Speaking at the fourth Middle East Mobility and Broadband Summit in Dubai, Lootah said m-government had allowed Dubai Government to increase the productivity and effectiveness of public departments and improved the delivery of government information and services. It has also increased the channels for public interactions and lowered administration costs, all of which has resulted in higher levels of public participation, she said.
In 2003 Dubai Government launched SMS services. Push SMS services are available for driving licence renewals, traffic jam information, health card renewals and trade licence renewals. The number of customers for these services has reached a little over 7 million since its inception. To date, 168,623 customers have accessed pull SMS services, which includes flight information, the payment of traffic fines, and information pertaining to trade licence status.
In September 2005, the mobile portal http://mobile.dubai.ae was launched. Serving as a single point for accessing all public services it has eliminated the complexity and delays of bureaucratic procedures. The mobile portal allows users to access visa information and police services such as traffic fine enquiries and payments and obtain prayer timings. Users can also search for hotels, check out arrivals and departures from Dubai airport, obtain entertainment information and financial services data.
Shortlisted for the Mobile & Wireless 2006 Best Practices Awards Programme, Lootah said the portal furthers Dubai Government's objective of involving the private and public sectors in building a digital economy as well as to engage and benefit larger segments of the population, particularly mobile phone and PDA users, with access to the Internet.
However, "m-government is not a substitute for e-government," she warned, and "should be conceived and developed as part of the overall e-government strategy and programme." It is also important to keep in mind that "not all applications can run on mobile devices nor should they," and "not all wireless connections are cost competitive compared to wired connection," she added. "The exact mix of m-government and traditional e-government applications depends on the unique conditions of each country," she said.
Lootah concluded her address by stressing the importance of choosing m-government applications wisely and ensuring that suitable back-office systems are in place to deliver on m-government promises. Finally, she said, "make sure that the application is user-friendly," and, if necessary, form a partnership.
In terms of e-government, Dubai is set to achieve its goal of providing 90 per cent of all government services online and 50 per cent of government transactions to be conducted through various innovative channels by the end of 2007.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Lucia Dore
Quelle/Source: Khaleej Times, 24.09.2006
