Dubai becomes first paperless Government in the world

• 45 State entities announce cutting paper consumption by over 336 m papers
• Strategy helps save $ 345 m and over 14 m man hours across Dubai Govt.

www.thenationalnews.com: The Dubai Government has become the first in the world to become fully paperless.

‘The Dubai Paperless Strategy’, launched in 2018, set out to end paper use by the Government completely by 12 December 2021.

The strategy, which was implemented in five phases, saw all 45 Government entities go paperless – providing more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 key transactions.

 “This achievement consolidates Dubai’s global position as a pioneer and role model in developing integrated digital services that enhance the customer experience,” said Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.

“Today marks the beginning of a new stage in Dubai’s journey to digitise life in all its aspects – a journey rooted in innovation, creativity, and a focus on the future,” he said.

Sheikh Hamdan said the strategy fulfils the vision to achieve a paperless journey for every customer of Dubai Government.

“Four years ago, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had a vision that no Dubai Government employee or customer would need to print any paper document after 2021. Today, that promise has been fulfilled,” he said.

The digital transformation cut paper consumption by more than 336 million sheets of paper.

It also helped save more than Dh 1.3 billion ($ 354 million) and 14 million working hours across the Dubai Government.

Sheikh Hamdan said the next stage will see further strategies to enhance digitisation in Dubai over the next five decades.

All government services are now available through the ‘DubaiNow’ app. These are organised in 12 categories, including bills, telecoms, driving, housing, residency, health and education.

In total, DubaiNow offers more than 130 smart city services.

‘Smart Dubai’, which is responsible for the digital transformation of Dubai Government services and spearheading the emirate’s smart city initiatives, is also helping government entities to become more efficient through the use of technology.

Its Government Resources Planning Services (GRP) program is helping to cut costs.

So far, GRP has centralised services for more than 65 Government agencies that manage 95% of the Government’s budget.

This achieved savings of Dh 4.3 billion between 2003 and 2015, Smart Dubai said.

In June, Sheikh Mohammed issued a law establishing the Dubai Digital Authority, which oversees the Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Dubai Data Establishment, the Dubai Electronic Security Centre and the Dubai Statistics Centre.

The authority’s launch is part of a plan to digitise Government operations and promote greater efficiency and agility among businesses.