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Embracing technology for the workforce of tomorrow

Dubai - UAE continues to evolve immigration policies in line with advancements

It is no doubt an interesting time - from robots being granted citizenship to electric cars being shot into orbit and terabytes of data being stored in the cloud. Technological advancement has come a long way and it doesn't seem to be showing signs of slowing down. As a natural result of this, the way we work is changing, and governments realise they must evolve their policies. The UAE in particular - which is one of the most strategically-important business hubs in the region - continues to evolve its immigration policies in line with technological advancements in the workforce.
While historically, immigration in the UAE has been characterised by manual operations, many of the most recent advances in technology have made their way into the UAE's immigration framework. The government is tapping into highly-encrypted databases, and ministries are sharing databases to ensure the consistency of important biographical details. Service providers, visa-issuing bodies and even government entities are moving towards seamless and intuitive solutions which utilise smartphones. Through the many smart apps and intuitive online platforms, these changes have far-reaching implications for businesses, and are in line with global trends.
Of these global trends, one stands out: the delivery of services remotely. Flexible working hours, part-time engagements, and short-term secondments are all on the rise - the latter having the biggest impact on mobility. We are noticing a trend of global businesses "seconding" individuals, for a short term, to work on projects in the Gulf. Historically, this has been difficult to do in the UAE (and other Gulf countries) as the local immigration framework does not recognise short-term "intra-company" transfers and does not have a comprehensive list of short-term work authorisation options, especially within free zones. However, since 2014, with the advent of Ministerial Resolution 377, we've noticed the government actively looking to amend the immigration law and lay down the framework for more short-term visa/permit options.
In addition to facilitating trends in the workplace, the UAE is bettering the actual processes of work-related travel by putting a heavy focus on artificial intelligence. This is evident in its National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, which aims to achieve the objectives laid out in UAE Centennial 2071.
As part of this strategy, the government aims to fully embed AI in government services by 2031. Expats in the UAE make up more than 85 per cent of the population and the government is looking at ways to streamline the inflow and outflow of traffic at airports using AI. "Smart Gates" equipped with biometric and iris-scanning technology have already been deployed in the country, and the government has suggested rolling them out across the board by 2020, a practice that would eliminate the need for immigration officials who manually check-in each business visitor or resident.
Immigration processes, including those pertaining to short-term business travel and longer-term work authorisation, also continue to transition to electronic platforms. Various government entities have robust (and intuitive) electronic platforms which allow companies and individuals to liaise with the authorities directly rather than attend services centres.
So how do businesses keep up amidst all this change? Identifying how technology will impact the workforce necessitates a careful understanding of the region's immigration landscape. Given that government policies have an enormous impact on UAE work trends, businesses must build and maintain sophisticated internal mechanisms that stay abreast of changes to immigration requirements.
As technology continues to shape the work environment, further changes to the immigration landscape will undoubtedly follow. It will be interesting to see how UAE businesses will leverage innovation in order to embrace new opportunities - and how these opportunities will shape the larger UAE business environment.
The writer is manager for the Middle East and North Africa at Fragomen. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.