Dubai has become the first nation in the world to be 100 percent paperless: How is it significant?
On 11th December 2021, Dubai became the first nation to be 100 percent paperless. This milestone was shared by the Crown Prince of Emirates, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who emphasised how turning the nation into a paper-free zone saved 1.3 million dirham and 14-million-man hours.
As a result, currently, all domestic and international transactions and procedures of Dubai government, businesses and individuals are being conducted online. These are managed of what the government is calling as a ‘comprehensive digital service platform.’
Dubai’s paperless strategy: What is it all about?
According to the Crown Prince, converting Dubai into a 100 per cent paperless nation is the first step towards digitising all aspects of life through innovation and creativity. He has further stated that his government aims to create many more advanced strategies to ascertain the digital way of life in the state over the next 50 years. The first in the list was this paperless strategy.
The paperless strategy devised by the Dubai government means that all internal working and customer services will henceforth be carried out digitally. It also means that the government will no longer be demanding paper documents from its citizens to carry out its day-to-day operations. The transition was initiated only when the state was ready to install necessary technology to carry out smooth paperless transactions.
Phases of the strategy
Dubai’s paper-free strategy was divided into five phases, and implemented in consecution. Each of them covered few specific bodies of the Dubai government. At the end of the 5th phase, the implementation was complete and had spread across 45 government entities across Dubai. Within three days, Dubai government had already carried out 1800 crucial digital services and 10,500 key transactions.
How is Dubai’s paperless strategy significant?
As already mentioned, Dubai’s paper-free strategy has saved immense capital and labour hours making it the digital capital of the world. This is an inspiration for the rest of the world who are targeting to make significant efforts to alter climate change.
Moreover, full digital transformation is important as it will create a new-age smart city experience for all its citizens making everyday procedures easier and faster. This too can motivate other nations to implement this paper-free strategy. It will not only make lives better but also contribute to the growth of a sustainable world.
As a matter of fact, USA, Canada, UK, and certain other European nations have showed great interest in going paper-free soon and are currently at the initial stages of implementing digitisation of all government operations, including citizen identification.