Sheikh Hamdan: Dubai is the first paperless government in the world

Digital transformation helped save more than Dh1.3 billion

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has announced that Dubai government is now paperless.

Dubai government has become the first in the world to become fully paperless.

The Dubai Paperless Strategy, launched in 2018, set out to end paper use by government completely by December 12, 2021.

The strategy, which was implemented in five phases, saw all 45 government entities go paperless – providing more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 key transactions.

“This achievement consolidates Dubai's global position as a pioneer and role model in developing integrated digital services that enhance the customer experience,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.

“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,” he said.

Sheikh Hamdan said the strategy fulfils the vision to achieve a paperless journey for every customer of Dubai government.

“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,” he said.

The digital transformation cut paper consumption by more than 336 million sheets of paper.

It also helped save more than Dh1.3 billion ($354 million) and 14 million working hours across the Dubai government.

Sheikh Hamdan said the next stage will see further strategies to enhance digitisation in Dubai over the next five decades.

All government services are now available through the DubaiNow app. These are organised in 12 categories, including bills, telecoms, driving, housing, residency, health and education.

In total, DubaiNow offers more than 130 smart city services.

Smart Dubai, which is responsible for the digital transformation of Dubai government services and spearheading the emirate’s smart city initiatives, is also helping government entities to become more efficient through the use of technology.

Its Government Resources Planning Services (GRP) programme is helping to cut costs.

So far, GRP has centralised services for more than 65 government agencies that manage 95 per cent of the government’s budget.

This achieved savings of Dh4.3bn between 2003 and 2015, Smart Dubai said.

In June, Sheikh Mohammed issued a law establishing the Dubai Digital Authority, which oversees the Smart Dubai Government Establishment, Dubai Data Establishment, the Dubai Electronic Security Centre and the Dubai Statistics Centre.

The authority's launch is part of a plan to digitise government operations and promote greater efficiency and agility among businesses.