The UAE mGovernment initiative of 2013, represents a milestone in the UAE’s pursuit of taking forward the eGovernment framework. This important move laid the foundation for the UAE's present digital government. The objective of the mGovernment initiative was to ensure that people could get government services from anywhere and at any time. Discover the distinctive features of the mGovernment initiative, and the projects launched under it to facilitate its successful implementation.
On 22nd May 2013, the Mobile Government initiative was launched in order to make the government services available to the people wherever they are 24/7.
Sheikh Mohammed's objective was to relocate customer service centres into every customer device on the belief that a successful government is the one which goes to clients wherever they are and doesn't wait for them to come to it.
Features of mGovernment
A robust mGovernment:
The UAE mGovernment initiative was in line with the then Vision 2021 that foresaw high quality of life built on world-class public infrastructure, government services and a rich recreational environment.
H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai had set a period of two years for the UAE Government to complete the implementation of offering services through the mobile phones.
After the announcement of the mGovernment initiative, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), the entity implementing the Mobile Government Initiative, prepared the base documents as the founding steps. The documents are:
TDRA launched the Mobile Government Guidelines as a first step towards the initiative. The guidelines were developed for government entities to prepare themselves in transforming from eGovernment to mGovernment. They aim to make the entities 'mReady' to the requirements of developing and implementing advanced mobile ICT-based applications and services. The guidelines will assist the entities in meeting some of the challenges they might face in this journey.
This document covers considerations that should be made when planning and implementing mobile services. It covers the technical and usability issues, how they should be handled and what security measures should be taken into account. The focus is more on mGovernment services development to be provided by the government entities in the UAE via mobile technologies and relevant devices including but not limited to smartphones.
To facilitate the successful implementation of the Mobile Government initiative, TDRA subsequently launched the mGovernment Roadmap. The Roadmap had set milestones for the transition from eGovernment to mGovernment to be achieved in a systematic plan by the year 2015.
The scope of the Roadmap went in parallel with the Federal eGovernment Strategy 2012-2014 which focused on: environmental improvements, improving readiness and achieving user happiness. These focus areas were presented as four parallel tracks, first two of which corresponded to improvements in the environment for the mGovernment to advance. The tracks of the mGovernment Roadmap were:
National Plan to Support Mobile Government Initiative (2015-2017 )aimed to implement the vision of the Mobile Government Initiative.
The National Plan complied with Vision 2021 that stated that we are united in prosperity and knowledge. It also complied with the National Agenda that stated among many other things for the UAE to be at the forefront in providing government services electronically and over mobile phones.
Read the presentation about National Plan to Support Mobile Government Initiative (PDF 2.38 MB).
Several projects were launched to implement the mGovernment initiative and achieve the goals set within. Each of these projects are designed to mobilise the UAE government entities to provide services through mobile phones and smart devices by engaging intelligent service-delivery methods such as mobile applications that are based on predictive analytics. Some of the important projects are:
The Federal Network (FedNet) connects the information systems of federal entities in the UAE. It provides secure, efficient and high-speed internet services. It hosts all the government electronic data and facilitates secure and reliable exchange of data. It raises levels of efficiency, security and continuity of government services provided through electronic channels.
The Centre of Digital Innovation (CoDI) seeks to provide government entities with services that contribute to mobile application development. It seeks to apply cutting-edge technologies to develop and test applications. Hence, it signed cooperation agreements with major companies such as Apple, Blackberry, Android and Microsoft to provide cutting-edge technologies to the government entities.
The services can be summarised in four main points: consultation, technical training, laboratory for testing mobile applications and the Innovation Center. CoDI provides services to government entities, educational institutions and the private sector within the GCC.
The UAE Government Apps is an app that contains all the UAE government applications and is currently available on Apple Store. The App Store provides unique features and services based on the user's location. The UAE Government Apps is a practical realisation of the Mobile Government Initiative. The UAE is the first government in the world to launch an app store of government apps.
The National Customer Relations Management (CRM) platform - Tawasul is a unified call centre for all UAE Government services. It provides services to citizens, residents and visitors.
SmartPass, upgraded to UAE Pass is a system through which one can access all government services through one username and password. Each individual would be assigned a unique identification number to facilitate easy access to all electronic transactions with the federal and local government entities in a secure electronic environment.
The Government Service Bus (GSB) provides a centralised interconnectivity platform for eGovernment services. It facilitates procedures for accessing eServices and enhances the integration and the quality of government services within a safe electronic environment.
GSB assists federal and local government entities to render several services through eConnection process and exchange data smoothly amongst the entities' systems. It provides a single window system for integrated government services according to national guidelines and highest digital security.
In March 2015, TDRA hosted a workshop on developing big data strategy. Representatives from the federal and local governments attended it. TDRA educated participants on how to develop solutions that can effectively analyse and store vast amounts of data while making best use of it for mobile platforms. It shared best practices to address the concerns about data storage, analysis, sharing and privacy. TDRA developed the big data strategy based on this interaction. The strategy covered aspects relating to collecting and sharing data in order to enhance the efficiency of government services.
The Best mGovernment Service Award is an annual award that stemmed from the Mobile Government initiative. The award is open for UAE government entities and governments entities from across the world. The award also targets UAE university students. The mGovernment award focuses on government service delivery solutions provided via mobile phone using any of the below means:
The UAE Government launched the UAE Drones for Good Award to honour the innovative and creative minds that find solutions to improve people's lives and provide positive technological solutions to modern day issues.
The UAE Government launched the UAE AI & Robotics Award for Good to support innovation in the key area of artificial intelligence and robotics as part of the UAE's commitment towards the National Innovation Strategy launched by H. H. Sheikh Mohammed.
Two years after the launch of the UAE mGovernment Initiative, Sheikh Mohammed announced the progress of the mTransformation on 22 May 2015.
The UAE's mTransformation efforts resulted in 96.3 percentage of overall transformation. As of 22 May 2015, 337 priority services from 41 federal entities were available on mobile phones. 32 entities achieved 100 per cent mTransformation and 9 entities achieved between 90 and 99 per cent mTransformation.
Sheikh Mohammed applauded the rate of mTransformation but reiterated that this is not the end; rather this should encourage the entities to strive further in achieving the UAE National Agenda and UAE Vision 2021.
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