Dubai eGovernment Department hosts Masters students from Swiss EPFL University

Dubai eGovernment Department received yesterday, a student delegation from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) University, Switzerland, one of the world’s most distinguished technology universities. Led by Prof. Philipp Mueller, the delegation included Senior Manager Marianne Tremblay, and a group of Executive Masters students in eGovernance. The visit, which was part of the students’ training program and was organized in collaboration with the university’s research centre in Ras Al Khaimah, was conducted to support the research activities of the students under the course “ICT, Public Sector Reform, and eGovernance in the Middle East”. The delegation was received by H.E. Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai eGovernment, accompanied by Department Directors and employees.

During the visit, a presentation was conducted on Dubai eGovernment in promoting the “e-Transformation” of Dubai, laying the foundations of an integrated knowledge-based digital community in line with the inspired vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai. The students also attended a presentation by the Department’s Directors, during which Huda Al Hashimi, Director of Systems Development and Acting Director of Government Resources Planning Systems, showed how government departments are integrated using GRP systems, which help government departments conduct effective management of their primary resources and facilitate commercial transactions with the government.

Matar Al Humairi, Director of Infrastructure Management, further talked about the systems as the cornerstone of the infrastructure of Dubai eGovernment and the backbone of the high-speed connection between governmental and semi-governmental organizations. In addition, the systems ensure cost-efficient, safe and secure information exchange between these entities. On the other hand, Ms. Sumaia Hammad, Director of Communication & Business Development, conducted a presentation about shared services for government departments and the public using a ‘Customer First’ approach. The presentation was followed by interactive QA sessions between the master students and the Directors who answered various queries from the students.

H.E. Ahmed Bin Humaidan said, “We are honored to have received the EPFL Swiss University delegation. This is a very significant opportunity to share our expertise with these master students from different nationalities who are currently preparing their executive masters dissertations on e-Governance from a leading university.”

Bin Humaidan added, “We were keen to offer the delegation a full perspective on the centralized and decentralized methodologies adopted by Dubai’s government departments, in addition to the integrated government resources planning system and the modern infrastructure of the department. We have also demonstrated the role played by information exchange between local government departments in achieving eTransformation throughout the emirate, and we also emphasised how the customer is the number one priority for us, complementing the requirements of eGovernance. I would also like to stress that Dubai eGovernment always welcomes the exchange of expertise and know-how with the students of all regional and international educational and academic institutions, in order to enable the academic community to benefit from our experience in the area of eGovernance. This is in line with our keenness to exchange knowledge and reinforce educational, research and technological initiatives that will contribute to furthering the stature of Dubai as a knowledge-based economy.”

Marianne Tremblay, Sr. Manager at EPFL said, “The main focus of our university is to undertake international development initiatives related to advanced technology and scientific research, while also building strong academic relations and activating constructive communication channels. In this regard, our master students have travelled to seven countries to study eGovernment systems and we were delighted with the unique Emirati hospitality and to be familiarized with Dubai’s leading experience in eTransformation, which complies with the highest eGovernance standards. In particular, we are very impressed to note how the vision and strategy of Dubai eGovernment is driven by great political will at the highest levels, demonstrating that successful eGovernments go beyond technology and require leadership, connectivity and collaboration.”

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) was established by the Swiss Government in 1869, and is consistently ranked among the top leading international institutions and number one in Europe in the field of engineering according to Times Higher Education. EPFL also operates a dedicated nuclear reactor in its Swiss campus for students studying reactor physics and is also providing technical knowhow for the first long range solar-power airplane which will attempt to circumnavigate the earth in 2013.