Also signs agreement with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to offer direct debit payment facility
Dubai eGovernment announced today (Wednesday, January 30, 2008) the signing of agreements with key government departments and organisations to introduce several of its electronic services in various government departments, to simplify and automate essential processes.
During the press conference held at the Emirates Towers Hotel, hosted by long term-partner eHosting DataFort (eHDF), Dubai eGovernment announced its partnership with Dubai Municipality, Dubai Customs, Dubai Police and Adobe Systems Incorporated, to launch the 'e-Permits' solution aimed at facilitating faster release of shipments coming into Dubai through different ports. The e-Permit Project has strong backing and sponsorship from the Ministry of Governmental Sector Development, while the Ministry of Finance will handle revenue collection. SOMAC Information Technology, Adobe's Middle East distributor, is using the Adobe LiveCycle Enterprise Suite to implement the e-Permit solution, which will automate the process of restricted goods permit and allow those involved in the import and export business in Dubai faster access and support.
Speaking at the press conference, Salem Al Shair, Director eServices, Dubai eGovernment, said, "We are pleased to launch the e-Permit service together with our partners, and we are very positive about the extensive adoption and success of the service in Dubai, which is one of the busiest import and export points in the Middle East. Through the e-Permit solution, an initial estimate of approximately 6,000 transactions can be completed online, with a growth rate of 5-15 per cent every month."
Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, said, "I appreciate Dubai eGovernment's role in establishing the modern concept of using ICT to offer government services to individuals, and government and private entities in order to ease people's lives in Dubai. This goal has been achieved in the framework of integration and coordination between Dubai eGovernment and all the departments under the umbrella of Dubai Government. The vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of providing 90 per cent of Dubai government services electronically has been achieved, and the ePermits project has perfectly complemented this vision as it saves time and effort, while offering enhanced security for transactions in Dubai."
H.E. Khaled Al Boustani, Assistant Undersecretary for Resources & Budget, Ministry of Finance and Industry, said, "We commend this important step of launching the e-Permit solution, which will further boost the efficiency of eGovernment services in line with the federal government strategy announced by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which urges all parties concerned to work together to maximise cooperation between institutions in the federal government and local governments."
Dubai Municipality issues more than 10 permits related to the control of goods in and out of Dubai. The shipments that arrive in Dubai are subject to checking by different departments such as Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality. After the implementation of the e-Permit solution, these permits will be unified and sent to Dubai Customs electronically. Thus, customers applying for permits will have their shipments released - upon completion of necessary inspections - without having to obtain the permits manually from various departments.
"Today, interactive government and citizens' engagement have become a priority for organisations and governments. LiveCycle ES leverages the reach of Adobe PDF and Flash technologies and enables a new class of customer engagement applications, which Dubai eGovernment needs to help government entities create as well as deliver rich applications and processes that extend beyond the Dubai eGovernment enterprise," said Giuseppe Verrini, Adobe Managing Director for Southern Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. "The solution will also help improve the efficiency of Dubai eGovernment operations and enable faster transition and services."
During the press conference, Dubai eGovernment also announced the signing of an agreement with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) to offer the direct debit payment facility to account holders of the bank. The direct debit service is part of Dubai eGovernment's ePay initiative and is based on a proven and secure payments platform. It facilitates direct debit payments for businesses and individuals from their accounts, through self-initiated, bank-authenticated online banking channels, using the standard Internet banking infrastructure of banks. ADCB account holders can now initiate payments online through the service provider website and the final authentication will be carried out by the bank online.
Jasem Al Darmaki, Head of Government Relations at ADCB, said, "We are pleased to have entered into this partnership with Dubai eGovernment to make the electronic direct debit services available to all our corporate and retail customers. Our customers should enjoy the full benefits of paying their Dubai Government-related fees online, using a secure and robust payment infrastructure. This should also bolster Dubai eGovernment's initiative of providing high quality and value-added services to the public."
Dubai eGovernment also renewed its partnership with eHosting DataFort and Bahwan CyberTek, during the press conference. Bahwan CyberTek, a specialist IT consultancy and solution provider, has been working with Dubai eGovernment since 2001 to develop its ePay service.
"The agreement we signed today with Dubai eGovernment will further scale ePay to support multiple payment gateways, as an additional consolidation layer is being introduced at the acquiring end to cater to the needs of the private sector. We are also enhancing features to support pervasive channels for increased citizen convenience," said Mr. Narendar, Executive Vice President - ME Operations, Bahwan CyberTek.
On the other hand eHosting DataFort, the regional leader in managed hosting and IT security, is currently responsible for managed security; application support; networking and capacity considerations; and the management of outsourced data centre operations such as new equipment, cabling, and applications, for Dubai eGovernment.
Commenting on the partnership with Dubai eGovernment, Mohammad Fouz, CEO of eHosting DataFort, said, "eHosting DataFort is delighted to share its expertise with Dubai eGovernment for enhancing and expanding their core network and storage to service provider class, while reducing both the capital expenditure and operational expenses of installing and managing such a scalable service delivery platform. We believe that our partnership will provide other government entities, businesses and individuals, a user-friendly and secure platform for conducting daily transactions more efficiently and conveniently."
"These partnerships will go a long way in complementing Dubai eGovernment's efforts of creating a robust knowledge-based digital economy with high quality eServices, and we look forward to working closely with our partners to achieve our goals, both short term and long term," concluded Al Shair.
-Ends-
Editor's Note:
Dubai eGovernment is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrate
individually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the eGovernment initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying eGovernment applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens. The eGovernment portal (www.dubai.ae) is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the eGovernment initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximizing the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease.
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© Press Release 2008
