Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has won the Big Innovation Award from the US-based Business Intelligence Group for its virtual service that answers customer queries using artificial antelligence (AI).

Rammas is available 24/7 in Arabic and English on Dewa's website, smart app on iOS and Android, Facebook page, Amazon's Alexa service, Google Assistant, and robotics.

Dewa launched Rammas in 2017, becoming the first government organisation to launch an instant chatbot services to communicate with customers using AI. The second phase of the service, launched in 2018, added several enhancements and new features to strengthen service quality and increase Rammas' scope to include additional categories, including customers, contractors, consultants, suppliers and government organisations as well as job seekers, scholarship students, and student training programme participants.

Dewa also added more information to its database. The second phase of the service has now been integrated with Dewa's SAP system to facilitate transactions such as bill enquiry and payment, tracking application status, new connection requests by contractors and consultants, job enquiries, and job applications.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, said: “We launched the Rammas service to implement ambitious national strategies and plans within our framework to achieve the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071.”

“This also supports the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy to create a productive, creative, and innovative environment, through the investment and application of AI technologies and tools. We aim to reshape the future of utilities around the world by supporting innovation and making it a cornerstone for continuous improvement. This will enhance Dewa’s competitiveness, keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and take advantage of disruptive technologies such as AI, drones, 3D printing, blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT) among others,” added Al Tayer.

"Dewa has been a pioneer in supporting innovation in the UAE and Dubai, in line with the UAE National Innovation Strategy, which aims to make the UAE among the most innovative countries in the world. Dewa also supports the Dubai Innovation Strategy to make Dubai the world's most innovative city, and the Dubai 10X initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to make Dubai a city of the future, putting it 10 years ahead of other global cities. Dewa raised the importance of innovation in its strategic plan, added goals that focus on anticipating the future, innovation, and the happiness of all customers as well as institutionalised innovation across all its sectors and operations.

"Rammas is characterised by its immediate response to customer queries and its ability to learn and understand their needs according to their enquiries. Rammas analyses queries based on available data and information and takes action to accurately answer them, which helps in conducting customer transactions easily. Rammas has received over 1,900,000 enquiries through different channels since its launch, at the rate of more than 2,600 enquiries per day, resulting in savings of up to Dh31.3 million ($8.5 million)," said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that Dewa is the first entity to reach 80 per cent adoption of its smart services in 2017, ahead of the deadline set by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to reduce the number of visitors to government offices by 80 per cent by 2018, furthering its pioneering role by reaching 93 per cent in 2018. Dewa continues its success by topping the Happiness Index in the large Dubai Government Entities category, with a 95 per cent happiness level, according to Smart Dubai's Happiness Index, for the second year in a row. – TradeArabia News Service