abudhabi.ae revamped with 1106
Dubai Government Initiative 2021                                 services from 99 entities

    The Advisory Board of Dubai Smart Government
(DSG) concluded its third meeting yesterday (Monday, 17
February, 2014), at HH Dubai Ruler’s Court headed by H.E
Ahmed Bin Humaidan, head of board and Director General
of Dubai Smart Government, in the presence of the nine
board members.
    The meeting tackled the ‘Dubai Government: Towards
2021 Initiative’ based on the highest levels of excellence
and success that was launched by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan
Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince
of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, during
last week’s Government Summit. The 2021 Initiative is the             Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre
first of its kind in the world that aims to further strengthen    (ADSIC) has announced launching the new portal
government service to meet public needs. It complements           (www.abudhabi.ae) of Abu Dhabi government including
the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al                  1106 services, from 99 government and federal bodies,
Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE             including 60 interactive and most used services. The newly
and Ruler of Dubai, to establish a smart government.              revamped portal includes the customized ‘My Page’ which
    The discussions highlighted Dubai’s potentials and            is very popular, while overall, the website serves over half
strengths that can be utilized to implement the Initiative        a million users in a record time.
before 2021. The participants underscored that the                    The new design is modern and attractive with most
government must further strengthen its competencies and           used features easy for customers to find. Such services
take advantage of Dubai’s successful experiences and              include utility bills for yourself or a friend, track flights
robust technical infrastructures in order to address future       from Abu Dhabi and check status of commercial license
challenges in the course of implementing the Initiative.          requests.

 DsG organizes 232 training courses
     The Dubai Smart Government (DSG) Department
  has announced that its Jumeirah-based Training Centre
  organized 232 training courses for 2,628 employees from
  42 Dubai-based government entities throughout 2013.
     The facility trained Dubai’s government employees on
  the various systems, applications and shared services
  provided by DSG to manage their administrative
  requirements and resources and enhance their
  operational efficiencies. These courses, which were also
  attended by 40 other semi-government entities, included
  workshops on corporate intelligence and information
  security. The trainee satisfaction rate was at 95 percent in   providing the best tools for government employees to
  terms of responsiveness to the needs and expectations          hone their skills and potentials and overcome work
  of participants.                                               challenges with full optimism while staying updated with
     H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General, Dubai            the latest upgrades to the systems that support their
  Smart Government, said: “These training courses                activities.”
  and workshops contribute to the development of the                All training courses conducted by the department in
  professional and practical competencies of government          2013 covered 33 of DSG’s systems, including those for
  employees. We are committed to ensuring that they              Human Resources, Supply Chain, Payroll, Financials,
  complement Dubai’s march to excellence and the focus           Asset Life Management, Business Intelligence, Messaging
  on a ‘smart’ transformation to technology-enabled              and Collaboration, Government Correspondence,
  governance. We aim to empower government employees             Government Services Bus, eHost and eSupport. All
  in handling all the applications, systems and common           successful trainees received attendance certificates
  services provided by DSG. We shall achieve this by             attesting to their professional efficiencies.

                                                                                                   Issue 125 - March 2014   3
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Cover
 CoverStory
        story

  UAE Government Summit:
    Global destination for
   government excellence

  4   Issue 125 - March 2014
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Those who listened to his speeches or kept track of        prices need to come down to deploy such features and close
his conversation will realize that HH Sheikh Mohamed          the gap between customers.
Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime               Another feature of the Government Summit was the
Minister and Ruler of Dubai is uniquely aware of time. He     reformation of the government to make each sector more
speaks about time constantly and offers insights right        competitive and rate them according to certain customer
from the wheel of human civilization to the golden age of     criteria.
the Arab civilization. This could be especially felt at the       The best mGovernment app was a clear success, with
recent 2014 Government Summit.                                quality and quantity of the competition being seen.

Customer first                                                Strategies and initiatives seen at Summit
                                                                  The Summit was an excellent platform to launch new
                                                              initiatives and strategies for smart transformation in
                                                              government leading to the launch of the Dubai Initiative
                                                              2021. This was followed by Ajman Government releasing
                                                              its vision document for 2021, with both initiatives having the
                                                              goal of future happiness for its citizens.
                                                                  Such a strategy is far more important than creating a maze
                                                              of eServices and apps. Therefore it becomes paramount to
                                                              educate government staff to keep our strategic goals in mind,
                                                              so that together we can achieve the UAE Vision 2021.

                                                              Comprehensive knowledge portal
                                                                 The success of the Summit has had a positive impact
                                                              on all those who attended. Others can get relevant
                                                              information and knowledge from the Summit website:
                                                              www.thegovernmentsummit.ae. There are many best
                                                              practices available including speeches, lectures and
   The Government Summit reiterated the concept of
                                                              presentations in both English and Arabic. Special thanks
‘Customer first’ with government services a necessity to
speed up business and compete with the private sector.        are due to the administrators of the website for opening
Key performance indicators are being used to measure          this valuable data to the general public leading to further

                                                                              •
government services and customer satisfaction; to ensure      transparency and excellence in eGovernment and
that government eTransformation will reach the quality of     mGovernment.
famous hotels or airlines that puts the customer first.

Reforming the government sector
   The Government Summit expressed his HH Sheikh
Mohammed’s vision for the customized smart devices to
provide government services directly to the customer. A
smartphone is readily available and critical government
services can be made available for emergency and quick
services. Therefore such services can be customized to
ensure comfort and happiness. To enable such services, a
new generation of smart and wearable devices need to be
deployed which will ensure privacy and can use biometric
and other identification to customize for individuals. The

                                                                                                 Issue 125 - March 2014   5
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Smart awards

                    Best
          m-Government
           Service Award
                 Winners
Federal                                                                                               World

                                                                    smartFUJAIRAH
                                   Sharjah DPW
                                                                    Fujairah Municipality
                                   Department of Public
                                                                    An app that runs on               MyTransport
‫�أبنائي‬                            Works
                                                                    Smartphones and tablets,          Land Transport Authority -
Ministry of Education              This app aims to deliver
                                                                    its a smart services portal       Singapore
This app is a service and          information and services to
                                                                    for Al Fujairah Municipality.        A comprehensive app that
informational mobile portal        individuals and companies
                                                                    It provides access to the         includes information on all
that targets students and          securely, smoothly and
                                                                    municipality’s services at        modes of land transportation,
parents. This app provides         efficiently by creating an
                                                                    anytime from anywhere.            information on events and
an interactive envirnoment         additional communication
that allow parents to access       channel according to high                                          promotions nearby, and open
related services anytime and       quality standards, that saves                                      data sharing to encourage
anywhere using their smart                                          University Students               development of third-party
                                   time, effort and money for
phones.                            the app users.                                                     apps.

Local                                                                                                 Arab
                                                                    iQ
                                                                    Khalifa University
                                                                    iQ is a complete queuing
                                   MPDA
                                                                    system designed to make
                                   Ajman Municipality and
AbuDhabiTaxi                                                        waiting time in a queue a         MOCI
                                   Planning Department
TransAD                                                             thing of the past. The iQ         Ministry of Commerce and
                                   MPDA is provided by Ajman
Abu Dhabi Taxi is a user-                                           application enables the           Industry - Kuwait
                                   Municipality as an interactive
friendly taxi booking app                                           customer to book a ticket         This application creates a
                                   smart channel for the
that allows customers to                                            online     without  being         channel of communication
                                   individual and the business
book a taxi in Abu Dhabi                                            physically at the service         between the citizens and
                                   segment in Ajman
from different locations                                            centre.                           residents of Kuwait and
determined by GPS location                                                                            the Ministry of Commerce
on the user’s smartphone.                                                                             and Industry in Kuwait. It
                                                                                                      enables the user to report a

                                                                                                                           •
                                                                                                      commercial complaint and to
                                   RAKPay
                                                                                                      track the status of it .
                                   RAK eGovernment
                                   RakPay enables you to            MOH
                                   pay Etisalat bills, utility      Khalifa University
DubaiPolice                        bills and pay for business       This app provides a complete
Dubai Police                       licences.    RakPay        is    directory to ministry of health
This app contains various          developed with world class       services that you access from
electronic services that           security standards. It is        any mobile platform. The app
are available in Arabic and        safe,convenient,fast and can     allows direct interaction with
English.                           be used anytime, anywhere.       the ministry by submitting
                                                                    applications and finalizing
                                                                    them.

   6      Issue 125 - March 2014
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Dubai 2021

     “Dubai Government
  towards 2021 Initiative”
       and mGovernance
                 benefits
   It seems that government entities and citizens of the             includes the Dubai Government Services Bus (GSB) which
UAE should get used to more surprises every February,                allows government agencies to integrate their eServices
especially after the second Government Summit, which                 and exchange necessary data and information to automate
continued to deliver exception quality and transformation            government transactions within a safe government information
to smart services.                                                   network.
   One pleasant surprise was the personal email from HH
                                                                         This argument may seem to be unrealistic for people who
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
                                                                     think in a traditional way, because creating an electronic system
Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive
                                                                     capable of dealing with a complex and various requirements
Council. His email appreciated the role of government
employees in the ‘Dubai Government towards 2021                      needed by each one of the government entities. However, that
Initiative’.                                                         is the only solution that will ensure the achievement initiative
                                                                     goals during the remaining six years until 2021.
                                                                         Implementing this system will be less expensive than
Excerpts from the email                                              building integration between the large number of existing
   I am writing to you today because I believe in your ability       systems and technologies. The best solution and the most
to excel. In my view, you are the cornerstone for the success        successful way is to repeat the success story achieved by
of the “Government of Dubai towards 2021” initiative, which
                                                                     Governmental Resource Planning Systems GRPS of one
I launched at The Government Summit. This initiative is
                                                                     system, one database, one platform to manage government
inspired by my love and appreciation of every person living
                                                                     services.
in our beloved emirate; and my conviction that the role of
government is to advance people’s lives through outstanding
service.
   My aspiration for the Government of Dubai is to provide
                                                                     Unified CRM
state-of-the-art services for each individual; tailored to the          This enforces unifying the following aspects in
people’s specific needs and preferences and is always                communication and support to customers:
accessible. In addition to the technological solutions we            1) Unify the government services catalog at a central
will implement, we will introduce one-stop customer service             level for the government as a whole, and maintaining a
with personalized account managers that understands each                detailed description of the service and the government
customer’s individual needs and provides exceptional and                requirements, in addition to unifying the method of service
attentive service.                                                      delivery channels available to the public. Therefore, data
                                                                        will not be limited to the government entity providing the
                                                                        service. Moreover, government departments should not
What’s new in the initiative?
                                                                        launch their eServices without the approval of the Dubai
   His Highness launched the “Dubai Government towards
2021 Initiative” on the first day of the Government Summit,             Smart Government to assure quality and integration.
targeting at finding new concepts of government services             2) Unify the work flow of information within government
based on a single platform, in a way that ensures the highest           entities, in a way that smart systems can reach customers’
level of comfort and speed to public transactions. This initiative      data easily.
creates a unique personal experience for the customer as if it       3) Consolidation of infrastructure for the government entities
is designed especially to fulfil personal needs.                        call centres, and stop outsourcing this critical mission
   This requires an essential reform of government service,             to third parties. Since the government employee will be
and a comprehensive change in the human resources and                   responsible to follow-up with customers and respond
operation management in the government entities, to adapt               to inquiries, he/she is the best one that can be familiar
this new concept. The main areas that will witness a change             with the government services. This is more effective and
are:
                                                                        professional than contracting with external resources that
                                                                        don’t provide customers with the information needed.
Unified system for government services                                  Moreover, they may answer enquiries with wrong information

                                                                                     •
   The importance of integrating all government services in             that is different from what is provided by the employee in
a single platform is what this new initiative is all about. This        the counter.

                                                                                                         Issue 125 - March 2014   7
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
GRP

   DSG automates operations of Dubai Ambulance
   Dubai Smart Government (DSG) has announced that               Integrated government
its IT team supervising Government Resources Planning               H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General, Dubai
(GRP) systems has completed the application of GRP               Smart Government, said: “Our highly competent IT teams are
solutions for the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance                committed to fulfilling the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed
Services (Dubai Ambulance). The project automates                Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of
Dubai Ambulance operations related to purchasing,                the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to position Dubai as a leading
internal requests, and accounts.                                 knowledge-based economy. They aim to implement the
                                                                 necessary electronic systems needed by Dubai’s government
                                                                 entities to seamlessly handle their internal resources and
iPad notices                                                     departments in line with the latest and best management
    The automation process, which complements the move
                                                                 standards.”
towards a smart government, now enables medical staff of
Dubai Ambulance to send requests from their iPad devices
directly to warehouses from any location and transmit            One vision
notices via e-mail to warehouse storekeepers. The improved          Khalifa Bin Dari, Executive Director of Dubai Ambulance,
capability supports Dubai Ambulance’s primary need to have       commended the role of DSG in cooperation with Dubai
its requests promptly processed and its requirements met by      Ambulance in implementing the first phase of service
warehouses as fast as possible. This avoids the confusion        automation in record time. Bin Dari noted that GRP systems
resulting from a long queue of ambulance vehicles.               for customers, a barcode for fixed assets and properties,
                                                                 warehousing, purchasing, and electronic requests for
                                                                 the internal mobilization of ambulance cars have already
Project Plan                                                     been completed. He emphasized the need for continuous
   Preparations for the project – which comprises applications   cooperation between both parties to proceed with the second
for Warehouse Operations, Electronic Supplying, Fixed            phase of the project which will deploy systems for payroll,
Assets, Purchasing, and Account Receipts – commenced on          employee affairs, suppliers, general accounts, and budgets.
May 2013. The Account Receipts application will be activated     The Executive Director explained that the ongoing coordination
in October 2014, followed by those for Warehousing,              among Dubai’s government departments, organizations and
Purchasing and Electronic Supplying in November 2014. The        authorities aligns with H.H. Sheikh Mohammed’s vision of
Fixed Assets application will be available by February 2014.     turning the city of Dubai into a genuine knowledge-based
   The GRPS team has identified the key elements for             economy.
implementing the technical process, including servicing             DSG’s GRPS department provides technological
1,100 users who will submit internal requests from two large     solutions for the basic operations of 34 local government
warehouses: the Main Warehouse and the Rashid Hospital           departments. These systems serve as foundations for
Warehouse. The implementation phase is expected to start         the comprehensive integration among Dubai’s government
ahead of schedule as soon as the expert team performs            departments and authorities in line with the fulfillment of
the necessary technical procedures to transform the current      Dubai’s eTransformation vision. In its latest project for Dubai
paper-based requests to a completely automated workflow          Ambulance, the department launched shared solutions

                                                                                               •
using mobile phones.                                             for human resources, payroll, finance, logistics, and asset
                                                                 management, among others.

  8   Issue 125 - March 2014
UAE Government Summit: Global destination for government excellence
Smart learning

         A package of
     smart services for
     students, parents,
        and educators
   The greatest beneficiary of smart ICT is learning,                The smart transformation also includes: license renewal,
which nowadays uses smart devices along with                      increasing and decreasing numbers of students in classes,
traditional books. The era of smart learning has opened           adding to or changing the curriculum or an activity of the
new horizons for students in all stages. Students are             institute, in addition to changing making changes online
now used to devices with interactive apps and videos              for name change of principal name change of the school
and can also store data easily. Educational institutions          or institute, adding or withdrawal of a partner, changing
in the UAE now devote more attention to smart learning            the representative of the board of directors of the institute,
and are adding greater value to smart government than             waiving or cancelling a license, making changes to the
mere settlement of bills and fines.
                                                                  school building, and approval to build a new school.

Comprehensive transformation
   In this context, the Ministry of Education has announced
                                                                  Gateway for parents
                                                                     In addition to the above services, the Ministry has
that it intends to accomplish the directives of the leadership
                                                                  launched a smart gateway for parents, which allow parents
towards the smart transformation of all services two years
ahead of the deadline given by His Highness Sheikh                to actively participate in the educational process and play an
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and            important role in raising the level of educational output and
Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.                                upgrading schools. Parents can be informed of the agenda
   The Ministry has launched a package of smart services for      of the school, its activities, dates of special events, exams
students, parents, and teachers, the most notable of which is     and holidays, through their mobile phones, and exchange
“My Children”, which includes several unprecedented smart         messages and information with the school administration.
services like the query about results, homework and others.          They can also follow the attendance record of their
The Ministry has been a forerunner in launching smart             children, their educational level, and the development of their
services that match the aspirations of the future government.     abilities, and see the details of their grades in each subject
One of these services is using smartphones to register            separately, as well as to identify the details of the results of
students in schools, which is to be activated by March, 2014,     the continuous assessment and examination, in addition to
through the smart service “Bawabati” (my gateway). The            the service of checking school buses.
service allows parents to choose the most suitable schools
and the closest to their homes.
                                                                  “Dorosi”(My Lessons)
                                                                     The project “Dorosi” (My Lessons) are provided by the
15 smart services                                                 Ministry to students. The project aims at providing online
   The Ministry has finished transforming the services of
                                                                  versions of the curricula of the 11th and 12th grades, enabling
School Licenses Management in order to speed up the
                                                                  students to pursue their studies any time and from any place
completion of transactions and shorten the time for the
                                                                  through varied means of communication, including YouTube.
customer, as well as to facilitate the process of supervision
and control, quality assurance and to enable easy access          Among the services provided by the Ministry of Education
to all services from anywhere. The customer can now allow         through smart phones is the “Schools Map” service, which
the customer to follow the transactions without having to visit   allows search for public and private schools, their locations,
the Ministry or the educational zone. Also they can contact       data, and other information about them.
the customer through text messages and email. About 15               The new educational strategy is in line with the UAE
services have been transformed to smart services, including:      Vision 2021, opening the way for the Ministry to work
                                                                  towards achieving global competitiveness, and to offer high-
                                                                                                   •
requesting a new license for a private school and a new
private institute.                                                quality smart learning services.

                                                                                                       Issue 125 - March 2014   9
Smart Government

   The UAE’s smart transformation: a statement of account
    The UAE federal government has announced a set                have been converted to smart services. Meanwhile, work
 of initiatives and plans, and revealed a number of               is underway on projects that support this transformation,
 accomplishments in the present and future ahead of the           including the creation of the e-ID (linking national ID to
 two year deadline for the smart government announced             mobile phone). A group of entities including TRA, the Ministry
 by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE
                                                                  of Finance, the Central Bank, Emirates Identity Authority
 Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
                                                                  (EIDA), and the Ministry of Justice are cooperating to achieve
                                                                  this project in the coming period. Work will also begin on the
 100 services transformed to mServices                            project of the federal network (FedNet), and next August will
     The Supreme Committee for Smart Government has               witness the linkage of 5 governmental bodies through this
 selected 100 federal services that will be transformed into
                                                                  network.
 smart services according to a set schedule, based on
                                                                     Moreover, the smart transformation of the e-Dirham
 specific criteria. The most important of these criteria was
 volume of transactions. These services are used by 80% of        project has been completed and the activation is expected
 federal government service users.                                to be done soon, and the formation of a complete legislative
     On the sidelines of the Second Government Summit,            system for the smart government is underway in collaboration
 the Supreme Committee also launched the strategy of the          with the Ministry of Labour.
 UAE’s smart government, as well as the first guide to smart
 government, which is designed to help federal entities
 overcome some of the obstacles they might face in this           Smart security
 field.                                                              The preparation to launch three new initiatives were
     Furthermore, the committee declared that two new smart       revealed, in order to face security challenges and support
 services will be launched soon. Pointing out that the            the smart government capability to defend itself from cyber-
 government services which will be converted to smart
                                                                  attacks. 200 training programs are preparing government
 services were selected according to specific criteria, the
                                                                  agencies and customers to face these challenges. While the
 most important one is the number of transactions done upon
 through the service, and how it is linked to the public. The     Supreme Committee believes that using smartphones in the
 100 services were enhanced by a list of unified standards,       UAE is now a common feature, it is therefore imperative and
 required in the conversion to a smart form, in order to ensure   easy to share knowledge and expertise.
 the commitment of all parties to establish the services at the      This will be done through the creation of Creativity and
 highest level of efficiency.                                     Innovation Labs that will create multimedia messages and
                                                                  training sessions. Work is simultaneously underway on the
 Ratio of smart transformation at 50%                             Trusted Service Managers (TSM) to manage safe services,
    According to a computation done by the smart government       with the project expected to be completed by end of next
 higher committee, 50% of federal government services             June.

  10   Issue 125 - March 2014
The Smart Guide                                                   Dubai Government employees commence
   The first guide for the smart government provides a set        ‘mGovernment initiative training program’
of guidelines for government agencies, to help in shifting            In line with the Smart Government initiative announced
from eGovernment to smart government, and help them to            by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
overcome some the challenges faced during the usage of            UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai,
smart government features.                                        Dubai Smart Government (DSG) has commenced its
   The smart guide includes important guidelines that aims to     mGovernment initiative training program in coordination with
help government bodies ready for the smart transformation         the Telecommunication Regulation Authority (TRA). TRA is
(m-ready) in terms of development requirements and                the entity responsible for implementing the ‘mGovernment
implementation of the latest applications and smart services      initiative training program’ to all Dubai Government
that depend on information and communication technology.          departments and organizations.
                                                                      The program is aimed at promoting the concept of Smart
                                                                  Governance among all current government employees and
Federal Network                                                   local university students, which falls in line with Dubai’s
   The Smart Government started implementing the                  Vision 2021. TRA has chosen to implement eTransformation
federal network project FedNet earlier in January, forming        concepts in general and the smart government in particular.
a link between the various points of contact in government            To fulfil the same, 21 employees from the information
agencies, which combine to provide services to customers,         security division of 10 different government departments
aiming to finalize this project in May 2015. FedNet is a          have already taken part in the first training course on ‘Smart
complement of existing electronic networks at the level           Phone Security.’ The program, which started on February 9,
of local eGovernment, such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai.                2014 at Conrad Dubai Hotel, covered various sessions for
The network will be the backup electronic hosting centre          specialized process and workshops in the smart, technical
that includes the data of federal government bodies in a          and administrative government fields. The implementation
safe environment, ensure the permanence and immediate             of the various training programs is expected to involve
intervention in case of any emergency. Launching the              the participation of more than 2,000 employees coming
FedNet is an essential measure in achieving the integration       from various government agencies and departments. The
of institutional processes and government data, and the           program covers four basic training courses which have been
interconnection of governmental agencies is an important          specially designed for specific departments and employees,
requirement for data and public services and integrated           particularly those working in the information technology /
systems interoperability for the exchange of information and      systems and networks category, applications and programs
decision-making processes of high efficiency. The network         development category, information security category and
will provide an effective and economic solution to exchange,      those at a supervisory level.
store and process information for all federal government              H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General of
agencies. Other services will be also provided, such as           Dubai Smart Government, has expressed his pleasure
voice, data, video and Internet services, between various         at the high level of coordination between the local and
sites in the UAE.                                                 federal government entities in order to enable the smart
                                                                  transformation throughout the country.
                                                                      “Dubai is diligent to achieve a successful transformation
Electronic identity and authentication                            to a smart city, and a knowledge-based economy, to
   The UAE smart government strategy has confirmed that           ensure satisfaction across all the social categories, including
creating the electronic identity and digital signature systems    nationals, residents, business people and visitors. We
on mobile devices (authentication) is one of its most important   have made joint efforts and taken immense care to build
projects in the next stage and a key enabler for many smart       and enhance the national competencies in this field. In
government services in the UAE. The project targets and           addition, we have prepared them for the comprehensive
implements the electronic identity around the country, with       transformation period toward the smart governance to
the participation of all key stakeholders including EIDA,         assure that the graduated staff of the program are qualified
TRA, Ministry of Justice, government agencies, and financial      to take the responsibility of leading the fundamental changes
institutions. Electronic identity will be more accurate and       to keep up with the global development in the technical
secure than other authentication solutions.                       sector,” he added.
   The electronic identity system is an enabling factor for           From his side, Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, Deputy
mServices, such as paying through mobile devices, banking         Director General & mGovernment Initiative Director at
transactions, voting, and all services that required IDs, while   Telecommunication Regulation Authority, said: “It is a
using reliable communication is the only way to secure            great pleasure to work in close partnership with Dubai
transactions.                                                     Smart Government, which is considered as one of the
   The security system of the electronic ID includes the          leading departments in the national and international
Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), based on Infrastructure         eTransformation. We are confident that this cooperation
Public Key (PKI) system for mobile devices with high levels       will reflect positively on the highest goals of the smart
of security, where all secured data will be encrypted on the      government initiative which sees the transformation from
Subscriber Identity Module and the number of Global System        customer satisfaction to costumer delight through offering

              •
for Mobile Communications (GSM) as an initiator for all           great services easily and quickly via smartphones round-
transactions.                                                     the-clock.”

                                                                                                    Issue 125 - March 2014   11
Global reports

  A review of the World Bank Report
  Doing Business in the UAE – 2014
   Doing Business in the UAE – 2014 The “Doing Business” report released by the World Bank is considered as a
core economic reference by businesses when selecting countries to invest or expand their trade activities. Doing
Business 2014 investigates the procedures of doing business in Dubai as a model for the entire UAE business
environment. These procedures were reviewed, re-structured and automated by the Smart Government, as part of
its efforts to realize its leaders’ vision to ease the lives of people and create bigger opportunities to develop the
business sector and attract world-class companies.

   To what extent has the Smart Government succeeded in          Getting electricity
ramping up the business environment in the emirate? Here         Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for
are some of the main statistics from the World Bank Report       a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly
comparing UAE, Middle East region and OECD countries.            constructed building.
                                                                  Indicator                        UAE     Region     OECD
Starting a business                                               Procedures (number)                4         5        5
   The challenges of launching a business are shown below.
                                                                  Time (days)                        40       84        98
Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect
to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the    Cost (% of income per capita)     19.3    1,147.1    93.0
cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross
national income (GNI) per capita.
                                                                 Registering property
 Indicator                           UAE     Region   OECD          The ease with which businesses can secure rights to
 Procedures (number)                  6        8        5        property is shown below. Included are the number of steps,
 Time (days)                          8       23        12       time and cost involved in registering property.

 Cost (% of income per capita)        6.0     29.8     4.5        Indicator                          UAE    Region    OECD
 Paid-in Min. Capital (% of                                       Procedures (number)                 2        6        5
                                      0.0     72.3     13.3
 income per capita)                                               Time (days)                         10       33       26
                                                                  Cost (% of property value)         2.3      5.9       4.5
Dealing with construction permits
  Shown below are the procedures, time and costs to build        Getting credit
a warehouse, including obtaining necessary licenses and             Measures on credit information sharing and the legal
permits, completing required notifications and inspections,      rights of borrowers and lenders are shown below. The Legal
and obtaining utility connections.                               Rights Index ranges from 0-10, with higher scores indicating
 Indicator                           UAE    Region    OECD       that those laws are better designed to expand access to
 Procedures (number)                 14      17        14        credit. The Credit Information Index measures the scope,
                                                                 access and quality of credit information available through
 Time (days)                         46      151       143       public registries or private bureaus. It ranges from 0-6,
 Cost (%       of   income     per                               with higher values indicating that more credit information is
                                     9.2    305.2     78.7
 capita)                                                         available from a public registry or private bureau.

 12   Issue 125 - March 2014
Indicator                          UAE       Region   OECD
 Strength of legal rights index       4         3         7
 Depth of credit information          5         4         5
 Public registry coverage
                                     5.9       8.6      10.2
 (% of adults)
 Private bureau coverage
                                    31.7       9.7      67.4
 (% of adults)

Protecting investors
   The indicators below describe three dimensions of investor
protection: transparency of transactions (Extent of Disclosure
Index), liability for self-dealing (Extent of Director Liability
Index), shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for    Enforcing contracts
misconduct (Ease of Shareholder Suits Index) and Strength            The ease or difficulty of enforcing commercial contracts is
of Investor Protection Index. The indexes vary between 0           measured below.
and 10, with higher values indicating greater disclosure,           Indicator                           UAE       Region OECD
greater liability of directors, greater powers of shareholders      Time (days)                          524        652         510
to challenge the transaction, and better investor protection.
                                                                    Cost (% of claim)                   19.5       23.9         20.1
 Indicator                          UAE       Region   OECD
                                                                    Procedures (number)                  49         44           31
 Extent of disclosure                 4          6        6
 Extent of director liability         7          5        5
 Ease of shareholder suits            2          4        7
                                                                   Resolving Insolvency
                                                                      The time and cost required to resolve bankruptcies is
 Strength of investor protection     4.3        5.0      6.1       shown below. The recovery rate, expressed in terms of
                                                                   how many cents on the dollar claimants recover from the
                                                                   insolvent firm, is also shown.
Paying taxes                                                        Indicator                           UAE      Region OECD
  The data below shows the tax that a medium-size
company must pay or withhold in a given year.                       Time (years)                         3.2        3.4          1.7
                                                                    Cost (% of estate)                   20         13           9
 Indicator                           UAE      Region   OECD
                                                                    Recovery rate (cents on the
 Payments (number per year)               4     19       12                                             29.4       33.7         70.6
                                                                    dollar)
 Time (hours per year)                12        184      176
 Profit tax (%)                       0.0      11.9     15.2
                                                                   From 2013 to 2014
 Labor tax and contributions (%)     14.1      16.5     23.8       United Arab Emirates
 Other taxes (%)                      0.8       3.9      3.7       Region: Middle East & North Africa
 Total tax rate (% profit)           14.9      32.3     42.7       Income category: High income
                                                                   Population: 7,890,924
                                                                   GNI per capita (US$): 40,760
Trading across borders
   The costs and procedures involved in importing and               Ease of...                         2014      2013     Change
exporting a standardized shipment of goods are detailed
                                                                    Starting a Business                  22        46           +24
under this topic. Every official procedure involved is recorded
- starting from the final contractual agreement between the         Dealing      with   Construction
                                                                                                         13        14           +1
two parties, and ending with the delivery of the goods.             Permits
                                                                    Getting Electricity                   7        10           +3
 Indicator                          UAE       Region   OECD
 Documents to export                  4         6         4         Registering Property                 12        12            0

 Time to export (days)                7         19       10         Getting Credit                       83        80           -3
 Cost to export (US$ per                                            Protecting Investors                128       124           -4
                                     630      1,083    1,028
 container)
                                                                    Paying Taxes                         1         7            +6
 Documents to import
                                      5         8         5
 (number)                                                           Trading Across Borders                5        5             0
 Time to import (days)                7         22       10
                                                                    Enforcing Contracts                 104       108           +4
 Cost to import (US$ per
                                   590        1,275    1,080        Resolving Insolvency                101       105           +4
 container)

                                                                                                       Issue 125 - March 2014   13
Smart solutions

  GDRFA smart
   solutions for
        tourists
   Being hospitable is one of the objectives of the “Dubai     through process re-engineering to minimize time and effort.
Government Towards 2021 Initiative”. To achieve this           The system will automatically sort mail requests and send
objective, a range of government agencies cooperate            confirmation to customers without the need to submit any
together, such as the General Directorate of Residency         documents to GDRFA.
and Foreigners Affairs, (GDRFA) which launched a new              The new visa service was launched and tested by GDRFA
service that allows smartphones to be used to scan on          staff at Dubai airports. As a start, the traveler must download
the e-gates of Dubai.                                          the application onto their smart phones, then follow the
                                                               instructions to enter passport number and identification data,
                                                               The system will register the traveller and send a barcode to
                                                               the smartphone. Upon arrival to Dubai airport, the traveller
Millions of travellers and transactions
                                                               scans the barcode at the smart gates which will verify the
   Dubai Residency revealed that in 2013, 11.6 million
electronic transactions was completed, and there were 5.3      code and then allow access. The new service has been
million passengers who accessed the 28 smart e-gates at        successfully tested with both adults and children and found
Dubai Airports, with time to pass through not exceeding 16     to be working well.
seconds.
   Colonel Khaled Nasser Razouki, Assistant General
                                                               Improving the e-gates
Manager for eServices in Dubai Residency revealed a new
                                                                  GDRFA announced the number of registered users in the
project established under the name of “Emirate Vision 2015”,
                                                               smart e-gate reached around 1.2 million while the number
to decreasing the number of visitors to GDRFA premises,
                                                               of smart e-gates went up to 28 including those at the new
                                                               Terminal 3. GDRFA is now seeking to increase these
                                                               numbers in the next two years. GDRFA is also working on
                                                               newer technology to save time and effort. By 2015, many
                                                               services can be done through the typing offices who will in
                                                               turn submit to GDRFA saving the customer the need to visit
                                                               both places.

                                                               Other GDRFA services
                                                               • SMS services: can be used by businesses and PRO’s to
                                                                 enquire about visas and status of applications and dates
                                                                 for visa renewals and issues. The touch screen kiosks
                                                                 provide instant responses to queries and offer all updated
                                                                 information on services provided by GDRFA.
                                                               • Mobile visas prevent congestion and save on printing and
                                                                 transport. They are secured with electronic signature and
                                                                 other safety features.
                                                               • Amer vehicle: mobile service provides visas at home and
                                                                 office depending on request from the customers.
                                                               • dnrd.ae: allows visa applications and follow up, as well as
                                                                 printing of electronic visas and health insurance
                                                               • eForm: is very popular among business and registered
                                                                 typists. They are able to use the E-Form to pay for the

                                                                         •
                                                                 visas by direct debit or credit card thus saving time and
                                                                 effort..

 14   Issue 125 - March 2014
Social Networks

The Government Summit in the Leader’s Tweets
   The number of followers of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister
and Ruler of Dubai, on Twitter has exceeded two and half million, which means that a tweet by him will reach a greater
number of people than that achieved by the printed newspapers and radio stations in the UAE.
   His Highness is completely aware that his fame and reputation are devoted to establish the reputation of the UAE, thus he
presented a unique example in promoting the Second Government Summit which was held in February 2014.

   A cloud of the commonly most used words in His Highness Sheikh Mohammad’s tweets reveals both his interests and
the content of messages directed to the public. Both English and Arabic are used to ensure delivery to the largest possible
number of followers and to achieve international fame for the UAE.

  Snapshots from the biography of Dubai on Instagram
          The first biography of a city through the eyes of its people

                                        #MyDubai

                                                                                                 Issue 125 - March 2014   15
eServices Wizard

            Definitely Dubai App of Department of
             Tourism and Commerce Marketing

   You can download this app from
   Apple or Google Store.

                                                 1
                                               The welcome screen shows
                                               Search, Events, Bookmarks
                                               and Around Dubai.

                       2
                         Clicking on events will
                         lead to events in Dubai
                         with images and more
                         details once you touch the
                         event.

                                         3
                                       On choosing favourite
                                       bookmarks, a map of Dubai will
                                       display your favourite sights and
                                       you can then see more details.

                                           For more information, contact:

                                                 800 70 90
   16   Issue 125 - March 2014
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