DM showcases latest projects at GITEX

As part of its participation in GITEX 2007, Dubai Municipality presented some of its key projects and services during the three days of the event.

'Electronic maps offer full fledged geospatial capabilities in an easy to use framework to both developers of government services and their users," said Manal Al Shamlan, Head of GIS Development Section.

She said it is an electronic service that offers an interactive, comprehensive and high quality map consisting of geographic features and attributes for the Emirate of Dubai.

"One of the key features of this service is that it adds a significant quality to the electronic services and desktop applications. The service can be incorporated within any e-service or any application without the need for prior knowledge of GIS application programming," said Al Shamlan.

Dubai Municipality's risk-based "General Inspection and Fines Solution," based on jadian's software was also showcased in GITEX this year. The system is designed to automate inspection and compliance processes and improve the quality of services provided to constituents.

The system enables the Public Health Department in the Municipality to focus on high-risk, poor performing establishments through more frequent inspections, thus better focusing its resources.

Jerry Norris, President and CEO of jadian enterprises gave a talk on the project. Key discussion points included the use of a risk based inspection model to allocate resources, using handheld computers for remote data collection, and integrations with other systems such as e-Government.

Dubai Municipality engages in a wide variety of health protection activities at over 93,000 different business establishments, including food inspections, swimming pool permitting, pest control, veterinarian licensing, the monitoring of health and medical clinics, and general environmental protection (air and water quality).

Dubai Municipality's 130 inspectors currently operate the bilingual software in a wireless environment using rugged handheld computers. Each inspector conducts an average of six inspections per day, which equates to almost 800 inspections per day or 175,000 annually. Companies found in violation are issued fines and ordered to correct the problems in order to ensure public health.

Another highlight of the Municipality's participation in the event was the project by the Information Technology Department, Arabian Centre of Excellence (ACE) in IT service management.

The Municipality announced its intention to become a centre of excellence in IT Service Management to underpin the significant growth in the Municipality's services, driven by Dubai's emergence as a destination of choice for business and tourism.

Project ACE is an ambitious programme to become a world class IT service provider within 2 years. The scope of the programme is all the IT Services of the Dubai Municipality IT Department.

Specific benefits of the programme include increased capacity to deliver increasing numbers of Innovative services, greater responsiveness to business change, optimised levels of IT service availability, reduced cost of operation and exceptional levels of customer satisfaction.
Andy Evans, Programme Director for Project ACE delivered a presentation on the project at GITEX.
The Municipality also promoted www.wildlife.ae, an initiative of its Acting Director General, Eng. Hussain Lootah. The project, which is being implemented in association with Photint Venture Group, presents the Ras Al Khor wildlife sanctuary in the most visually exciting manner possible.