Hamdan bin Mohammed: Dubai Gets World’s First Paperless Government

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, today announced that the emirate has achieved the objectives of the Dubai Paperless Strategy launched in 2018 to establish itself as a leading digital capital and become the world’s first paperless government.

HH Sheikh Hamdan said: “Today marks the beginning of a new stage in Dubai’s journey to digitise life in all its aspects – a journey rooted in innovation, creativity, and a focus on the future.

“As we complete a full transition to a paperless government, we are proud to see the ambitious vision of our leadership being fulfilled by the people of our country who have worked hard to enhance Dubai’s competitiveness as a world-leading digital capital and reinforce its profile as a role model in designing government operations and services that enhance customer happiness.”

His Highness praised the teams working across all participating government entities in the emirate, whose efforts have further strengthened Dubai’s position as a global role model for integrated and sustainable smart cities.

“We mark this achievement with our sights set firmly on the future, and we look forward to providing a fully digital life for residents of the emirate,” His Highness said, adding that the next stage will be marked by advanced strategies to create and enhance digital life in Dubai over the next five decades.

The new phase of Dubai’s digital journey will enable and empower future governments to meet the expectations of the residents of a thriving smart city and provide them with renewed opportunities for prosperity, sustainable development, and happiness.

HH Sheikh Hamdan added: “Four years ago, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had a vision that no Dubai Government employee or customer would need to print any paper document after 2021. Today, that promise has been fulfilled.”

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His Excellency Hamad Al Mansoori, Director General of Digital Dubai, said that the realisation of Dubai’s vision to become the world’s first paperless government is a proud moment for the country.

All internal and external transactions and procedures in the Government of Dubai are now 100% digital and managed from a comprehensive digital government services platforms, he noted.

HE Al Mansoori added: “This achievement is all the more important since it coincides with the UAE’s 50th anniversary celebrations when we are looking forward to another five decades of success.

“This accomplishment, which reflects the determination that drives taskforces and teams across Dubai Government institutions, will have a tremendous positive impact on government efficiency.

"It will enable the optimal use of resources and encourage the greater use of innovation and technology to design advanced solutions and digitisation of services and procedures.”

With the Dubai Paperless Strategy fully implemented, no employee or customer of the Dubai Government will need to print any paper documents or transactions, unless they personally prefer to do so. Printing can be done at service or typing centres.

The Dubai Paperless Strategy was implemented in five consecutive phases, each of which enlisted a different group of Dubai Government entities. By the end of the fifth phase, the Strategy was fully implemented across all 45 government entities in the emirate.

These entities provide more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 key transactions.

Collaboration and integration among participating entities enabled the automation of processes and services provided to customers, cutting paper consumption by more than 336 million papers.

The Strategy also helped save more than AED1.3 billion and over 14 million man hours across the Dubai Government.

The complete digital transformation in the Dubai Government will enrich the smart city experience for all Dubai residents, entirely removing the need for paper transactions and documents – be they handed out to customers or exchanged between employees across government entities.

Digitalisation will also help provide exceptional experiences for residents through the DubaiNow application, which allows access to more than 130 smart city services in 12 major categories.

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