Dubai- Smart Dubai Government (SDG) announced that shared smart services have enabled Dubai Government to make a total savings of AED 4.3 billion(an approximate $1.168) since the inception of the services in 2003.
The results were part of a comprehensive, six-month study conducted by an international, third party vendor to uncover the impact of SDG’s services and the benefits they have brought to the Government of Dubai.
“Since 2003, we have been committed to delivering impactful smart services for the Government of Dubai, in line with the vision of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make Dubai a global benchmark for smart government. For the first time, we can quantify the benefits that we are delivering to the government due to enhanced efficiency; greater agility and higher responsiveness in government services,” said Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government.
“The results of this report are further evidence of our ongoing commitment to ensuring the most efficient government, in line with our mandate to deliver world-class smart services and infrastructure as the technology arm of the Smart Dubai Office,” he added.
The report went in depth analyzing the Smart Dubai Government service portfolio, expenditure reports and projected cost savings to determine the cost-to-savings ratio for the Government of Dubai as a result of shared smart government services.
The report found that the Government of Dubai has saved AED 5.6 (an approximate $1.52) for each AED 1 spent by Smart Dubai Government since its establishment. The report also identifies an average saving of AED 358 million per year for the government over 12 years, resulting from SDG services.
In 2015, SDG saved the Dubai Government an average of AED 35.5 million every month. The Dubai Government saved AED 4.2 for every AED 1 spent by SDG in 2015: the highest cost-to-savings ratio of all time, and a growth of 20% over the previous year.
The report identified savings in hardware and software installation and maintenance costs, as well as savings to daily operations and personnel costs. Savings are identified across all business categories, demonstrating the added-value of SDG connected and shared services for all government partners.
“Smart Dubai Government is able to provide 70% of a government entity’s department services from day 1. Our service portfolio drives significant benefits for the whole government — from increased cap-ex efficiency; to removing redundancies; to reduced carbon footprints resulting from shared services. Smart government services also contribute to increased employee efficiency; improved asset management and drastically reduced maintenance costs. Through smart technology, we are empowering an agile and connected government to meet the future of Dubai,” CEO Lootah added.
Total savings were calculated across four Smart Dubai Government service categories: Infrastructure management; Government Resource Planning (GRP) services; Smart Services; and the annual GITEX event.
Government Resource Planning contributed the most significant savings to the Dubai Government, accounting for over AED 1.2 billion saved over 12 years. GRP services include daily business support services such as Finance, HR, Procurement and Asset Management.
Infrastructure Management saw the highest cost-to-savings ratio, saving the government AED 5.2 for every AED 1 spent on network services; cloud services; data and disaster recovery; and communication support services.
Smart Services — including the award-winning DubaiNow application; the secure single-sign-on digital ID service MyID; and the seamless digital payment platform ePay — have contributed an additional AED 443 million in savings to the Dubai government over 12 years.
Dubai government savings from SDG smart services have been growing at a rate of 6% per year. Significant increases are expected as more government entities adopt smart services, in line with Dubai’s smart city transformation, led by the Smart Dubai Office.