New data law to allow sharing of non-confidential government data

Dubai: A new law issued on Saturday by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to allow sharing non-confidential government data with the private sector in order to complete the legislative framework for turning Dubai into a Smart City.

The Dubai Data law will help create opportunities for collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship between government and nongovernment entities, which would in turn increase the competitiveness of data providers on the local, regional and international levels.

The new law will ensure that Dubai government departments’ non-confidential data will be accessible to researchers, investors, service developers via an integrated platform that enable o have access to these information.

It defines clear rules and mechanisms that obligate all government departments to share their data with each other in order to unify Dubai data and provide unified and integrated services to the public.

The law will allow decision makers in all departments involving in economic, social, planning and construction sectors to have a clear overall picture, thus helping them to take the right decisions.

It will also facilitate the process of obtaining data for Smart cities, which rely mainly on data and internet cloud computing technology to implement advanced infrastructure comes. The law was developed to achieve a qualitative leap in the digital economy and e-smart services.

The law aims to help authorities in the preparation of policies and implementation of plans and initiatives efficiently and effectively as well as achieve significant savings in investments in infrastructures. It will also enable the emirate to achieve its vision of making a Dubai a city that can manage data according to clear and specific methodology consistent with international best practices.

It will also help achieve integration and harmony between services provided by federal and local government agencies and the ensure optimum utilisation of the available data, increase transparency in the exchange of data, and establish of governance rules in the dissemination and exchange of data, increase the efficiency of services provided by government terms of quality and speed of delivery, and simplify procedures and reduce operating cost level and agencies.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, has issued a new resolution regarding the setting up of a committee on open data for the Dubai.

This decision aims to integrate data services in Dubai and balance access to information with the need to maintain privacy. The commission will seek to implement the flow of information in Dubai and develop a framework for open data and data classification, as well as prioritise mechanisms for issuance, dissemination and exchange of data.