Two top universities will help Dubai Municipality in the development of its e-Government program.

The municipality has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cornell University of the US and the Queen's University of Canada, under which a joint research team of the two internationally-acclaimed universities will assist the civic body in impriving its e-government program.

Eng Hussain Nasser Lootah, acting director general of Dubai Municipality, discussed details of the MoU in a meeting with a delegation of university research candidates headed by Richard Seres of the Queen's Business School, at his office yesterday.

The research, part of the Global Business Project undertaken as an executive MBA programme of the two universities, will not focus on the technical details of specific e-government programme offerings, but rather will provide strategic direction to inform and guide DM’s e-Government program moving forward.

More specifically, the university team will assess current DM e-Government initiatives in the context of DM’s strategic plan with the focus being on new services that address priorities of Dubai Municipality as identified in the its strategic plan.

It will also assess DM’s e-Government initiative in the context of the overall Dubai e-Government initiatives and directions to ensure congruence and alignment; and identify major issues in the way of increased adoption of existing e-government services.

The study will also assess feasibility, issues and opportunities associated with the proposed strategic direction for DM’s e-Government for the future such as increased customer participation in the design and re-engineering of e-services and other forms of added value; development of public-private partnerships to enhance usage of services and generate increased revenues; create a real "e-transformation" by moving toward "zero visits" and a "paperless municipality. -TradeArabia News Service