Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has launched a new smart phone application aimed at helping residents to report the food safety violations along with pictures.

This is one of ADFCA's smart governance initiatives in line with the government's vision in this sphere and will provide services through mobile phones and other smart devices with a view to expedite services in the best possible fashion, said a senior official.

Mohamed Jalal Al Rayssi, the director of Communication and Community Service at ADFCA, said the authority had embarked on its smart governance initiatives in 2009 when it launched the e-gate which won praise from Microsoft.

"Microsoft had at that time published on its website an analysis that described ADFCA's e-gate an outstanding achievement made in association with it. It was the first of its kind in Abu Dhabi at that time. It was followed by other initiatives such as social media presence, Zadi blackberry services and so on," he stated.

Al Rayssi pointed out that ADFCA was keen to raise the bar on communication among the staff and their abilities and effectiveness through smart applications, which would increase productivity up to 80 per cent, in addition to saving time and effort.

Omar Ibrahim Al Nuaimi,  the director of IT division in ADFCA, said it was now possible for employees to benefit from a wide variety of services through smart applications, including personal data, salary details, bank account detail, attendance and exits, vacations, house loan, policies and procedures.

Al Nuaimi said that the application would also provide information and interactive services, such as maps to help them reach all ADFCA facilities easily, location identification and directions, in addition to links to social media sites such as facebook and twitter.

"It is also now possible for the people of Abu Dhabi to intimate ADFCA about food safety violations directly by taking pictures and identifying the location on the interactive map," he added.

He explained that the smart applications would help enhance the levels of both food safety and customer satisfaction as they go a long way in improving transparency and positive follow up.-TradeArabia News Service