Dubai eGovernment calls for strategic partnerships

"eGovernments need to develop clear objectives inspired by the needs of customers, by observing the ground reality and tailoring solutions for individual needs," said Salem Al-Shair, Director of e-Services, Dubai eGovernment.

Delivering the keynote presentation on 'eGovernment in the Fast Lane' at the HP Roundtable on 'Milestones on the way to the Information Society' recently held in Dubai, Al-Shair focussed on the key objectives and values that drive the development of Dubai eGovernment and called for strategic partnerships between government departments and knowledge-based enterprises to enhance the value of e-offerings.

Defining Dubai eGovernment as an ongoing project in the fast lane, Al-Shair said: "Developing strategic partnerships between government and knowledge-based enterprises is a key factor in increasing IT penetration in society, leading to greater economic progress," said Al-Shair. "Dubai eGovernment has successfully implemented this principle by leveraging the expertise of established IT players to add value to its community outreach programmes. The most recent example of this collaboration is the launch of "e4all", a joint initiative between Dubai eGovernment, Intel and other leading IT and business players, designed to educate the public and the private sectors on e-Services through classroom and online learning."

Briefly recounting Dubai's experience, Al-Shair said Dubai eGovernment had successfully migrated to the next level of governance by investing in leading edge Information Technology and enhancing the delivery of services to citizens, opening improved channels of interaction and optimising processes.

"Outsourcing is another area that has become essential to the success of any project, specially eGovernment's, because it allows organisations to concentrate on their core competencies, while leaving the more sophisticated or specialised jobs to the experts. Our recent MOU with the eHosting Centre at the Dubai Internet City to host our data centre is a good example of this trend. The eHosting Centre, is strategically placed to help us provide sophisticated e-Services to our users, through its highly reliable, competitive, high performing and cost-effective managed hosting infrastructure, comparable to the finest in the world," Al-Shair added.

Key officials attended the HP Roundtable on the Information Society from the Dubai government departments and representatives of the IT industry.

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