Dubai Statistics Center has achieved a new achievement by receiving “100% paperless stamp” as one of four government agencies that have been granted the stamp by the Smart Dubai Department, as a result of their implementation of all the requirements of Dubai Strategy for Paperless Transactions at a rate of 100% in a record time of nine months only. This achievement has made as a result of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council to transform Dubai government into a paperless transactions government by the end of 2021.

Tariq Al Janahi, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Happiness and Wellbeing Officer, said that work began on implementing Dubai strategy for paperless transactions at Dubai Statistics Center in February 2020 at the first time of the announcement of the launch of the fourth group, which included Dubai Statistics Center along with 9 government agencies. The center has formed an internal work team to oversee the implementation of the paperless transformation strategy and its operational and implementation plan at the center level, and a target has been set to print the last paper at Dubai Statistics Center by the end of 2020. Al-Janahi added, “We have benefited from the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic in turning it into an opportunity, as we have invested in the circumstances of the pandemic to strengthen the procedures for paperless transformation and accelerate the implementation plan by 200%.” Tariq Al Janahi also added “The procedures, processes and services that have been re-engineered to keep pace with this development have proven effective and become more efficient after applying paperless transformation standards.”

Transformation stages
Al-Janahi added: The team started working on developing a comprehensive plan for transformation, which included 4 main stages. First, automating all services provided to customers and transforming them into fully digital services, making obtaining them does not require the submission of any paper transaction or personal presence at the center. Secondly, gradually removing all printers in the center’s departments, and this stage also included organizing awareness workshops for employees to make them aware of the importance of reducing paper printing during the work. Third, canceling all paper forms used internally and replacing them with electronic forms, and finally activating the electronic signature for all the center employees by upgrading the center’s employees ’digital ID accounts to trusted accounts with approved signatures.
Al-Janahi and the team received “100% paperless stamp” from H.E Younis AL Nasser Assistant Director General of Smart Dubai office, CEO of Dubai Data Establishment and H.E Wesam Lootah, CEO of the Smart Dubai Gov. Establishment, during their visit to the center. Al-Janahi praised the advisory and technical support provided by Smart Dubai to achieve this ambitious goal.

Recorded numbers
17,201 papers were printed at the center at the beginning of February 2020, and the center succeeded in reducing the number of printed papers by 59% in the first month of the transformation, and the number of papers reached 6,994 papers printed in March. With the reduction of the number of printers in the center by half and the automation of all paper forms, the number of papers printed in the center in the month of June reached 915 printed papers in all departments of the center. With the completion of the stage of activating the electronic signatures of the center’s employees and removing the printers by 90%, the center succeeded in reducing the number of papers to 189 printed papers at the end of September 2020, thus the center witnessed the printing of the last paper printed at Dubai Statistics Center on 20/10/2020.