DubaiNow: Sheikh Hamdan directs government entities to provide services through app

DUBAI: A total of 88 Dubai Government services are now being provided through a single digital application – DubaiNow, thanks to the Dubai Paperless Strategy.

Hailing the progress of the strategy, His Highness Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Dubai, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, said: “I have overseen the progress of the Dubai Paperless Strategy over the past two years and have now directed all government entities to work with Smart Dubai and ensure all digital government consumer services are delivered via DubaiNow, gradually eliminating all individual entity applications.

Dubai citizens and residents have been able to transact over Dh4 billion worth of transactions on the DubaiNow app so far.

“I am proud of the accomplishments of my team who have successfully delivered on their challenge of transforming Dubai Government to become paperless. The inter-government cooperation between Smart Dubai and 15 partnering entities to provide government services digitally is testament to Dubai’s firm belief in what a city can achieve in less than two years with to strong collaborations.

“I would like to applaud the 15 entities who have supported the Dubai Paperless Strategy so far. To achieve our goals of becoming 100 per cent paperless by December 12, 2021, I urge all remaining Dubai Government entities to collaborate with Smart Dubai and support the Dubai Paperless Strategy by going paperless and digitising all transactions.

“Smart Dubai and its government partners have succeeded in their efforts towards leading the Dubai Paperless Strategy. Dubai citizens and residents have transacted Dh4 billion on DubaiNow.”

Reliable platform

Dr Aisha bint Butti bin Bishr, director general of Smart Dubai, expressed her gratitude to Shaikh Hamdan for his support and follow up on the progress of the implementation of the Dubai Paperless Strategy.

“Under the guidance of HH Shaikh Hamdan, we will continue to work with all Dubai Government entities to accelerate our transition to fully paperless transactions. Being challenged by our leadership is a daily experience in Dubai. Where leaders across the globe are still unsure on how to make their cities fully paperless, we in Dubai have achieved great results thanks to the vision of our leadership and support of our government partners. We hope our achievements will act as a benchmark for all other cities wishing to implement their respective paperless strategies,” she said.

“Through its seamless user experience and resilient infrastructure, DubaiNow has proven itself to be a reliable single platform to digitally access all Dubai Government services.

“We estimate that with the 88 government services now being offered digitally via Dubai Now, we will save 28 hours per user, in addition to also eliminating the need for 14 visits to government services centres,” she added.

In line with the Dubai Paperless Strategy, after 2021, government entities will no longer issue or request paper documents from customers for any transaction, while government employees will also stop issuing or processing paper in key or supporting internal operations.

The implementation of the strategy will eliminate the use of over one billion pieces of paper per year, saving 130,000 trees. This is all in addition to saving Dubai’s residents and visitors 40 hours per year, and also saving the city Dh900 million that would have been spent executing paper transactions.

15 entities on board

The 15 entities that have made significant progress on their digital transformation as part of the Dubai Paperless Strategy are: