March 2015 en

Issue 137 - March 2015

Dubai Smart Government announces the results of the Dubai Government Websites Quality

Assessment 2014-2015Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, DEWA, Dubai Customs & AMAF top the rankings

DGEP strategy towards a creative smart

government

UAE University to launch 300 new smart

courses by 2021

DSG receives PCI DSS certificate for its ePay &

mPay services

Issue 137March 2015 1

4Dubai Smart Government announces the results of the Dubai Government Websites Quality Assessment 2014-2015

7The Government Summit website: a hub for governments best practices

8 Dubai hosts the First Arab Social Media Influencers Summit in the region

10Dubai Government Excellence Program consolidates its strategy towards a creative smart government

VisionTo become a world class smart government.

Mission To formulate and implement policies and initiatives for innovative and smart ICT usage contributing to economic welfare, social progress and global competitiveness of Dubai.

Issue 137 - March 2015

General supervisionMedia and Content

Management SectionCommunication & Business Development Department

Contact the Magazine Dubai Smart Government

Tel: 04-4056274Fax: 04-3532988P.O. Box: 90300

Email: [email protected]

An electronic version can be viewed on www.dubai.ae

The articles in this publication reflect only the author’s opinions and not necessarily those of the Smart Government or its staff. Republishing of material in this publication is not permitted without attribution of this publication as the source.

Editorial Team

Issue 137March 2015

Dubai’s Municipality website with 93% ranked first among all Dubai Government websites followed by Dubai’s Police website with 92%, and the websites of DEWA, Dubai Customs and AMAF, came in third, fourth and fifth place with 91%, 90% and 89% respectively. The results were based on the Quality Evaluation of Dubai Government entities websites for the year 2014-2015, which were recently announced by Dubai’s Smart Government Department. 40 government websites were evaluated and the overall average quality rate of these websites was 72% reflecting the efforts exerted by government authorities to further enhance the quality of their websites.

In line with the implementation of the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and in commitment to the directions of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Chairman of the Executive Council, which states the utmost importance of the transformation towards the smart government, Dubai Smart Government took on the task of assessing websites for this round using smart devices.

***During the last decade, websites have evolved at an unprecedented rate

whether in terms of number, content or complexity. In conjunction with this development, government authorities have established their websites to be used as strong communication channels, and in providing diverse services and information to the public. Similarly, Dubai Government entities have launched several websites and worked on enriching the content which has led to content maturity and overall quality. The number of users continue to increase, therefore the quality of such websites have become significantly important in increasing customer satisfaction with government services in general, and in increasing the confidence in the government in particular.

To do that, the Dubai Smart Government Department developed the Government Websites Excellence Model (GWEM), aimed at building customer focused websites. It consists of 46 guidelines divided into four components: accessibility, usability and design, content, and policies. The guidelines have been placed with utmost care and caution after conducting thorough, well-thought-out studies in order to provide the necessary framework for how to ensure the development of government websites, their management, and enhancement in a way that guarantees the achievement of high levels of customer satisfaction and high usage rates in the same time.

In collaboration with other government authorities in Dubai, DSG is also committed to providing high quality websites to serve individuals and businesses. The assessment of government websites is conducted periodically to ensure the sustainability of its quality and its compliance with international guidelines and standards.

***Here, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the working teams

in the government entities in Dubai, who have taken the lead in following the guidelines in the GWEM in order to build high quality websites that are easy to use and specifically tailored to serve the users. The efforts exerted to improve their online presence and the way they handled the Quality Evaluation issued by DSG, is an encouraging guide to the further enhancement of government websites in Dubai.

Editorial Team

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Smart visions

Encouraging results from assessment of Dubai government websites


ePay

First ePay certificate awarded to a government agency in the country

A group of highly qualified auditors from one of the PCI SSC-accredited assessment companies awarded the certificate on January 22, 2015 after its overall assessment showed that DSG fully complied with PCI DSS’ Requirements and Security Assessment Procedures Version 2.0.

The first ePay serviceThe certificate demonstrates that DSG’s ePayment

service offered to all Dubai-based government entities provides high-level information security. DSG’s ePay is the first government service in the UAE to comply with PCI DSS’ requirements. Obtaining the certificate also signifies that DSG successfully adhered to practices and standards governing all security aspects of ePayments, such as human resources, technological infrastructure and operational procedures, to ensure the highest level of card data protection.

Influence on happiness and satisfactionThe main goal is to increase the public’s happiness and

satisfaction ratings on government services. These efforts correspond with the aims to turn Dubai into a smart city through enhanced government services in line with the Dubai Government 2021 strategy.

Global standards

Obtaining the PCI DSS certificate reaffirms DSG’s commitment to international IT standards aimed at improving the overall quality of online services. The certificate serves as a testament to what it offers to its clients in accordance with related procedures and mechanisms. Such recognition is a major step as it increases the clients’ confidence in its services. The certificate is not only related to how IT services are developed in DSG, but also reflective of the ongoing procedures observed by dedicated teams in order to develop, update and document these services. This ensures sustainable and excellent offerings to its clients in a timely manner.

Paladion, a specialized company accredited by PCI SSC, assessed the reliability and security of DSG services. It works in various areas such as PCI auditing, IT security, risk assessment, security solutions, and many more. •

Dubai Smart Government (DSG) has reached a new milestone after obtaining the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Certificate from the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). DSG is the first government entity across the UAE to receive the certificate in recognition of its highly secured ePay and mPay services. The PCI DSS is one of the internationally accredited standards of compliance and security developed to protect credit cardholders’ personal information and prevent credit card fraud. Organizations

within its scope are required to abide by its standards to keep the cardholders’ data confidential.

Dubai Smart Government receives PCI DSS certificate for its ePay & mPay services

Issue 137March 20154

Innovative channels in the remote delivery of government services to users are seen as one of the most important tangible features to transform the model of government services delivery from traditional means to smart, electronic ones. One of the first and most significant innovative channels are the websites of Dubai

government entities. Initially, there was considerable disparity in the quality

and efficiency of these websites, but Dubai Smart Government (DSG)

has succeeded in imposing certain quality standards,

with the implementation of the Government Websites

Excellence Model (GWEM) for assessing

government websites

Dubai Smart Government announces the results of the Dubai Government Websites Quality

Assessment 2014-2015

Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, DEWA, Dubai Customs & AMAF top the rankings

Cover story

The overall evaluation results

Issue 137March 2015

In this context DSG recently announced the results of quality evaluation of Dubai Government websites for the year 2014-2015. This time 40 government websites were assessed, compared to 28 websites in the previous round.

Dubai’s Municipality’s (DM) website with 93% ranked first among all Dubai Government websites followed by Dubai’s Police website with 92%, and the websites of DEWA, Dubai Customs, Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF), came in third, fourth and fifth place with 91%, 90% and 89% respectively.

The overall average quality rate of these websites was 72% reflecting the efforts exerted by government authorities to further enhance the quality of their websites. 4 websites achieved scores that exceeded 90%, whereas; 7 websites achieved scores ranging between 80% and 89%, 14 websites achieved scores ranging between 70% and 79%; while 15 websites achieved scores of less than 70%.

Accessibility In terms of accessibility, only one website crossed 90%

with Dubai Police achieving 92%. 15 websites achieved scores between 80% and 89%, whereas 15 other websites achieved scores between 70% and 79%. As for the remaining websites (9 in total) scored less than 70%.

Usability and design

In this category, 8 websites scored over 90%, with DM ranked first with 96%. 13 websites achieved scores between 80% and 89%, and 6 websites achieved scores between 70% and 79%. The remaining websites (13 in total) obtained scores of less than 70%.

Content9 websites achieved outstanding results with more than

90%. In this category DEWA recorded a perfect score of 100% improving on the 97% they achieved in the previous round. 9 websites scored between 80% and 89%, and 10 websites achieved scores between 70% and 79%. The remaining websites got scores of less than 70%.

Significant improvement in all areas except for policies

There has been a significant improvement in the results of the 2014-2015 assessment compared to the previous round. Content improved to 77% from 73%, accessibility

increased from 73% to 76% and usability also improved by 2%. There was however a decline in the policies standards declining considerably from 74% to 48%.

Policies As for the “policies” component, one website was able

to achieve remarkable results, in terms of commitment to guidelines, where Dubai Customs scored 100%, while two websites achieved scores between 80% and 89%, and 3 websites achieved scores between 70% and 79%, and finally, 34 website obtained scores less than 70%.

To do that, the Dubai Smart Government Department developed the Government Websites Excellence Model (GWEM), aimed at building customer focused websites. It consists of 46 guidelines divided into four components: accessibility, usability and design, content, and policies.

GWEM Model The four main components of the Government Websites

Excellence Model (GWEM) are accessibility, usability and design, content, and policies. The latest results show that content achieved the highest score with 77%, followed by accessibility and usability with 76% and a decline in policies score with 48%. This assessment is based on GWEM which was created by DSG in 2011.

Online PresenceThis assessment is considered part of the ongoing efforts

exerted by Dubai Smart Government to improve the quality of government online presence on the web. The overall rate for the results of the assessment of 40 government websites has reached 72% which indicates an acceptance on the part of these authorities for the guidelines contained in the “Excellence Model for Government Websites” and their keenness to abide by these guidelines. The commitment displayed by government authorities as a response to the specific instructions for websites is very encouraging and reflects the efforts exerted by these authorities to further enhance the quality of their websites.

The guidelines launched by Dubai Smart Government has set a new goal and an indicator for government authorities in their ongoing quest for excellence, and increase the satisfaction of their users; which is to enhance user experience in our government websites which contributes to the goal of increasing user satisfaction and usage rate for these websites.

The smart government is aiming to stimulate government authorities to provide user-friendly designs, and to ensure content on their websites remains vital, fresh, accurate and easy to read.

New Standards

In this year’s round, Dubai Smart Government added a new standard to the “accessibility” component which is related to enabling the category of people with disabilities to access government websites easily in line with the initiative of “My Community is a Place for Everyone” launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council which aims to integrate and empower people with disabilities in social life as individuals capable of production and creativity and to fully transform Dubai into a people with disabilities friendly city by 2020.

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تقييم المواقع اإللكترونية التابعة لحكومة دبي 2014-2015 ، اصدار 1.0سري – فئة ج

2014/2015 Dubai Government Websites Quality Evaluation, Version 1.0Confidential - Category ‘C’

2 EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SCORING METHODOLOGY

2 معايير التقييم ومنهجية احتساب الدرجات

2.1 Evaluation Criteria 2.1 معايير التقييم

Government Websites Excellence Model (GWEM) developed by DSG provides a broad set of guidelines to help in achieving customer-focused Government websites, while allowing the users to maintain a certain level of uniform browsing experience through Dubai Government entities’ websites. The uniformity of the browsing experience is maintained at a high-level without being overly prescriptive and leaves a wide margin for Dubai Government entities to innovate within the specified broad guidelines.

Figure “1” presents the GWEM (Government Websites Excellence Model), which consists of 3 main elements:• Concept• Objectives• Components

يوفر “نموذج التميز للمواقع اإللكترونية الحكومية” الذي طورته حكومة دبي الذكية، مجموعة واسعة من اإلرشادات لضمان وجود مواقع إلكترونية حكومية تركز على المتعاملين مع الحفاظ على مستوى معين من خبرة التصفح المنتظمة لمستخدمي المواقع اإللكترونية للجهات التابعة لحكومة دبي. ويتم الحفاظ على انتظام خبرة التصفح تلك على مستوى عاٍل دون إطناب، بما يتيح هامشًا عريضًا للجهات التابعة لحكومة دبي لالبتكار ضمن اإلرشادات الواسعة المحددة في “نموذج التميز للمواقع

اإللكترونية الحكومية”.

اإللكترونية للمواقع التميز “نموذج يوضح )1( رقم شكل الحكومية”، الذي يتكون من ثالثة عناصر أساسية:

المفهوم األهداف المكّونات

Figure 1. Government Websites Excellence Model شكل رقم )1( نموذج التميز للمواقع اإللكترونية الحكومية

GWEM is built around a “Customer-Focus” Concept with the Objectives of high levels of “Customer Satisfaction” and “Website Usage” and consists of 46guidelines available falling under 4 Components, namely;

على مبني الحكومية” اإللكترونية للمواقع التميز “نموذج تحقيق إلى ويهدف المتعاملين”، على “التركيز مفهوم استخدام ومعدالت المتعاملين، رضا من عالية مستويات إرشاداً 46 من النموذج يتكون اإللكترونية. للمواقع مرتفعة

ضمن 4 مكونات هي:


Government Websites Excellence Model The GWEM consists of 46 guidelines divided into four

components: accessibility, usability and design, content, and policies. The guidelines have been placed with utmost care and caution after conducting thorough, well-thought-out studies in order to provide the necessary framework for

how to ensure the development of government websites, their management, and enhancement in a way that guarantees the achievement of high levels of customer satisfaction and high usage rates in the same time. It forms the basis for DSG to conduct its assessments every two years for government websites. •


Smart knowledge

Issue 137March 2015

In this context, we will address the Government Summit Website, www.governmentsummit.org and see what it offered the viewer.

HomepageThe home page’s white header is decorated by the

Summit’s azure logo. A beautiful twilight scene of Burj Al Arab is placed under the logo. And over this picture is the website’s menu, with 6 different options in a clear black font: Home, Speakers, Knowledge Hub, Partners, Media, Reaching the Summit and Contact Us. Under the menu, you can view the agenda, the main speakers and the social media updates and contacts.

Speakers portrayedProfiles of the 50 plus speakers can be seen. On

selecting a profile, you can see more details of their professional experience, giving you a clear idea of the significance of the Summit.

Multiple options The rest of options in the main menu begin with

“Partners”, and that shows you all the agencies that are participants in the making of this historical Summit. The “Media” option is the sanctuary of all the Summit’s news stories. “Reaching the Summit” is the page that provides all information that you need to physically reach the Summit, from transportation to maps. Finally, “Contact us” is what

you press to obtain knowledge of the Summit’s telephone numbers.

Knowledge hub To discover all the studies that were produced from

Government Summit, you have to visit the website’s “Knowledge Hub” page, which preview several studies. For example, let us look briefly at the title “Citizen Centric Government.”

Citizen-centric government The study by A.T Kearney, and supported by more than

140 of the most progressive public and private organizations in the UAE, states the need for direct communications between government entities and individuals at all time and in all concerns, which will do so much for the development of government services in all sectors. •

The Government Summit 2015 that was held from 9th to 11th February, under the slogan “Shaping Future Governments”, confirmed the next generation’s willingness to select the most important international aspects in the field of government development. The Government Summit included two international prizes, the biggest platform of its kind for governmental creativity, and sessions for speakers in a variety of sectors, including the educational, health

and technological sectors, in addition to smart cities, and creative government services.

The Government Summit website: a hub for governments best practices

Issue 137March 2015

التجارة اإللكترونية

Many activities that encouraged national and regional creative thinking were part of the Summit. These included the “Arab Social Media Influencers Trophy”, “Conference of Influencers in Arab Social Media Platforms”, “Arab Social Media Sessions”, “Social Media Report of the Arab World”, and “Buthoor Initiative” that supports creative projects on social media.

HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has stated that social media has a growing role in different aspects of our lives, as it is a platform for a doctor to showcase their expertise and knowledge, a gallery for an artist to hang their paintings in, a class for a teacher to assist with their education, and a commercial market for businessmen to introduce their projects and products.

His Highness also emphasized that the youth has shown exquisite talents on various social media platforms, and proved their ability for adaptation to change, the thing that necessitated the existence of a physical place to enforce communication between them, highlighting their achievements and providing all means to lift up their talents and skills.”

“We will celebrate the social media positive change makers in societies through this Summit. We will communicate with influencers on these channels to listen to their opinions and ideas. We will be close to creative

minds, to support them and to contribute to their ideas,” concluded His Highness.

Influential social media influencer, Louis Cole, said that Dubai is different. It was a pioneering region, despite it being so young. He praised its diverse nationalities and global ambition and felt that the UAE has enough potential to become a leading technological country because of its strong ICT infrastructure.

The Awards for Arab Social Media Influencers

The main idea of the award was to recognize the most important initiatives and influencers in the Arab world. The award had categories for individuals and for companies.

The company awards were divided into 19 sectors: Media, Tourism, Sports, Safety & Security, Government Sector, Technology, Education, Youth, Community Service, Arts, Economy, Blogging, Entertainment, Private Sector, Marketing, Environment, Entrepreneurship, and Politics.

The UAE claimed five prizes including the #MyDubai initiative in the tourism category. The other winners were the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Public Sector category; the Think Up in the youth category; National

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Summits & awards

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the first Arab Social Media Influencers Summit was held from 17 – 18 of March 2015, making it a unique event in the Arab region for leaders of public opinion on social media platform. The hashtag #ArabSims

started trending on social media even before the kickoff of the Summit.

Dubai hosts the First Arab Social Media Influencers Summit in the region

Issue 137March 2015

The mGovernment Centre of Digital Innovation enhances the security and quality standards of mobile applications

The UAE mGovernment Centre of Digital Innovation (CoDI) includes a smart lab that offers an integrated platform through which various tests for the verification of security and quality standards of mobile applications are performed for government and academic entities, throughout the nation. The services provided by CoDI smart lab check for possible security flaws in applications, as well as compatibility with globally recognized operating systems including “iOS” and “Android”, amongst others.

A rigorous and reliable testing processThe application testing process passes through a

series of stages where they are examined for malicious software and unauthorized communication with other hidden systems before being approved by the official UAE government App Store. Also, an assessment is carried out to check on the application’s level of security through various methods, to ensure alignment with best development practices. One of the aims of these procedures is to safeguard the confidentiality of the user’s data and privacy, to prevent any breaches. The smart lab’s intelligent systems are managed by a team of UAE specialists, knowledgeable in all aspects and stages of the application’s mechanisms and development. After completion of all tests, the applications are then displayed on the official UAE Government App Store, which is available on Apple App Store and Google Play.

“The security and quality standards formulate the foundation of application testing, in order to provide users with a distinctive experience, combining the efficiency and speed to safeguard their data privacy while ensuring continuity in servicing them around the clock,” said H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansouri, TRA Director General.

“Since its launch in October 2014, the CoDI smart lab has witnessed a 23% increase in demand from government entities, for mobile application screenings. We call on all government entities at the local and federal levels, to take advantage of this service for its important role in enhancing the quality of mobile applications and protecting user data privacy,” H.E. added. •

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News

Geographic Abu Dhabi in environment category and ECSSR in the politics category.

Individual Prizes were awarded in 18 sectors: Politics, Health, Education, Private Sector, Media, Tourism, Sports, Technology, Community, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Economy, Blogging, Positivity & Tolerance, Government Sector, Arts and Youth.

The UAE won got two prizes in this category. Dr. Anwar Al Hammadi at DHA won in the health category, while the winner of the Blogs category was won by Abdullah Al Dhaheri for his blog and social media awareness on Down’s Syndrome.

Conference of Influencers in Arab Social Media Platforms

The Conference of Influencers in Arab Social Media Platforms gathered more than 100 Arab social media activists. The conference discussed the most important issues in social media platforms, as well as the latest innovations. Important activists discussed their experiences and expertise in the field of social media, displaying best practices and best uses of their channels.

Social Media Report of the Arab World During the conference, the Arab Social Media Report

was released. A wide perspective of the reality of social media in the Arab World was given through this report. It gave a detailed look on the use of social media channels in different parts of the Arab World. Download the report from this link: www.arabsmis.ae

Buthoor Initiative“Buthoor” is a competition in which entrepreneurs

who seek funding of their social media creative projects compete. The project snackablenews.com won AED 100,000. •

Arab SocialMedia

Report

First Report 2015Prepared by


Excellence

The Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) is considered to be a pedestal for managerial and technical development in Dubai’s governmental entities. So what are the electronic and smart systems used in the program to achieve this?

When it comes to the electronic and smart system on which our program relies, there are many activities and initiatives, in addition to evaluation categories and reports which help the governmental bodies to develop their performance. We have a “smart evaluation management” system, which is a complete system for governmental evaluation. In addition, the “Dubai Smart Training Initiative” is considered to be the first of its kind in the world specialized in government excellence. The initiative includes all Dubai government employees at the first phase of the program using smart devices. It also aims at building strong government human resource abilities to excel in areas of excellence, creativity, quality and government excellence program applications.

On the other hand, we are currently organizing events and activities regarding the program. In addition to gathering data to study customer satisfaction and employing mystery shoppers. We are also strongly engaged in campaigns on social media and our YouTube channel, and a new mobile app is being developed to for our activities, as well as a resource planning system to gather all our services.

From the program’s stand point, where is the transition to smart or eGovernments from the overall excellence evaluation?

There could not be a real transition to a smart government without an electronic infrastructure. The smart channel is just one service channel and we have put the basis for electronic transition and seen some very impressive results. It can be noticed that the transition towards an electronic government has been achieved by over 90%. We have also changed the standards of government excellence in November, 2014 to include the smart government principle. As far as the program is concerned, commitment to the idea of a smart government is a commitment to the leadership’s vision to increase customer satisfaction, as well as increasing the effectiveness and quality of operation and services for various governmental bodies. The program has been measuring the governmental agencies’ excellence in transitioning to eGovernments for more than 10 years and works hand in hand with the Dubai

Hazza Khalfan Al Nuaimi, Senior Manager of Excellence Initiatives at DGEP, stressed on the importance of elevating governmental services in order to guarantee the happiness of society. He also added that he will be working towards achieving Dubai’s status as a leading city which attracts development, creativity and innovation. He reflected on that

and more during an interview with Dubai Smart Government magazine.

Dubai Government Excellence Program consolidates its strategy towards a creative smart government

The Dubai Government Excellence Program aims to spread the culture of merit amongst all the official establishments and governmental apparatus working in Dubai

Issue 137March 2015

Smart Government to develop a reliable measuring tool for the extent of smart transition in governmental agencies.

What is the extent of your cooperation with the Dubai Smart Government in areas of government excellence evaluation?

We have a very strong cooperation with Dubai Smart Government to design government excellence standards which have been modified to include the smart government concept. We are cooperating to design the electronic government excellence and the smart transition government excellence categories and we heavily rely on internal indicators for the evaluation process which the Dubai Smart Government gathers from GUESS, a system for government services. The system has proven to be effective in providing the Dubai Smart Government with the data needed to evaluate the program and guarantee the governmental agencies’ achievements of desired results.

Does the program take into consideration the extent of customer usage of electronic and smart services which different governmental agencies offer, or is it only numbers which are being observed?

In the new standard amendments, we are taking into consideration just how suitable the technologies are for our customers. We also include internal indicators of how much electronic and smart services are integrated. We measure customer satisfaction constantly. Briefly speaking, we do not only take into consideration the numbers of customers but also the standards of the programs in order to achieve the maximum or quality of services.

What are the other possible opportunities for smart and electronic transitions inside the governmental institutions in your opinion?

We believe there is still room for Business Intelligence and Open Data to motivate common creativity and innovation. It can be noticed that some of the applications which were designed by customers for certain governmental bodies were better and offered a faster service than those designed by the bodies themselves. In addition to focusing on operations and the speed of transitioning towards a unified government.

Is electronic integration and correlation considered to be a government excellence standard?

Without a doubt. It is a fundamental part of government service excellence standards and has been developed to guarantee a smart and electronic connection between the new adjustments. In addition to that, transition towards a unified, integrated government is one of the phases of a strong excellence plan which the program has adopted in order to achieve the goals of the initiative which were initially put by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Chairman of the Executive Council at the Government Summit of 2014.

What is the position of the combined government service window for government excellence?

The combined government service window concept is as follows:- We follow the Dubai 2021 strategy.- Cooperation of management in support of joint projects

and simplifying procedures.- Designing integrated customer services.- Electronic payment systems for joint services.

Generally speaking, how do you evaluate Dubai Smart Government’s role? And what do you require from it in order to better your services and role?

Dubai Smart Government’s crucial role appears in the smart transition process through a clear definition of direction for all the governmental bodies, infrastructure standards, communication systems and common services such as ePay. If it weren’t for the efforts of Dubai Smart Government, the governmental bodies would have operated like isolated islands without a unified strategic direction. •

Hazza Khalfan Al Nuaimi, Senior Manager of Excellence Initiatives at DGEP

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Thanks to DSG, there is integration instead of government entities operating as isolated islands


Smart learning

Under the guidance of HE Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of UAEU, the university will not just smart enable their courses, but also expand their library to 300,000 books and 50 million e-books. The university has also entered into more than 150 partnerships for industrial research with the private sector.

And the change will be focused in sectors of Renewable Energy, Transportation, Education, Health, Technology, and Astronomy, in addition to research projects with the budget of AED 113 million.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Al Baily also said that the strategic goals for the next period oblige the university to expand the capabilities of the national cadres in invention and research and encourage creativity in practical training for students, researchers and faculty members.

Al Baily also pointed to the university’s support for research in the last three years, worth approximately AED 113 million. He also declared that the number of researchers in the university would reach 600, working in 100 labs provided by the university, to essential colleges and majors, delivered in very high academic standards.

30 national academic initiatives and 97 projects

Al Baily also announced the launch of 30 national academic initiatives in the last three years, creating sanctuaries for creative minds, and researchers. The university provided 400 fully financed inner research scholarships as well.

Al Baily also said, that the university’s programs for research included 97 projects in 2013 – 2014, worth approximately AED 34 million, in addition to 74 primary research projects worth AED 27 million. •

The United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) continues to blossom with innovation and creativity, under the leadership of HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. According to Professor Mohamed Albaili, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the UAEU will convert about 300 academic courses into smart courses by 2021. Most of the major course changes will be in sectors such as renewable energy, transportation,

education, health, technology and astronomy.

UAE University to launch 300 new smart courses by 2021 as part of UAE Innovation

Issue 137March 2015

Swift inspections and simple procedures

The new invention has the capacity to conduct the whole inspection process in less than three minutes.

The integrated multi functions system is capable of recognising its operator, identifying risk level, recommending the safety level for manual inspection referral, timing the inspection process, generating an inspection end statement (positive/negative), establishing a record of the manually inspected bags, analysing peak times for manual inspection and creating a passengers’ database.

Happiness indicator: a general performance evaluation

“The new smart customs inspection system, which will soon be joining our field operations in Dubai airports, has a spontaneous satisfaction measurement function,

in line with the “Happiness Indicator” initiative launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, back in October 2014,” said Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs.

Encouraging innovation “Dubai Customs is always seeking

to reflect upon the directives of our wise leadership, aimed at making the year 2015 a parade of innovative and creative projects in all aspects of life. The new innovation is just an expression of how keen Dubai Customs and its staff members are on backing the country’s growth in all spheres,” Bin Sulayem commented at the system’s launching.

He also underlined Dubai Customs’ efforts in achieving world-class performance in all of its services and transactions aimed at actuating DC’s vision in becoming ‘The leading customs administration in the world

supporting legitimate trade’. As well, he highlighted DC’s leadership team attentiveness towards implementing all in-house generated innovative ideas, utilizing even the simplest of viable ideas and ultimately concentrating all DC’s internal forces towards one sole goal – to meet the objectives and aspirations of UAE’s vision 2021 and Dubai Plan 2021.

On his part, H.E Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, commended DC employees’ performance and thanked them for their dedication to bringing in new suggestions and ideas in order to create a better working environment and to deliver the finest of services to clients. He also hailed the outstanding role of the Airport Passengers Operation team in providing superior services within a more welcoming environment and a better customs experience for all air travellers. •

H.E. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World and Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation launched the “Smart Customs Inspection System” which is the first of its kind system. It was invented by a Dubai Customs employee to better facilitate the customs inspector’s functions, in a swift and innovative manner and to improve the customs experience for air travellers,

ensuring smooth and seamless airport procedures.

Clearing Dubai Customs at Dubai Airport in 3 minutes only

Move will ease travel and aid in satisfaction of passengers

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Smart customs

Issue 137March 2015

A simple interface with a majestic touchThe red-embroidered interfere was specifically designed

to present all the main historical sites in the country. These areas were placed in shapes of squares stacked on top of each other, giving the user a chance to move them in different directions using the tip of a finger. At the top of the screen, a fixed option button enables the user to read more on the location or get a full-view map of the UAE.

iBeacon technology The application, which is available in both Arabic and

English, uses the iBeacon technology on Android and iOS 7 and iOS8 systems which employs short Bluetooth waves to alert the user of a nearby cultural site. This application

has the ability to show you unexplored sites to satisfy your curiosity.

‘Favourites’ and ‘Reminder’ buttonsImagine going through the application and stumbling

upon an intriguing site. What do you do? Write it on a piece of paper? Certainly not. All you need to do is look at the top of the screen to find the ‘favorites’ button, you click on it and it automatically adds the site you’re interested in visiting to your go to places. And in case you close the application and get on with the day, the ‘Reminder’ option will remind you to go and visit that interesting place in 24 hours. •

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The creativity of governmental sectors in terms of the best mobile service has extended to all the prominent sectors in the country, including culture and heritage, which depend on providing content rich in UAE history and culture in an appealing way. We present the Dubai Culture application, which has won the best award in the “5 Best Smart Government Service Applications” category at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed program for smart governments which is available on iPhones and Android devices. The app is an invitation to get familiar with the legacy of our forefathers, and will

play a role in enriching the knowledge of visitors to Dubai.

App is outstanding in its invitation to Dubai’s heritage

Dubai Culture wins Best Smart Government App Award

Smart apps


Ensuring continuous supply of utilities during your travel out of the country

Cross border services

The core idea of the smart government is providing the customer with the ability to perform governmental transactions at any time, from any location. The ability to obtain these services outside the country represents a real test to determine whether these services are electronic, fully smart, or in need of further development and revision from concerned parties. This article aims to demonstrate the customer’s ability to obtain electronic services from DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) while being outside of the UAE to prevent cutouts due to

delayed bill payments.

First: Green Bill SubscriptionSubscription to the Green Bill service can be done

through DEWA’s website: www.dewa.gov.ae, and is considered to be a valuable initiative by the authority to guarantee the bills reach the customer through emails and text messages, which in turn helps the user to pay the bills to prevent discontinuation of water and electricity services, which are often a result of delayed payments.

In addition to the benefit mentioned above, the Green Bill is also an environmentally friendly solution to prevent cutting down trees and wasting extra papers and all the costly logistic operations that go into delivering the bill to the customer either by mail or other methods. Therefore, this service does not only represent a personal benefit, but a social one as well.

Second: ePayDEWA is considered to be a record-holder when it

comes to providing various methods of payment; it offers a number of easy ways to pay your bills and prevent discontinuation of services, these include:1. Paying bills using your credit cards through DEWA’s

website without extra charges.2. Paying bills using the e-dirham service.3. Paying bills through Dubai Smart Government mPay

smart phone application. 4. Paying bills using DEWA’s smart phone application.

5. Paying bills using the interactive phone service through all the major banks in the UAE.

6. Paying bills using online banking services for most banks outside the country.

7. Paying bills using ATM machines through a number banks.

Third: Service ReactivationIn the worst case scenario, if the customer experiences

service cutoffs due to accumulation of unpaid bills, all the customer needs to do is check the account balance and electronically subscribe to the service before heading home. And in case a notice of service discontinuation has been received, the customer could send a reactivation request through DEWA’s website or smart phone application.

Clean and RenewableDubai Electricity and Water Authority offers an

exceptional service for customers using solar energy generators to prevent power cuts during travels outside the country; it offers a program to redirect excess energy to the main network when it is not in use.

This initiative comes in concordance with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai, which aims to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world, and produce different types of energy in order to reinforce the use of clean, renewable energy sources in hopes of building a sustainable future for the emirate.

Additionally, the initiative aims to encourage home and business owners in Dubai to contribute to the emirate’s vision through solar plate installations on the rooftops of buildings in order to produce their energy needs, which will later be connected to DEWA’s networks. The unused excess energy then will be redirected to the main network.

The authority’s website offers all the necessary explanations and directions in this regard in a number of categories, including: customers, consultants and contractors, and manufacturers. •

Issue 137March 2015

The main screen shows icons for the app’s basic functions

Use and downloadDubai Statistics Center app

The Population Clock shows figures straight from the Dubai Statistics Center database regarding Dubai’s population

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For more information call:

+971 4 436 3300

The Statistical Map shows different areas in Dubai based on residents, education, trade centers and other options

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The Main Indicators option shows information about inflation, the local output, population, and foreign trade statistics

The application is available for download on both App Store and GooglePlay

Apps wizard

March 2015 en

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Transcript of March 2015 en