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Dubai buildings to get quick response codes

DUBAI — The Dubai Municipality (DM) on Tuesday launched a “Digital City” project in which each building in the emirate will receive a Quick Response (QR) Code having all details related to the building and the plot embedded on it. The QR Code, also known as two-dimensional code or matrix barcode, will enable officials, landlords and the public easy electronic access to rightfully authorised data and services of the municipality and other government 
departments.

The codes, generally consisting black modules in a square pattern on a white background, can be read using camera phones with QR Code reader applications and smartphones that support barcode scanners.

The initial phase of the project will see the municipality allotting unique QR Codes to services offered by its various departments, Director-General Hussain Nasser Lootah said after the launch of the project at the Municipality Headquarters. By scanning the codes, users can quickly access the desired e-services of the municipality through their mobile phones.

This short cut will give them immediate access to e-application forms through which they can avail of the municipality’s services.

“These codes have the capability of having text, picture and colours. All our applications will be available on QR Codes which can be read through mobile,” he said, pointing out that the use of the code is free, fast, simple, and environment friendly.

Lootah said the codes, which will be made available on the DM website www.dm.gov.ae, would also be used for conducting electronic survey of customer service satisfaction at the municipality’s counters.

Marwan Ibrahim Nasser, head of Follow-Up Office at DM Director-General’s Office, said Dubai was the second city after New York to introduce QR Codes for building permit services.

“We are going further ahead by allotting QR Code for each building in the emirate and access to various other services as well,” he said. Giving an example, Lootah said the QR Code of a building on fire, in future, would help a user to retrieve the details of the exact location of the building and access the service of the civil defence immediately. There will be provisions for registering complaints, retrieving details of inspection visits, and tracking violations and fines as well.

He said the municipality would hold discussions with the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Civil Defence, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority etc. to have an integrated system of government database for the project scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

Some of the DM services that can be accessed through QR Codes in the initial phase of the project include requests for plan permit, building permit renewal, permit for temporary use of plot, registration of new local consultants and contractors, changing contractor or consultant after issuing building permit, and for permanent connection with sewage network.

The Digital City project is also a part of the “Zero Visit” initiative of the municipality that aims at boosting its e-services to the optimum level so that customers will not be required to visit the DM centres for availing services and conducting transactions.

Lootah said the municipality would also do away with printed business cards of its employees as each DM employee will be allotted a QR Code which will generate a vCard, an electronic file format for a business card, containing all contact information of the employee.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com