Dubai is in the forefront of tapping digital technology and is set to become a smart organization of highest level by the end of 2015, said a senior government official.

Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, the director general of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai) said: “Over the past five years, we have successfully increased smart services from 65 per cent in 2007 to 96 per cent as of today. We now offer 267 electronic services to the public and are confident of becoming ‘Smart’ organization of the highest level by end-2015.”  

His remarks on the public services in digital era and the transformation of GDRFA-Dubai into a smart organization, will appear in the June edition of 'Manafez Dubai,' the official bilingual monthly newsletter of GDRFA-Dubai.

He pointed out that the UAE’s digital era successes were many and the world has not been recognizing them but also getting inspired.

"The UAE has moved up in the latest global rankings of information and communication technology (ICT) competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), strengthening its position as one of the most techno-savvy countries in the world. It has also been ranked as the world’s 24th most “networked ready” nation by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD)," remarked Maj Gen Al Marri.

"One project that will go a long way in the world’s first smart apps store launched by the UAE government with about 100 apps available for downloads on smart phones," he added.

Al Marri disclosed that a unique job-linked programme to create a pool of qualified and skilled cadre of Emiratis in specialized domains at the directorate has attracted 71 secondary school students over the past four years.

The GDRFA Dubai-sponsored Raeyaa initiative has been helping in building an excellent cadre of young and talented UAE nationals to take up various responsibilities at the directorate.

Under the Emiratisation programme, selected students pursue their university studies in specializations needed by the GDRFA-Dubai.

On completion of the course, selected students will be inducted into the GDRFA-Dubai for a Dh6,000 ($1633) monthly stipend.

According to Al Marri, the students are selected based on several criteria such as Dubai Government’s strategic goals, GDRFA policies and actual needs of various sectors.

The number of beneficiaries for the programme in 2011 was 26, followed by 23 in 2012, 18 in 2013 and four in the the first quarter of 2014, he stated.

The GDRFA-Dubai is focusing on ICT, electronic engineering and statistics among other as it enhances its portfolio of electronic services to customers.

In his column titled 'Mohammed bin Rashid Era' in 'Manafez Dubai', Brigadier Obaid Moheir bin Suroor, the deputy director general, said the GDRFA-Dubai was just a few months away from becoming a text-book perfect ‘Smart’ organization.

The newsletter also has a report about the 'Facial Recognition Technology' which is contributing to what will become a $20 billion market globally by 2020.

Dubai Police had announced its intention to use Google Glass as part of its road traffic management measures.

In the 'UAE News' section of 'Manafez Dubai,' there are details about a survey that reveals more British expats are picking the UAE to start new lives and the arrest of 9639 of UAE’s most wanted persons in 2013.

In the Middle East section, the newsletter focuses on key regional developments such as Oman introducing a two-year ban on job visa change from July 1, Kuwait’s parliamentary panel rejecting a proposal for imposing a five-year expat residency cap and Saudi’s decision to launch tourism-linked Umrah visa that will benefit millions of visitors.

The International News section has stories about the latest proposals by the US to attract highly-skilled workforce, new law requiring knowledge of Russian for residency and Canada launching new residency-linked investor scheme.-TradeArabia News Service