The provision of services at Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) has remained unaffected despite the coronavirus scare, with clients logging thousands of transactions in just two months.

The DSO Authority, the regulator of the free zone, said that more than 3,000 transactions worth about 10 million UAE dirhams ($2.7 million) were completed between mid-March to mid-May 2020, while working remotely,

The government had earlier activated a remote work system for employees across the country as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.

However, restrictions have recently eased, with 50 percent of Dubai’s public sector employees scheduled to resume work from Sunday, May 31, and 100 percent from June 14, 2020.

According to DSOA, the implementation of its digital infrastructure has made it possible for the free zone to continue the delivery of services online during the coronavirus outbreak.

The DSOA offers at least 395 “smart services” for residents and business clients through its customer service portal, including requests for employment contract renewals, residential lease contract renewals and requests for maintenance services, among others.

“The smart technology infrastructure at Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority that has been implemented over the years was key to completing more than 3,000 transactions remotely, through the 395 smart services available and the (artificial intelligence) AI-powered bot, HADI. We activated these services end of 2019, in line with our comprehensive digitisation strategy,” said Badr Buhannad, executive vice president for strategy, business services and risk management at DSOA.

According to Buhannad, the free zone authority has so far digitised 95 percent of its services. “In the past few weeks, we’ve also expanded the list of services available online to accommodate to the new requests of customers and simplify transactions for business partners and residents,” he said.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)

cleofe.Maceda@refinitiv.com

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