Abu Dhabi’s leadership is known in the Middle East for forward thinking. In 2007, a complete set of spatially enabled e-government services had been introduced. Being largest state and capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s government understands the added value of geographic data and aims to continuously empower government entities to freely access high quality and accurate location information. With the goal of better collaboration in mind, a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for Abu Dhabi was established.
The SDI has been a major initiative under the guidance of the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA). With ADDA’s expertise and leadership, the SDI has enabled access to authoritative data for more than 100 government entities involved in planning, transportation, public safety, government services and more.
Abu Dhabi’s geospatial infrastructure is powered by Esri’s ArcGIS platform. Each one equipped with their own portal, government entities can publish and share content and services for other agencies to access. Since 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding between ADDA and Esri provides Esri technology and consulting services throughout government entities. This combination of cutting-edge geospatial technology and industry expertise has contributed to the rapid digital transformation of Abu Dhabi’s government services.
By leveraging the latest GIS technology, Abu Dhabi’s key government agencies have internally developed significant GIS capacity, providing geo-enabled services and solutions that meet strategic government needs.
The Department of Municipalities and Transport, for instance, are experimenting with ArcGIS Urban, Esri’s new 3D planning and urban development system, to identify areas and explore scenarios for redevelopment across the capital city. The Agriculture & Food Safety Authority are using aerial imagery analysis powered by machine learning to validate farm subsidy payments based on the mix of crops and livestock being farmed.
The Department has established a range of internal and public services for monitoring and sharing transportation services across the emirate, including the DARB traveler information website and mobile app.
Most recently, ADDA has enhanced citizen services with particular focus on user experience. By rationalizing the many channels of government services – including more than 200 websites and apps, and 100 service centers and call centers – Abu Dhabi government launched TAMM (English: done), a unified omnichannel platform providing a fast and seamless user experience of a range of government services for citizens, residents, visitors and businesses.
Through a value-study of the agreement with Esri, Abu Dhabi government determined the return on investment to be in excess of 250% of the cost of the technology and services provided. The business and economic value of the applications, solutions and open data powered by the technology is likely much greater than this.
TAMM takes the approach of customer journeys, making it easier for citizens and residents of Abu Dhabi to access services such as trade license application or visa renewal. At their core, most of these tasks are processed by authoritative location data provided by Abu Dhabi’s Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). One such journey accompanies new residents in the emirate while finding a place to live based on personal preferences such as the vicinity of schools, public transport facilities, shopping, beaches and other criteria. The customer journey shows a map to display potential areas of interest, and it suggests the available rental properties matching the user’s preferences.
There are plans for many more location-enabled success stories in Abu Dhabi. The agenda set by the emirate’s leadership shows an overarching ambition to become a benchmark for technology adoption within government services, supported by ADDA and other government agencies. Accordingly, Khawla al Fahim, SDI Management Department Manager at ADDA, describes that the government’s vision was to create a geosmart Abu Dhabi through utilizing and leveraging all the latest technologies, and to have services provided, even before customers asked for them.
Abu Dhabi’s achievements have been recognized with various awards and accolades, including Esri’s Smart Government award in 2015 and a Digital Transformation award in 2017. The president of Esri, Jack Dangermond, considers Abu Dhabi a lighthouse example of what can be accomplished by a nation that recognizes the many benefits that can be derived through the cooperative use of geospatial information.
Authors: Richard Budden, Hossam Sayed, Benjamin Hardy, Khawla al Fahim, Essam Shedamy and Nadine Sherif.
ArcGIS Urban enabling smart planning and urban redevelopment across Abu Dhabi
TAMM helping new residents find somewhere to live
