Dubai’s centralised e-services platform achieves remarkable growth in 2009
February 3, 2010
Dubai eGovernment has announced that there has been a significant increase in adoption of electronic services in 2009 compared to the previous year as Dubai eGovernment continues to focus on enhancing service quality, expanding automation of government services and sustaining the electronic transformation of the government. Dubai eGovernment further revealed that the positive results reflect the success of the projects and initiatives launched by the Department in 2009 in coordination with other departments of Dubai Government.
Recent statistics show that a total of AED 1.5 billion was collected from 1.4 million transactions that were processed in 2009 using Dubai eGovernment’s electronic payment gateway, which is a secure and reliable platform for online payments. This means an increase of AED 500 million from the previous year in which Dubai eGovernment collected AED 1 billion from around 1 million transactions. The increase was achieved despite the fact that the number of departments adopting the electronic payment gateway in 2009 has remained the same at 22.
The payment service allows customers, whether an individual, company or department, to process payments through three methods: credit cards, e-Dirham and direct debit from the customer’s account, which greatly saves time and effort while helping reduce long queues in government departments.
Direct debit from the customer’s account is available in three national banks: Commercial Bank of Dubai, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Union National Bank. The service will also be soon available through two other banks – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank– pursuant to an agreement signed by Dubai eGovernment with both banks during GITEX 2009.
Commenting on the positive results, Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director-General, Dubai eGovernment, said: “Our strategy is to establish a centralised platform in providing e-services as we are strongly committed to support the gradual digital transformation of Dubai and the entire UAE. This strategy contributes in the development of innovative channels that assist government departments in providing e-services to customers in a smooth, easy and effective manner. It also strengthens communication lines and collaboration among government departments in Dubai, with the understanding that each department plays an important role in satisfying the needs and requirements of customers, whether UAE nationals or residents of Dubai. The positive results that we achieved in 2009 reflect the trust and confidence of the public in Dubai eGovernment. We are also keen on developing new solutions and e-services and cultivating best practices in accordance with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President a
nd Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to build an integrated knowledge-based community.”
“Our plans and strategies for 2010 include the continued development of e-service platforms and increasing the level of efficiency of e-services to satisfy the expectations of customers, whether government departments, individuals or companies. In addition, we aim to include more government departments and agencies in Dubai and achieve integration in the delivery of services through a unified platform, which we believe will contribute significantly to realising the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015,” Bin Humaidan added.
Dubai eGovernment stated that the number of government departments participating in the eSurvey service, which electronically reviews public opinion regarding the services offered by government departments, has increased to 35 departments in 2009 compared to 29 in 2008. Furthermore, the performance indicators showed that the total number of respondents from different social classes who took part in the survey grew fourfold from 6,500 in 2008 to more than 27,000 in 2009.
Dubai eGovernment also offers the SMS gateway service “mDubai” wherein SMS is sent to and from the number “4488.” The service has two sections: notification or “Push” service and the enquiry or “Pull” service. Push service allows government departments to send information or notifications in the form of an SMS to the mobile phones of government customers. The Pull service allows the public to ask any participating government department for relevant information or enquire about the progress of any transaction. A total of 124 government and non-government organisations in Dubai have registered for the mDubai service.
There has been an increase in the volume of messages that were sent and received through the mDubai service, with an estimated 10 million notifications sent in 2009 compared with 3.25 million messages in 2008, and more than 113,000 enquiries received in 2009 compared with 50,000 in 2008.
On the other hand, the total number of incoming calls received through the “Ask Dubai” service has greatly increased, reaching more than 200,000 calls in 2009 compared with around 162,000 in 2008. Being offered in three languages (Arabic, English and Urdu), Ask Dubai is a unified contact centre that operates as a 24-hour hot line, responding to enquiries about 313 services provided by 14 local government departments.
Dubai eGovernment has also disclosed that the “eComplain” service, a 24-hour online platform for users to voice out their thoughts about the different e-services, has recorded a decrease in the number of complaints in 2009. There were a total of 17,000 complaints in 2009, of which 11,500 were fully solved, compared with 54,000 complaints in 2008, of which 49,000 were solved.
Dubai eGovernment’s comprehensive portal (www.dubai.ae) allows citizens, residents, visitors and businesses to access more than 2,000 eServices, such as payment of municipality fees, visa applications for relatives, health card renewal, company registration, and payments for Roads and Transport Authority fines, among others.
Dubai eGovernment has announced the launch of its popular instant information service on Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2010 events through mDubai, providing the public with a reliable, up-to-date communication platform about the daily activities related to Dubai’s annual shopping extravaganza. mDubai is an innovative communication channel that facilitates interaction between the public and government departments via SMS.
Dubai eGovernment concluded the online activities of the Modhesh website which operated throughout the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) 2009, during a ceremony held on 6th August 2009 at Modhesh Fun City. 
