Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that the adoption rate of its smart services has already reached 80 per cent, ahead of the deadline.

The deadline set by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to reduce the number of visitors to government offices by 80 per cent by 2018.

"Dewa has made great strides in its smart transformation with its strategy to keep up with the latest technologies and developments and best international practices. Dew has succeeded in transforming all its services into smart services, less than a year after the launch of the Smart Dubai initiative, which aims to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa.

Dewa depends on Dubai Government’s smart service excellence model, which provides the criteria for service quality for all government organisations in Dubai. Dewa has fully implemented these criteria in all its smart services, including accessibility, usability, look and feel, content, and functionality, he said.

Dewa provides all its services on its smart app and website, as well as the smart channels of Dubai Smart Government, including mPay and DubaiNow. The services are also available through Etisalat payment machines, Emirates NBD cheque deposit machines, and the smart and electronic services provided by the banks. Dewa also integrates its services with other government organisations to provide innovative services that have positive impact on customers by reducing the steps needed to complete their transactions. These include Ejari service, which enables customers to get electricity and water services as soon as they attest the contract at any of the 800 real estate offices approved by Dubai Land Department, without having to visit Dewa’s customer happiness centres.

Dewa was the first government organisation in the UAE to launch Rammas, which acts as a virtual employee, making use of artificial intelligence (AI) to answer customer enquiries. Rammas is characterised by its ability to learn and understand the needs of customers, according to their enquiries. Rammas analyses these based on available data and information, and takes action to accurately answer most queries. In addition, Rammas is available on Dewa’s website,  smart app (iOS and Android), Facebook page, and Amazon’s Alexa service. - TradeArabia News Service