Dubai Development Board signs MoU with Dubai eGovernment to offer eServices

The MoU was signed recently by Mr. Ahmed Al Matrooshi, Director General, Dubai Development Board, and Mr. Salem Al-Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment.

The MoU will allow Dubai Development Board to leverage Dubai eGovernment's highly advanced and fully integrated services platform to deliver services to end-users, including a network of landlords responsible for constructing housing units and tenants.

At the signing ceremony, which was attended by senior officials from Dubai Development Board and Dubai eGovernment, beside Al Matrooshi and Al-Shair, the two sides discussed at length the coordination and cooperation needed to maximize the returns from the application of new technology from the Dubai eGovernment portal
(www.dubai.ae).

Mr. Matrooshi suggested the development of a property portal that would promote not only housing units of the government sector but also of private sector real estate developers and marketers. He stressed the need for a single channel access to save time for the community and increase efficiency.

"As the only one of its kind housing and community development agency in the UAE offering finance at competitive rates, Dubai Development Board has been tasked with the responsibility of managing the financing of rental units for the middle and low income families to strike a balance in the real estate sector," said Al Matrooshi. "This entails constant and complex interaction with landlords and tenants and involves interaction with both UAE nationals and expatriates. The newly signed MoU will allow us access to the highly developed eServices of Dubai eGovernment, with the aim of enhancing the standards of service and automating many of our processes that are currently done manually."

"We are extremely pleased to integrate with Dubai eGovernment's IT platform. We know that this step will help us to eliminate delays, accelerate the pace of construction through more effective supervision and introduce more systematic and automated procedures for the improvement of overall productivity," Al Matrooshi added. "This partnership will bring us closer to fulfilling the Dubai government's vision of easing the lives of citizens through electronic channels."

The MoU aims to prioritise DDB services and create new eService related business processes to ensure successful and timely delivery of housing. Both parties have agreed to a well-defined project plan that includes the scope of the project, milestones and deliverables, as well as consisting of a steering committee and program management office to ensure the success of the project.

"The partnership between Dubai Development Board and Dubai eGovernment reflects the growing conviction among government organizations that electronic delivery of services is the answer to the requirements of today's community and businesses," said Salem Al-Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment. "As the main body overseeing the development of property rentals in Dubai for the general community, Dubai Development Board is challenged by the size and scale of operations. Dubai eGovernment has built a state-of-the-art infrastructure that integrates the services of all government bodies, allowing each of them to leverage leading edge solutions to improve customer service and permit online transactions. We are positive that many other departments will join our eServices platform in the near future."

DDB principally grants UAE nationals' special interest-free loans to invest in land and build affordable, good quality rental units for middle and low-income citizens. The Board's diverse functions include administration of lease operations, maintenance of rental units and conducting socio-economic studies with the overall objective of promoting healthy living conditions for tenants. Some 800 new units are added every year to its portfolio.