Smart Dubai has discussed the first report on government entities’ compliance with the Dubai Data Policies during the past year, at its 15th Board meeting. The meeting was held to discuss the progress of Smart Dubai’s strategic initiatives.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, had urged government entities to populate the Dubai Pulse platform with pertinent and useful data at the inaugural “Future-Now” event in 2017, which requires managing their data in accordance with the Data Policies Law.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) came in first place among the 56 participating entities, the report revealed, following efforts by the Authority’s data team to foster stronger cooperation, achieve the best results in term of data compliance, and contribute towards making Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world.
Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office (SDO), said, “Guided by the forward-thinking vision of its leaders, Dubai has set out on a mission to guide and organise data exchange in both the public and private sectors. Since then, Smart Dubai has witnessed successive and significant milestones on that journey, from the launch of the Dubai Data Establishment and the issuance of the Dubai Data Law, to the unveiling of the Dubai Data Policies and, today, the first data compliance report to measure our progress.”
“This report emboldens government entities to continue their efforts,” Dr Aisha added. “It creates a positive competitive environment between various state entities, compelling them to commit to aggregating data, classifying it, and populating the Dubai Pulse platform. Smart Dubai is aiming to develop and mature data practices in government entities, in an effort to prepare authorities in the emirate to embrace Fourth-Industrial-Revolution technologies (such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of things). Our ambition is to create a new economic sector based on data, which is the key to Dubai’s future aspirations and plans for becoming the happiest and smartest city on earth.”
Smart Dubai lauded the RTA, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) for exerting extraordinary efforts to comply with Dubai data policies and standards, which “reflects the extent of their commitment to optimising the use of data to build the happiest and smartest city on Earth.”
The report measured eight key criteria in its evaluation, namely: Designating a data team; determining governance practices; data inventory; prioritising pertinent data; classifying data; setting data release plans; data cataloguing; and uploading data onto the platform. Furthermore, it revealed the number of open and shared datasets per entity, where RTA came in first, having completed all the required criteria for data compliance, and contributed a total of 23 open datasets. DEWA and DTCM, meanwhile, registered a total of 21 and two shared/open datasets, respectively, checking all the boxes for data compliance as well.
Smart Dubai is collaborating with the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) to develop the skills and knowledge of data personnel across government entities through the Data Compliance Course, which has so far had four classes and a total of 141 graduates – now qualified data experts – across various government departments. In addition, Smart Dubai set up data teams in each government entity, electing data leaders to coordinate with the Dubai Data Establishment and develop Dubai Pulse – Dubai’s data hub and the backbone of the emirate’s smart transformation.
