Dubai e-Government highlights the importance of technological expertise in its initiatives

The delegation comprised of 20 graduate trainees from the Self-Access Technology Center, which is part of the Student Affairs sector at the university, accompanied by Amel Saber A. Al Aziz, Computer Engineer and Head of the Center. The group was briefed on the objective, overview and strategy of Dubai e-Government and its various initiatives, and was later taken on a tour of the Data Center at Dubai Internet City.

"Dubai's e-Government is a pioneering concept in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It aims to integrate individually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the e-government portal, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government," said Salem Al Shair, Director, e-Services Dubai e-Government. "Dubai e-Government is indeed a perfect illustration of technology being utilized to the maximum in facilitating the lives of its users. The initiative has gone a long way towards enhancing the levels of efficiency in government transactions and has drastically reduced costs," he added.

"We are very pleased to have been given the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the various initiatives undertaken by Dubai e-Government. Technology has made giant strides. It was a moment of great pride to witness its diverse range of uses which will certainly reduce red tape and leave us with more time which can be used constructively," said Amel Saber A. Al Aziz. "The Self-Access Technology Center, which is part of the UAE University, stresses on the importance and relevance of technology. Its main objective is to create maximum awareness of the Internet and allow students to utilize technology in different avenues. In addition to providing students with first-hand knowledge about Dubai e-Government, this visit will enable us to create further awareness about the various initiatives among other students," she added.

The presentation, made by Yousef Khalili Community Outreach & Marketing Manager and Dr Fawaz Hazza Abu Sitta, Senior Business Process Re-engineering Consultant, Dubai e-Government, focused on the e-Government portal from a technical perspective. Dr Abu Sitta emphasised the technical integration and architecture of the portal with particular emphasis on integration between departments with regard to services.

"We live in a world where technology is rapidly undergoing a major transformation. In an effort to keep up with the swift development, we ensure that our systems are constantly up-to-date and provide continuous uninterrupted assistance to residents across all levels in the emirate," said Khalili, during the presentation to the students. "We are working closely with the Abu Dhabi government as they too launch significant electronic initiatives in addition to sharing our experiences with them so as to ensure that they do not face the same problems," he added.

Khalili emphasized the technical aspect of Dubai e-Government and explained that every government department is connected to a single network called the Government Information Network (GIN) which provides network connectivity, inter-departmental connectivity as well as Internet access to and from the department. "Our sophisticated security system is of the highest quality. In fact Data Center, at Dubai Internet City is secured from even the most ferocious natural disaster. Our system is so well developed that we can predict when the portal is being hacked," Khalili said commenting on the security aspect.

"The Community Outreach Program creates widespread awareness about the Dubai e-Government services. A comprehensive marketing plan will be initiated in April, targeting the entire UAE so as to spearhead the awareness campaign," he said.