Dubai: Winners of ‘Data First, The City’s Data Challenge’, which gauges the contribution of each entity in Dubai’s digital transformation, were revealed on Wednesday.
Roads and Transport Authority won ‘Leading Entity in Data Award - Large Entity’, while Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) won ‘Leading Entity in Data Award - Medium and Central Entity’.
The winners were announced by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council. In tweets posted in parallel to an award ceremony organised by Smart Dubai at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Dubai, Shaikh Hamdan announced the highest scoring teams and entities.
Other winners
Winners of the ‘Data Team Awards’ included KHDA for Data Compliance; Dubai Health Authority (DHA) for Performance Development; and Dubai Municipality for ‘Achieving the Highest Percentage As Per KPIs’.
Winners of the ‘Data Champion Awards’ included Dr Mohammad Al Redha from DHA, who was named Best Data Leader; Khoula Al Haddad from DEWA who was named Best Data Administrator; and Tammam Ali from Dubai Land Department who was named Best Data Specialist.
Preparing for the future
On the occasion of the winners’ announcement, Shaikh Hamdan said data is a key pillar in the strategy of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to realise the vision to transform Dubai into one of the world’s smartest cities.
He said the city’s ability to enhance the efficiency of its services and facilities through smart solutions is a key indicator of its readiness in executing Shaikh Mohammad’s vision for preparing the country for greater successes over the next 50 years.
“With the technology and digital revolution transforming the world, data management has become a key driver of the new economy. Being a pioneer in implementing advanced data management is a key element in our strategy of leading the new economy taking shape across the world,” Shaikh Hamdan said.
“Investing in data management is critical for Dubai to achieve its vision of becoming the happiest city in the world and enhancing the UAE’s global competitiveness. It also has a big role in increasing the decision making capabilities of government entities and developing policy and strategic initiatives to achieve the highest levels of efficiency.”
Sheikh Hamdan also said Data First, The City’s Data Challenge is a strategic step in Dubai’s journey to implement new ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ tools and solutions.
The Crown Prince called on the Smart Dubai team to further enhance the Dubai Pulse platform to meet the requirements of the next 50 years.
What were the criteria?
Participating entities were evaluated against five key criteria: Compliance with the Dubai Data Law (from July 2019 – Jan 2020); participation in Smart Dubai Data workshops (which enhances ecosystem engagement); collaboration in response to data requests from other government and semi-government entities; increase in the availability of data sets on Dubai Pulse by participating in ingestion cycles; and support for a data-driven culture through internal and external workshops and awareness programmes.
Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai, said: “Today, we reap the fruits of our close cooperation with leading government entities across the Emirate of Dubai, who have worked diligently with us to ensure they are in full compliance with the Dubai Data Policies. Our wise leadership has placed high priority on the sector, calling for the establishment and administration of data platforms, populated with data from government and private entities to support the city’s smart-city transformation.”
Smart Dubai launched the six-month-long Challenge in July 2019 to encourage its data partners to expedite their efforts to collect and share data.
The Challenge was held over a period of six months, during which the Smart Dubai Department held four workshops to help participating entities accelerate their progress towards realising the award’s criteria.
