26 government departments to take part in GITEX under Dubai eGovernment umbrella

The Dubai eGovernment stand will be 150 per cent bigger than last year's.

The 26 participating departments will showcase over 1000 services that are currently available through electronic channels, indicating remarkable progress since GITEX 2003 when around 600 services were available online.

The announcement came after a meeting presided by Dubai eGovernment's Project Manager for GITEX, Marwan Al Naqi, with all the participating government departments in GITEX, with the objective of enhancing public exposure to various eServices offered by government organisations through the unified portal www.dubai.ae.

'It is indeed a matter of great pride that all 26 government departments are participating in the region's prestigious IT fair under Dubai eGovernment umbrella. As a result, we have considerably expanded the size of our stand to accommodate such a large number of participants,' said Salem Al Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment. 'We believe that the visitors GITEX attracts are the ones who have the ability to understand fully the concept of eServices and apply it at the professional and personal levels. Our participation in GITEX is part of our Community Outreach Program that is designed to introduce our eServices to all segments of society.'

Among the departments that will be demonstrating a wide range of online services at the Dubai eGovernment stand at GITEX Dubai 2004 are Dubai Police, Al-Awqaf Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai Development Board, Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department, e-TQM College, The Land Department, Dubai Transport, Dubai Real Estate Department, Dubai Civil Aviation, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Labour, Department of Economic Development, Tanmia, Dubai Civil Defence, Dubai Justice Department, Dubai Government Workshop, Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Department of Information, and Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority. Also participating for the first time will be the Dubai Ports and Customs Free Zone Corporation, the Dubai Airport and Free Zone Authority, Dubai Quality Group and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

'Various departments have been adding several new services to our centralised portal since our last participation in GITEX Dubai. Many of them have acquired greater expertise in delivering eServices. All these developments will be reflected in our participation in GITEX 2004,' said Al Shair. 'Visitors will be encouraged to try out the different services under the guidance of experts from the respective departments, as well as from Dubai eGovernment.'

Among the key services highlighted at Dubai eGovernment's GITEX stand will be ePay, AskDubai, mDubai, eJob, eEmployee, eLearn and eLibrary.

Visitors will be able to watch demonstrations of ePay, the secure online payment channel that allows people to make online payments for public utilities, various services and fines, without any user or processing fee. ePay allows registered users to pay for public services through eDirham card or credit cards.

Also highlighted at GITEX will be mDubai, which allows departments to deliver SMS messages to its database of customers using the Dubai eGovernment messaging gateway. It also enables departments to publish content to the WAP using Dubai eGovernment content management system. Dubai eGovernment is keen to promote mDubai more aggressively as nearly 70 per cent of the UAE population owns mobile phones and WAP subscribers have registered a growth of 20 per cent in 2003.

Dubai eGovernment will spotlight the certification program, eEmployee, which has been developed by the European Computer Driving Licence Foundation, the recognised standard for computer literacy in over 120 countries and is endorsed by UNESCO for all Arabic speaking countries. eEmployee is a double certification program that combines ICDL-Start certification with three additional courses of instruction selected by eGovernment to meet the specific needs of Dubai Government.

The interactive services provided by Dubai eGovernment's call centre AskDubai will also be highlighted, including easy access via phone, fax or email, all 24 hours of the day.

Dubai eGovernment will also provide insights into eLearn, a project aimed at delivering online training services to government departments, residents and businesses. The eLearn project presents learning opportunities that are an integral part of each participant's learning experience, where everyone has the chance to learn and improve his technical and business capabilities, regardless of his skills.

'GITEX Dubai will highlight Dubai eGovernment's pivotal role as a facilitator of eServices, integrating the various services of the different government departments and making them accessible to the public through best of breed systems and solutions. It will also demonstrate the commitment of each department in achieving the objective of migrating the bulk of service to electronic channels in shortest possible time,' added Al Shair. 'We are positive that visitors to our stand will gain new insights into our achievements in leveraging cutting edge technology to simplify and speed up government transactions and eliminating the need for physical visits to various departments.'