Khaleej Times

Car buying, house shifting to become paperless

- Staff Reporter reporters@khaleejtim­es.com

dubai — The emirate’s paperless journey reached another milestone on Wednesday as the Crown Prince of Dubai launched two integrated customer experience­s, in which every government transactio­n takes place in a one-stop shop — the Dubai Now smart applicatio­n.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, introduced how residents can do all the usual government paperwork required in driving a vehicle and moving to a new flat — just by logging into the app.

“Today, we look to the tremendous progress Smart Dubai has made, in collaborat­ion with other government entities, which has materialis­ed in the launch of the first two integrated experience­s that usher in a new era of digital government services and propel Dubai to the fore in the field of smart city experiment­s,” Sheikh Hamdan said during his visit at the Smart Dubai Office headquarte­rs on Wednesday.

The first experience offered by the Dubai Now app covers all the stages required to drive a vehicle in the emirate — from obtaining a driver’s licence to finding a vehicle; contacting the buyer; obtaining the documents and making an offer; buying insurance; registerin­g the vehicle in the Roads and Transport Authority licensing systems; and

even viewing financing options.

The second journey is all about the transactio­ns required to move to a new residence. It covers searching for a new house in collaborat­ion with Dubai Assets Management; completing all transactio­ns related to rent and contractin­g and inte- grating it with the Dubai Land Department; and registerin­g for the Dubai Electricit­y and Water Authority services. Even Internet and telephone services can be activated without having to go to a brick-and-mortar shop.

Additional­ly, residents will also be able to avail of move-in services, such as cleaning, painting, etc., in collaborat­ion with another mobile applicatio­n.

As the Dubai Paperless Strategy moves into its second phase, four other customer journeys will follow. “Our success allows us to take this experiment from Dubai to the world, providing a unique living experience that makes the emirate a world-leading smart city, whose residents and visitors will be the happiest in the world,” Sheikh Hamdan said.

Giving an overview of how the strategy will transform the emirate into a smart city, Dr Aisha bint Butti bin Bishr, director-general of Smart Dubai, said: “We are preparing to move beyond traditiona­l services and embrace innovation and creativity to transform 1,600 smart services into 32 endto-end individual and business journeys that adhere to the latest internatio­nal standards.

“We look forward to achieving full digitalisa­tion by the end of 2021, saving hundreds of hours for residents, visitors, and the government, as well as saving over 130,000 trees per year.”

 ?? Wam ?? Sheikh Hamdan with other officials during his visit to the Smart Dubai Office on Wednesday. —
Wam Sheikh Hamdan with other officials during his visit to the Smart Dubai Office on Wednesday. —

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates