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The event is launched in concurrence with Innovation & Knowledge Week
Roads & Transport Authority - Nashwan Atta'ee: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai announced the launch of a contest oriented towards students of universities and institutes across the UAE inviting them to submit proposals for applications capable of supporting different RTA services aimed at providing public transport services to various community segments. The launch of the contest concurs with the start of the Innovation & Knowledge Week 2015.
To this effect the RTA hosted yesterday at its Head Office a gathering for a number of representatives of universities and institutes in the UAE in the presence of the Head and Members of the team supervising the implementation of the comprehensive roadmap set for RTA's transition to the smart government. The two parties discussed all information related to the contest including conditions, time chart, and types of apps solicited from students as well as other important information and details. Also, attending the meeting were Abdulla Al Madani, CEO of Corporate Support Services Sector and Abdulla Al Bastaki, Director of RTA's Information Technology.
Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, Head of RTA's Team Supervising the Transition to the Smart Government cum CEO of Licensing Agency at the RTA, explained that the contest would run over three weeks where students of universities and institutes would be engaged in developing a host of ideas & concepts for setting up & designing a host of smart apps. The best of these apps will be selected for addition to the array of smart services offered by the RTA to various community segments.
"The RTA has opted to avail the public, particularly university students, the opportunity to experiment its smart apps such that these youths can grasp a feel & look of the features and benefits of these smart services with the aim of embedding the culture of using smart services, and using mass transit means by this important community segment. Moreover, through this experiment, the RTA will be able to identify the points of strength and weakness by analyzing feedbacks, ideas and deliverables of experiments, which would be developed by varsity students.
"Through this contest, we are aiming to broaden the channels of joint cooperation with varsity students such that they can contribute to smart apps in support of RTA's service offering as well as the transition towards the smart government. This can be undertaken through upgrading innovative apps using Application Program Interfaces (APIs), and contributing viable practical proposals, which would bring about an added value to the open strategy of the RTA in the field of APIs for smart programs. The contest also aims to render the RTA the first government entity that applies the APIs.
"Submittals made by students to this contest should include real time transportation information, inquiry about Nol card balance, filing a complaint or suggestion to the RTA, accessing information about the GIS relating to the Metro Stations, public transport stops, and statistical information of the Dubai Metro and Tram.
"We have set a timetable for running this contest where registration will start from March 10th and continue up to April 15th this year, and the contest will run from May 10th, and three winners will be announced."
"We, at the RTA, are working tirelessly to broaden and upgrade the scope of our smart apps which encompass a host of important services offered to various spectrums of the community using mass transit means as well as other beneficiaries from the broad range of RTA service offering," said Bahrozyan in a concluding remark.
© Press Release 2015
