Dubai: The launch of Dubai as a Smart City will begin a new era of connectivity within the city, empowering its people through provision of real-time unprecedented access to government services and facilities right at their fingertips.
The initiative is a huge leap from the city’s former e-Government system, launched in 2001, which provided an online presence to all government departments. The e-Government system linked government departments with their clients through online portals, enabling the public to transact with government departments online. The system reduced the need to physically visit government offices.
Two years after the e-Government service was launched, Dubai saw a host of innovative services expanding its coverage to include services such as e-Library, e-Job and AskDubai, which allowed the public to send queries to concerned government departments via their online portals. These services complemented the portfolio of 600 online services already being offered by the government at that time.
Seven years later, in 2008, Dubai launched its service called “mPay,” a mobile payment service designed to allow electronic recharge of Salik accounts. The service later included other services such as payment of traffic fines.
By May this year, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the post e-Government era with the launch of the ‘Mobile Government’ (m-Government) initiative. This marked a significant breakthrough in the continuous delivery of government services to the public through their mobile phones, anytime, anywhere.
Springboard
The m-Government initiative served as the springboard of the Smart City initiative this year as more and more of Dubai’s residents are becoming smartphone users. In June, Shaikh Mohammad announced the official migration of Dubai’s e-Government system to Smart government.
With the new Smart City project, Dubai aims to join the likes of other Smart Cities around the globe that provide non-stop connections between its people and its government departments. A smart city is one that extensively uses information and communications technologies, including mobile networks, to improve the quality of life of its citizens in a sustainable way, according to GSMA, an organisation which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide.
