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How Dubai drove past digital milestones

Dubai - Dubai Municipality's Ahmed Kajoor's seen it all - but he wants to see more

Ahmed Kajoor says he first saw a computer keyboard - a Texas Instruments one - back in 1982. Just recently in one of his travels, he saw an 18-month-old child holding an iPad, who was apparently proficient in using it.
And as he flipped through his presentation at DigiTrans 2017 - in which he presented throwback images showing how Dubai's government entities processed paperwork back in the day - it was evident on his face how thrilled he was to be among those at the frontline of technological evolution in the emirate.
"When that child becomes 18 or 19 [years old], he probably won't want to carry an iPad. maybe [he would be playing] with something on his body," Kajoor, the head of IT at Dubai Municipality, said in his very light-hearted presentation.
But his message was serious: technology is rapidly evolving that you'll never know what's the next big thing tomorrow.
And he's proud to be one of those at the forefront of digital transformation in Dubai, which he has witnessed throughout the years - spanning decades, actually - from simple punched cards to higher-specced desktops to slimmer laptops to smart apps.
 
Tonnes of paperwork
In 1998, people queueing up for various applications at Dubai government offices would - on a good day - reach 5,000, which would span a line enough to cover a 3.5km trail.
He recalls, with those images as proof in his presentation, how they had to deal with long queues and piles of paper back then. Heck. there was even one photo showing bags of paper stuck in an office. They thought: instead of typing the form, why not create an application that will prepare it for them?
They did just that. It became a welcome sight to see 'only' a few dozen folders full of paper piled up beside one employee's computer.
"Everybody thought of computers [at that time] as things that just speed things up," Kajoor said.
However, one problem persisted: there still was too much paper.
So, in May 2000, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who was then the Crown Prince of Dubai, started the smart government initiative, which gave the emirate's entities 18 months to move everything to the computer and Internet.
As such, Kajoor and his team came up with what he says was one of the most advanced forms back then. People, however, still had to go to different offices to avail of various services.
 
Speeding it up
As years progressed and as technology got better, Dubai never stopped looking at ways to accelerate processes to save time, effort and money. The government has launched several initiatives aimed at making services quicker and, of course, smarter. He does see one challenge, though: adaptation. "People are adapting very slow as technology is changing very fast," Kajoor told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the event.
"One of the problems is the feeling of ownership; we still come from the physical environment where all the computing and technology is going virtual. We need to change our culture from having things going from physical to virtual - and that will expedite adaptation."
He also believes artificial intelligence and robotics will become a norm in coming years, thanks to the rapid rise of these innovations.
"Five years ago, if someone does things from his pocket with a phone, they say it's not simple," Kajoor points out.
"Today we are online almost 24/7; maybe three to five years from now we will be living online," he added.
He also wants to allay the persisting fears that jobs will be overtaken by technology.
"In every transformation," Kajoor says, "people have to adapt and go out of their comfort zone."
"Yes, old jobs will be lost, but new jobs will be created - this is normal... you cannot stay in one place and have everything come to you."
At the moment, Kajoor is making sure his team is doing its best to deliver the services customers need and demand. And looking back, yes, Kajoor has seen it all - but they're not stopping there, and they cannot stop innovating.
"We cannot wait for failure to come to us - we are going to go before failure; we cannot afford to fail anymore," he said.
And he'll never forget how they had to deal with all those papers. Just imagine how thrilled Kajoor is now that apps allow customers to transact business at the comfort of wherever they are.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com