Smart Dubai has officially launched the first five Dubai Registers –part of its Dubai Registers initiative – as it takes part in the 40th annual GITEX Technology Week, taking place at the Dubai World Trade Center on December 6-10, 2020.

Launched in collaboration with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the Registers seek to provide a network of interconnected and credible databases that add value, ensure a sustainable and happy city, and serve as a unique source of up-to-date city data.

The Registers support planning and policymaking activities in the city and are set to enhance service delivery and product development. The first five Registers house data regarding several key city facilities, including Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, Private Schools in Dubai, Public Transport Stations, Public Transport Routes and Stops, and Taxi Stops.

H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), said: “We work in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city of the future; and under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, to transform the Government of Dubai into a fully digital government and build an integrated, paperless government framework. The Dubai Registers initiative is in line with DEWA’s pioneering efforts to support the Dubai Paperless Strategy, as well as DEWA’s use of innovative digital solutions that are based on artificial intelligence.”

“The Dubai Registers initiative plays an important role in documenting administrative records and unifying databases for all parties concerned with shared services,” H.E. Al Tayer added. “This contributes to enhancing digital transformation and streamlining the customer experience. DEWA has participated in the first phase of the initiative with the Green Charger Register for electric vehicles. DEWA has built 282 charging stations across Dubai as part of our efforts to support environmental sustainability plans and promote sustainable transport by encouraging society members to buy environmentally friendly electric vehicles to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. DEWA provides free charging at DEWA’s public charging stations, for non-commercial electric vehicles registered in the Green Charger service until December 31, 2021.”

For his part, Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), noted: “We are pleased to work together with our friends at Smart Dubai and be part of a city-wide effort to provide credible, reliable and connected data to the community. Providing access to the latest information and data is critical to parents and it allows them to make the right choices at the right time. The release of this new register at GITEX Technology Week is in line with our commitment to building transparency within Dubai’s private education sector.”

H.E. Younus Al Nasser, Assistant Director General of Smart Dubai, CEO of the Dubai Data Establishment, asserted that data is the engine driving the construction and development of smart cities. “To make the most of this powerful instrument, an integrated system and a reliable, secure network must be set up to collect, classify, and link the data, in addition to ensuring its accuracy. This, in turn, allows us to provide benefit and value to all members of the community, ensure their happiness,and save their time and effort,” he said.

“The Dubai Registers initiative is in line with our wise leadership’s vision to employ advanced technology to serve people and spread happiness in the community.It lends its support to government plans for the future, which seek to build a flexible and interconnected digital government,” H.E. Al Nasser added.“Today, Smart Dubai’s close cooperation and strong partnerships with various government entities in the emirate are paying off. The five Dubai Registers we are launching provide stakeholders with access to a vast amount of documented data, building trust and facilitating access to government services. A major boost to the emirate’s digital transformation, the Registers offer solutions that support our mission to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world.”

H.E. Al Nasser asserted that the Registers will accelerate the progress made on implementing the Dubai Paperless Strategy, which aims to digitize all internal and external government transactions, rendering them completely paperless by December 2021.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Al Mudharreb, CEO of Corporate Technology Support Services Sector and Data Leader at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said: “This initiative has the potential to enhance data related to Roads and Transport Authority services and offer clients reliable and updated information to assist them in planning their daily mobility around Dubai. It also provides a single reference pointto which clients can refer in processing their transactions.”

“These records save a lot of time and effort by giving easy access to essential data by customers, especially as RTA’s services are the largest and most extensive in terms ofmeeting the needs of various community members,” H.E. Al Mudharreb added. “Providing such uniform data through these records supports the integration of services rendered by Dubai Government departments. It will also reduce the duplication of information and servethree strategic goals of the RTA: Smart Dubai, Integrated Dubai, and People Happiness.”

The Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Register allows individuals to locate all electric vehicle charging stations in Dubai. Meanwhile, the Private Schools in Dubai Register includes all data related to private schools in the emirate, including the curriculum they offer, school rankings, and the total number of registered students.

As for the Public Transport Stations Register, it features the locations of all public transport stations in Dubai, including tram, metro, bus, and maritime transport stations. The Public Transport Routes and StopsRegister, on the other hand, outlines the various routes public transport vehicles travel on, as well as all their stops.Meanwhile, the Taxi StopsRegister provides information about the locations of all taxi stops in the emirate.

The Dubai Registers initiative is part of the Government Development track – one of six development tracks announced by the Dubai Council in early 2020. The project seeks to create and organize a set of digital registers, each constituting a single source of accurate, reliable, and interconnected information.

The approach is to collect the latest and most accurate data and store it as digital registers to ensure effective interaction between the government and its citizens, residents, and visitors. Digital registers include information across several areas including individuals, the economy, land, and city assets.

The initiative offers an effective tool for outlining the approach to prepare registers in general, setting standards and priorities. The project will include using reliable data available on the Dubai Pulse platform to identify potential registers, and then setting a plan to be implemented in 2020 and 2021, along with procedures for governance.

According to the Dubai Data Law, these registers will be identified, organized, and categorized, in addition to identifying the entities responsible for them. They will be used as a single and reliable source to provide services to others – one that is recognized as a reference by Smart Dubai, as per the Dubai Data Law.