Dubai: Emiratis and expatriates will be able to access hundreds of Dubai government services through a new web portal unveiled on Sunday.
When the services go online, Dubai government expects 80 million fewer car trips by motorists running errands in the next four years, thanks to Smart Dubai’s “Dubai Pulse” online portal. It will enable internet users to conduct transactions with government as well as the private sector with the click of a mouse or smartphone, said government officials.
The Dubai Pulse portal will help in Smart Dubai’s online offering of 137 smart initiatives and 1,129 smart services to individuals to pay fines, find government forms, renew licences and documents or search for vacant properties. It will collate data gathered from the Internet of Things, a term used to describe a digital network of sensors installed on roads, municipal offices, buildings or in digital devices such as smartphones, and make it available online for visitors.
Under a new Smart Dubai 2021 initiative launched on Sunday by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, at the Future Now exhibit in Dubai Design District, he pledged to move to a 100 per cent digital future within four years leading to the Dubai Government issuing “its last paper transaction in 2021.”
Heads of most major government departments attended the event.
After touring the Smart Dubai-hosted exhibit, Shaikh Hamdan said the launch marks “the beginning of a new phase — Smart Dubai 2021 — that revolves around challenging ourselves and surpassing our own previous achievements. We are looking to build a truly smart city, one that uses technology as the key to a balanced and happy life.”
He called the Dubai Pulse online platform a “backbone of Dubai’s transformation and shift towards smart technologies.”
Shaikh Hamdan ordered all government departments to begin populating the platform with data starting on Sunday.
“Today, in the era of Big Data, it is essential to have a central platform to house all of the government’s data, a platform that taps into the potential of artificial intelligence to spread happiness among the people,” he said.
Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director-General of the Smart Dubai Office, told a large crowd that the Smart Dubai 2021 action plan and Dubai Pulse portal will make life better.
“Smart Dubai 2021 is our action plan for the near future as we work to transform Dubai into a fully smart city with smart government services that make people’s lives and business dealings easier,” Bin Bishr said.
In an interview with Gulf News at the launch, Bin Bishr said the Dubai Pulse online platform will help relieve some of the daily stress in residents’ lives by giving online visitors the ability to pay and do errands online, reducing the number of physical trips across the city.
“Imagine yourself living in Dubai, you have kids, you want to register them in school, do health checks — you can do them all online at one touch, that will make you happy,” said Bin Bishr. “You become more mindful of what’s happening around you. You know what are the things, events happening next week.”
“What we are trying to is put people in more mindful situations so that they can plan their lives and be more happy,” Bin Bishr told Gulf News.
Smart Dubai 2021 calls for intelligent use of ICT to transform the city’s core components, which include six main pillars from government, companies and society to individuals, resources, and infrastructure. The imitative will digitise 100 per cent of government services and eliminate the need for physical visits to customer service centres.
Dubai Pulse, meanwhile, is the first stage of the planned Smart Dubai Platform, an interactive data board for the city of Dubai, accessible to the public, the business sector, and all decision makers.
It publishes up-to-date information about various metrics related to the city including traffic, transport, the economy, social welfare, health care, and education, in addition to innovative entertainment and tourism services, such as smart restaurants, aviation services, and traffic systems. Smart sensors distributed throughout the city will ensure these services are provided seamlessly, allowing all residents to connect with their city.
www.smartdubai.ae
Benefits that the platform will deliver for the city in the near future include:
— For a city planner, directing operational cost-savings into data-driven research and development.
— For a mother, checking health data from her child’s school to determine if a flu vaccination is required.
— For a father, reviewing household energy consumption to conserve resources and save money for a family vacation.
— For a tourist, utilising the live public transportation data to make the most out of his time spent in the city.
— And for all commuters, enjoying reduced traffic congestion as more and more services are transacted online.
Source: Smart Dubai Office
