This solution will also make it easier for companies and typing centres to offer complete service to their employees and customers and improve the overall customer experience through efficient management of notification and queries.
'We are constantly looking for ways to develop new services to the public to cut costs and implement the latest developments. Utilising the technology expertise of GIT has allowed us to build the next generation e-government portal that will deliver savings across the board,' commented Ahmad Khajour, Deputy Under Secretary of the UAE Ministry of Labour.
The portal comprises a number of unique features that combine to offer customers a one-stop service. The built-in document archiving system will allow customers to access frequently used documents such as copies of the company trade license, or employee details, and monitor accuracy of the data on Ministry files. Through the membership fees scheme, customers will also be able to subscribe to the service based on the numbers of employees and transactions per month.
'Delivering real benefits to the people and the private sector in the UAE is the real driver behind the move to e-government systems and we are pleased to see the Ministry of Labour and GIT using Microsoft .NET technologies for the development of this portal,' said Mr. Abdullatif Almulla, General Manager Microsoft South Gulf. 'Utilising Microsoft's latest products and cutting edge development tools has enabled swift delivery with maximum security, ensuring that this portal is government-ready,' he added.
The system will free labour ministry employee time in answering queries, entering data for each transaction, as well as reducing the numbers of scanners and barcode readers by 40 per cent. This represents a significant reduction in the overall cost of the e-government system to the Ministry. Payment schedules have been devised through a combination of e-Dirham, smart cards and scratch cards. As data is automated through the system, the quality of the Ministry's database will improve since data is stored in a central repository, access to critical data and therefore analysis and reporting will be vastly improved. Due to its excellent scalability and extensibility features, the system will also be offered across other UAE ministries to encourage inter-governmental cooperation.
'The portal is expected to attract 3,500 users between 8am and 2pm everyday purely for the Ministry of Labour, and is scaleable enough for the Ministry to roll it out across other ministries. With a capability for approximately 10,000 transactions per day per ministry, the cost savings in relation to manual processes are vast,' commented Mr. Saleem Abdullah, Group General Manager of GIT.
Typing centres and company PROs will be the main customers as they are responsible for the most volume of business with the government ministries. The portal will allow them to maintain their company profile, monitor the status of applications and run transaction enquiries. In addition, the authorized signatory, such as the sponsor of the company, can validate requests from anywhere in the world, using devices such as a signature card or a pad.
The portal was built by GIT based on Microsoft's Biz Talk and SQL servers, utilising the interoperability features of .NET technology. Effectively utilising web services to extend their functionality clearly shows the foresight and expertise of the Ministry's IT team, and will deliver measurable savings across the board. Microsoft .NET functionalities and the XML programming language allow the public to access their historical data, by allowing the portal to communicate with the Ministry's legacy systems. Supported by SQL Server at the data store to enable enterprise level database management and analysis, the portal uses Biz Talk Server middleware to ensure interoperability and provide business intelligence features.
Quelle: AME Info
