Smart services save Dh4.3b for Dubai

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dubai Government saved Dh4.3b over the past 12 years through smart services, the Smart Dubai Office revealed on Tuesday.

Results of the Smart Dubai Government Shared Services Impact Report, conducted by IBM, were announced during a press conference in Dubai. The report analysed Smart Dubai Government''s (SDG) service portfolio to determine the total value delivered to the government between 2003 and 2015.

SDG''s shared smart services generated hard cost savings worth Dh2.71 billion, and Dh1.59 billion soft cost during the period.

For every Dh1 spent by SDG, the Dubai Government saved Dh5.6 during the past 12 years.

The average savings per month are Dh29 million monthly between 2003-2015, which calculates to around Dh358 million per year.

"Our shared services provide a unified system that allow a big segment of government entities to rely less on human resources," said Wesam Lootah, CEO of SDG.

"We expect figures to go higher in the coming years as we plan to introduce more services," he added.

Lootah told Khaleej Times that five new shared services will be implemented over the next few years, addressing government entities'' marketing and social media sectors. He said announcements of the services will be in the future.

SDG''s shared services benefit more than 50 government entities. The report analysed the cost savings impact and benefits from shared infrastructure, Government Resource Planning (GRP), smart services and Gitex.

GRP services achieved most savings of Dh1.2 billion against the government''s spending of Dh384 million. It offers HR, asset management and finance services to more than 4,000 users and is a channel to more than 70,000 employees through which they receive their salaries.

Shared infrastructure management had the highest cost-to-savings ratio for Dh5.2 saved to every Dh1 spent (Dh1.1 billion generated against Dh212 million spent by government).

The benefits were measured through hardware requirements for services, purchasing of software, implementation and ongoing operations of shared services. Indirect benefits included higher responsiveness, overall improved efficiency and centralized security.

Her Excellency Dr. Aisha bin Bishr, Director-General of Smart Dubai Office said there are plans on doubling the savings'' digits by 2021 through inviting more contributions and expanding their reach to the private sector.

"Our aim is to allow every individual in the UAE, and globally, to control their transactions through one channel."

Bin Bishr added that while Emirates NBD lately announced integrating their services with SDG, the Smart Dubai Office has been receiving requests from startups and big private organisations.

She said that the focus is on tourism, logistics and financial sectors.

With 22 strategic partners, SDG is currently working on 2017-2021 agenda of a complete transformation of UAE to a smart city, Bin Bishr noted.

SDG, formerly Dubai Smart Government, is the technology arm of Smart Dubai, a city-wide initiative to transform Dubai into the world''s smartest and happiest city.

It began providing digital services to the city in 2003 with a mandate to build a knowledge-based economy and lead the smart transformation across all government sectors. Since its transformation in November 2015, the establishment is expanding its mandate from the government to the whole city.