Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT) has launched a new electronic system that unifies the building permit procedures for three municipalities in the emirate and leverages participation of 25 different connected governmental entities.

The municipal electronic permitting system (MePS) will manage all building permits processes across 98 different services for building permits within the municipalities of Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain region and Al Dhafra region, it stated.

The MePS is integrated with 11 different internal and external systems to offer a seamless experience to all end-users without the need to access any other systems including unified services, fees, inspections and reporting, it added.

The MePS was launched on a civic platform of Accela, a key provider of cloud-based productivity and civic engagement solutions for the Abu Dhabi government, said a top official.

"Increasing public engagement and service efficiency is a leading priority for governments across the globe, and Abu Dhabi is no exception," remarked Saif Salem Bamadhaf, advisor to the chairman, DMAT.

"The department is dedicated to engaging citizens by adopting the tools and resources needed to create open lines of communication. Through the Accela civic platform, we will be able to increase visibility and efficiencies to make civic processes run more smoothly," stated Bamadhaf.

According to him, the new electronic permitting system reflects the DMAT's commitment to streamline procedures required to obtain government services for individuals and institutions in a way that meets their expectations.

"It also helps achieve better customer satisfaction and nurture an efficient and competitive business environment capable of achieving higher productivity, prosperity and sustainable development," added Bamadhaf.

MePS, and related no-objection certificates (NOCs) programme for Abu Dhabi, provides a one-stop solution to more than 15,000 external users and 1000 internal users. Through this initiative, Abu Dhabi DMAT will expedite the issuance of building permits to a maximum of 30 working days.

Khaled Jaouni, the managing director of Accela International, pointed out that with more than 2,000 government customers worldwide, the MePS project is one of the most ambitious and customer-centric initiatives in the building permitting space worldwide.

"Abu Dhabi DMAT has leveraged the latest technology and innovation to create a truly seamless customer journey across interconnected government agencies through a single point of contact. This one-stop shop will set the standard for others to follow," he added.-TradeArabia News Service