UAE- Makani app yet to be popular among residents

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Several governmental entities failed to adopt the UAE''s official geo-addressing system, Makani app.

Launched in April 2015 by the Dubai Municipality, Makani app enables users to locate different destinations in Dubai within an accuracy of one metre square of the pin selected.

Although the municipality aims to instal plates on all Dubai buildings by the end of the year, Khaleej Times learned that some government services failed to use the app.

Dubai Taxi Corporation, the emirate''s official cab service under Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said the organisation does not use Makani, which means that passengers cannot send their location''s 10-digit coordinates while ordering a cab.

Barsha resident Abdulrahman Hamad said: "I have a hard time while ordering a taxi to my place since describing my exact location can take up to 30 minutes. It would save a lot of time to send Makani coordinates that lead to my building entrance."

Sumaya Al Zarouni, project manager of Makani Application at the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Department at the municipality, attributed the incoordination to a technical problem that Dubai Taxi faced.

"We contacted them more than a year ago, but the system implemented within the cabs is not connected to the Internet," said Al Zarouni.

She added that while it is challenging for a fleet of taxis to manually add Makani app, the corporation signed a deal with a new company and is currently working on introducing a new system to their fleet. Once the new system is launched, Al Zarouni said, coordination between the taxi company and Makani will take place. However, the system launch date is yet to be known.

The Department of Economic Development in Dubai is another government entity that failed to adopt the smart system. Al Zarouni said their internal system should be updated to receive the app.

"We are aiming to introduce Makani to entities to ease internal procedures within the establishments themselves and with their clients on the external level. However, we are aware that development and reprogramming of internal systems within some government entities sometimes requires time," said Al Zarouni.

Three departments at the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) are currently using Makani, with around 600 inspectors relying on the app to perform their duties.

The Dubai Police were among the first government entity to implement the app to provide emergency service with an accurate location of incidents they can reach in shortest time span possible.

Al Zarouni added that an intensive awareness campaign will be launched by the third quarter of the year to educate residents, public and private sectors about using Makani.

Food outlets are currently the main target to reach. While Makani plates have been installed on the big food outlets, smaller restaurants are next on the list to ease food delivery to people''s homes.

"In collaboration with private and public entities, we are looking forward to endorse Makani app for better use to everyone. But like any change, it will need time," said Al Zarouni. She added that there is also a plan to introduce and promote Augmented Reality features on smartphones.

Awareness is needed

Although figures showed that total downloads of Makani app until last month was around 500 on Blackberry, 100,000 on android and 300,000 on iOS, majority of residents interviewed showed lack of knowledge about the app.

Among 25 people that Khaleej Times has spoken to, only one used Makani "because it works without wifi."

More than half of the respondents claimed they have not heard about the app, while the rest remained dependable on other apps such as Google Maps. Three out of 25 said they use RTA Smart Drive as it can be used offline without Wifi, and two said they preferred Waze besides Google Maps "to locate petrol stations, ATMs, restaurants and coffee shops.

Alex Kerimov, a Jumeirah resident, said he will probably use the app in a few years, depending on how quick it develops.

"It would be much easier to navigate with a local system anywhere in the country once necessary routes and locations are updated."

But since Makani already partnered with Google Maps and leading geolocation apps, Al Zarouni said the main aim behind the app is to generalise benefits, not compete with other international smart systems.

Across the emirates

Recently, around 60,000 plates have been set up in several areas in Dubai like Jumeirah, Garhoud, Mirdif and Barsha, including 2,000 plates installed in Jebel Ali last month.

Al Safa, Al Manara and some remaining areas in Al Thanya and Barsha will be the target of this month.

Having already been shared Makani with Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, Al Zarouni said the municipality is currently working on charting buildings across the seven emirates, aiming to make the system a national project.

The system will be available offline within the next few months. Further development includes making the app available to all segments of the society including the special needs and the elderly by 2019, Al Zarouni noted.

Makani plates are installed on buildings, displaying the location''s 10-digit coordinates, to simplify the process of giving directions to building entrances. Buildings with more than one entrance get red pins marked on each entrance.