The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has announced the launch of the "Paperless Business Challenge" to preserve the environment by reducing wastage from excessive and poor usage of paper which negatively impacts natural resources.

 

The initiative is in conjunction with the department’s efforts to build a sustainable business environment within its organisation in response to the directive of the UAE Government to digitise the public sector’s daily transactions, Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, Under-Secretary of ADDED, said, reported Wam news agency.

 

ADDED has already recorded a 38.75 percent decrease in its paper use during the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Further, it has encouraged its employees to utilise digital tools and devices such as laptops and notepads during their meetings instead of using paper.

 

He also noted that ADDED’s economic licencing services are now 100 percent digitised through the Abu Dhabi Government Service Centre "TAMM".

 

"ADDED has directed all its divisions, centres and offices to implement the 'Paperless Business Challenge' by using the internal electronic portal to publish all decisions and providing all concerned personnel with access to this platform. Besides, ADDED has activated the electronic signature of each employee to help the process, and all departments are urged to use the external portal or their emails to receive and save external correspondences," he added.

 

He further explained that the paper challenge also seeks to measure the monthly stationery and paper consumption across ADDED to assess the commitment of the sectors and departments. A unit or a division with the most and least paper consumption will be announced. Each division is urged to reduce paper and stationery consumption by a minimum of 10 per cent.

 

According to Ibrahim Al Mousa, Executive Director of ADDED’s Supporting Services Sector, since the beginning of June 2020, ADDED has succeeded in limiting the printing of email correspondences and attachments. It also suspended the printing of reports and documents exceeding 20 pages and reduced the number of printers programmed to perform duplex printing orders.

 

Al Mousa explained that ADDED is currently working towards the automation of all internal communications and is expected to complete the project in the last quarter of the year. ADDED’s paper consumption was reduced by 38.75 percent during the first half of 2020, when the number of paper orders decreased by 63.2 per cent, thereby bringing down the cost by 61.1 per cent during the same period. During the first half of 2020, the cost of paper purchases decreased by 54.3 per cent as against the same period last year, he added.

 

Moreover, ADDED has completed the automation of economic licences of the Abu Dhabi Business Centre (ADCB) by granting consumers the option of electronically issuing licences, providing common printing machines and removing individual printers, and establishing an electronic system for the duplex printing feature. In addition, it launched initiatives urging employees to reuse paper in line with the objectives of the "Together Towards a Sustainable Environment" campaign.