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Dubai Municipality showcases digital services and smart systems at GITEX Global 2024

• Al Hajri: “We are making diligent efforts to develop a wide range of digital services and smart systems that contribute to enhancing competitiveness and sustainability.”
• The municipality showcases advanced systems that use artificial intelligence technologies, enhancing investment opportunities and improving government services, in addition to the latest digital technologies and smart solutions for monitoring activities of existing buildings and those under construction.
• Dubai Municipality seeks to build an integrated digital system specialized in food and consumer products.

Dubai Municipality is showcasing a range of its most prominent projects and advanced digital services in various municipal work fields at “GITEX Global 2024,” one of the largest and most comprehensive tech exhibitions in the digital economy sector. The event is being held from October 14 to 18 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

“The fields through which the municipality showcases its services include regulation of import and export, laboratory testing, permits and no-objection certificates, regulation and licensing of construction and building activities, building technologies, employing artificial intelligence to detect construction violations, specialized projects in geographic information systems, as well as services aimed at enhancing investment opportunities and customer satisfaction.”

His Excellency Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said: “Inspired by the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the best city in the world to work and live in, Dubai Municipality is making diligent efforts to develop a wide range of its digital services and smart systems that contribute to enhancing competitiveness and sustainability. This effort boosts the confidence of individuals and institutions in government services, in line with the wise leadership’s directives and efforts to establish the UAE’s global position in competitive government service indicators.”

Al Hajri added: “During our participation this year, we are showcasing the latest technologies and solutions to provide an ideal experience for customers, contributing to enhancing the quality of life and happiness of all individuals and stakeholders by enabling them to easily and smoothly access services through innovative digital channels. Our participation includes showcasing advanced geographic information systems, enhancing procedures related to facilitating building permits, providing an integrated system for food and consumer products, and digitizing the permit issuance process. Through this participation, the municipality aims to highlight its most prominent achievements, projects, and innovative digital solutions, contributing to sustainability and excellence in various municipal work fields.”

Digital Solutions for Monitoring Construction Activities

Dubai Municipality is highlighting its integrated digital system for advanced smart solutions to monitor building activities. This includes long-term monitoring for existing buildings and real-time monitoring for buildings under construction using sensor technologies supported by GPS and augmented virtual reality, as well as artificial intelligence. The aim is to improve structural safety by monitoring the condition of buildings, providing instant reports, and offering accurate readings of their status, whether existing or under construction, to take necessary measures efficiently and quickly.

Development of a Leading Geospatial System

During this event, the municipality is showcasing AI applications in digital mapping by translating user inputs into direct queries on the Dubai map, which contains the basic geographic layers available in the geospatial database. Additionally, it provides a virtual assistant for inquiries from GIS users inside and outside the municipality, especially decision-makers. This supports the development of a leading geospatial system to achieve Dubai’s digital twin. The municipality also highlights the latest geospatial surveying techniques using robots, AI, and other leading technologies in the sector.

Enhancing Procedures and Facilitating Building Permits

Among other services showcased by Dubai Municipality at GITEX Global is the “Dubai Building Permits Application,” which offers a seamless user experience and improves building permit procedures to meet the needs of the target audience. It includes tracking the progress of all projects, requesting copies of approved plans, designing and licensing extensions for private villas after improvements, and providing evaluation data for consultants and contractors.

The municipality also showcases the “Ask Dubai Building Code” service, which uses generative AI to enable engineers and specialists to smartly search the Dubai Building Code by asking questions and receiving detailed answers directly. These innovative technical services contribute to developing a smart, sustainable, and globally advanced construction sector.

Integrated System for Food and Consumer Products

During this event, the municipality is highlighting its integrated system for food and consumer products to ensure community safety and provide value-added services across the commercial value chain. This step aims to develop a unified system for managing the import and export of food and consumer products while enhancing the customer journey by linking Dubai Municipality’s systems with those of other institutions in Dubai and the UAE, providing a seamless customer experience. This system also offers instant approvals for product registration to reduce the time needed to introduce them into the market. Ultimately, building a sustainable system for the environment, health, and food provides proactive protection for the community from food risks and ensures flexible food supply chains.

Digitizing Permit Issuance

The municipality has established a unified permit system to digitize the entire permit issuance process, aiming to simplify approvals for advertising, food activities, veterinary activities, and other permits. This system will be available to various stakeholders, including participants in consumer activities and veterinary services.

Digital Transformation Efforts

GITEX Global provides an opportunity to highlight Dubai Municipality’s efforts in developing an integrated digital transformation management system, allowing customers to book appointments to communicate with service consultants virtually for inquiries or technical support. Additionally, the municipality has redesigned the customer experience and core processes for 10 services of the Dubai Central Laboratory. The initiative to improve compliance and testing at the Dubai Central Laboratory aims to simplify and enhance applications for compliance certificates and testing various samples and products, including food, environmental, consumer, gemstones, and construction samples, as well as equipment calibration.

Furthermore, the municipality is building an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to increase efficiency, reduce operational costs, and replace manual inspections with remote monitoring systems.