The launch of the revamped portal and e-Jawaz was made at a press conference held in Dubai yesterday along the sidelines of the Dubai e-Government participation in GITEX Dubai 2002.
Addressing the press conference, Salem Al Shair, Director e-Services, Dubai e-Government said: “The e-Government portal has entered a crucial phase which entails the gradual integration of the Web services of the different Government departments towards a unified portal, with a uniform look running through the individual Web offerings. The new version uses a sophisticated content management system that facilitates easy decentralized portal management, allowing each Government department the freedom to manage its own content, while remaining an integral part of the portal.”
Dubai.ae hosts a wide range of services offered by the government departments targeting various segments of the community including the business sector, individuals and the private sector. The revamped website offers users several interactive services that include both service packages and channels. The key services available on the portal range from issuing and renewing of trade licences, certificates of origin and trademarks to the membership to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). Individuals can also access the newly refurbished portal to settle bills and payments with different government departments, renew visas and ownership deeds and health cards.
In addition to being the Dubai government's window to the world, dubai.ae also offers several private sector services like hotel reservations, car rentals, leasing of houses and e-banking. The portal is a one-stop point of comprehensive general information regarding the Emirate of Dubai and also includes a useful interactive map.
The upgraded and highly specialized content management system and the user friendly appearance combine to allows users to move easily through the entire portal downloading information or accessing interactive channels. Services of a similar nature have been systematically categorized under channels like Business, Education, Employment, Health, Housing, Justice and Security and Tourism.
At the press conference Dubai e-Government also showcased e-Jawaz the single sign on facility, which is designed to provide a secure and confidential access to all government services online through www.dubai.ae. e-Jawaz allows portal users to move seamlessly between different government department websites, browse through their content and use their e-Services without having to re-login. To avail of e-Jawaz, the user has to first register by providing a user ID, password, first and last name and an email address. The access will be verified and corroborated by Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department's (DNRD) database, which validates and authenticates the identity of the user. After registration, the user is taken to his personalized welcome page, giving him access to any government service he would like to use.
“e-Jawaz provides a hi-tech and secure access to Government services through pre-registration aimed at ensuring that the user gets quick access, high quality and personalized services. Registration ensures that the system recognizes the user and enables him to browse through Dubai government websites for information, transactions or downloading and submitting forms,” added Al Shair.
“It is a matter of great pride for us to offer access to our services through e-Jawaz,” said Ahmed Matrushi, Director-General, Dubai Development Board, which is the first Government Department to adopt e-Jawaz to integrate all its services within the portal. “The seamless integration of our website on dubai.ae has been done with the installation of a system called Site Minder on the main e-Government server and an equivalent one on our department's affiliate server. This facility allows users to be recognised by the system as they log in, giving the user a personalized access to all the government departments by logging in just once.”
“Working towards a common integration platform with Dubai e-Government has been a truly rewarding experience and we look forward to greater success as our website undergoes seamless integration within Dubai.ae. We also hope to see a dramatic change in the booking of units, tenders, maintenance requests, contract renewals and interaction with consultants, contractors and suppliers, as users from all walks of life familiarize themselves with the unique platform,” he added.
Leiutenant Colonel Khalid Lootah, Head of IT Section of Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) said: “We are pleased to be part of the e-Jawaz Single Sign On facility because it heralds a new era in seamless integration of various government departments. Our role as the verification authority is to ensure that only those eligible to avail of the Government services are provided access through e-Jawaz. In this manner we can also guarantee that genuine users get top quality service in keeping with the e-Government's vision of providing online services of global standards, using best of breed technologies.”
In the event of an invalidated user attempting to access an e-Service requiring validation, the user will be taken through the necessary validation process via an interactive window. This requires the user to either provide his unique identifier with DNRD, which the system will check in real time or complete the interactive process of validation by following the message alerts.
The Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), the first government department to demonstrate the benefits of full integration with the Dubai e-Government portal and the hosting facilities it provides, will be highlighting many of its services online through the portal.
“DOHMS is proud to be the first to achieve full integration with the portal and make use of the hosting services provided by Dubai e-Government,” said Sina Khoury, Head of IT Department, DOHMS. “This will help us provide secure, high quality and scalable service through a robust infrastructure. We are excited about the scope this integration provides and we assure the public that DOHMS e-Services will be extremely easy to use. Among the many services we will offer online are renewal of medical permits and renewal of health cards.”
“Dubai e-Government is justifiably proud of its achievement today as after months of intensive study and a learning process, the portal projects itself as an invaluable tool of communications for the Government departments and a gateway to information and online transactions to the public,” said Al Shair.
He emphasized that the next phase will clearly demonstrate the full scope of integration with the e-Government portal, and government departments will begin to realize the resultant cost-effectiveness in running 24 hours/7 days operations through a centralized hub. All software and hardware tools including SiteMinder, iPlanet Directory Server, iPlanet Application Server, Vignette, iPlanet Integration Server are currently operational.
Dubai e-Government is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrate individually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the e-government initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying e-government applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens. The e-Government portal (www.dubai.ae) is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the e-Government initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximising the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease.
Quelle: AME Info
