Strategic Affairs Council discusses latest developments in private education; smart services and progress of Dubai Paperless Strategy

DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 21st Jul, 2020) Deputy Ruler and First Deputy Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum today chaired a meeting of the Strategic Affairs Council of The Executive Council of Dubai.

Second Deputy Chairman of The Executive Council His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and members of the Council attended the meeting, which discussed a number of issues, including education, financial settlements and smart services in Dubai.

During the meeting, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) presented a report about private education and its role in enhancing Dubai’s position as an international knowledge economy hub. The report highlighted the education sector’s role in enhancing the quality of life of families and reinforcing Dubai’s value proposition as a preferred global destination to live and work. According to the report, the private education sector, which serves 300,000 school students and 50,000 higher education students, contributes AED18 billion to the Dubai economy. KHDA also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector and outlined the opportunities to use distance and blended learning to enhance the quality of education.

Dubai Police officials spoke about its new service that allows members of the public to get information about their ‘criminal status’ in financial cases and check whether police or judicial entities have issued a travel ban against them. More than 75,000 people belonging to 150 nationalities have benefited from this service.

The service has processed a total of 540,000 inquiries leading to the recovery of AED2.6 billion and facilitated financial savings of over AED18 million.

Dubai Police also briefed the Council on its ‘Smart Status Notification Service, which seeks to notify individuals charged in small financial cases via SMS about any travel bans on them to give them an opportunity to settle their cases. More than 21,000 individuals belonging to 137 nationalities have benefitted from the service which has facilitated the recovery of AED2.1 billion and savings of AED38 million.

Smart Dubai presented a report about the progress of the Dubai Paperless Strategy which seeks to transfer all government transactions to digital platforms, in the process contributing to environmental sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint. The implementation of the Strategy has so far enabled 33 government entities to cut paper consumption by 67%, saving 195.4 million sheets of paper from a total of 293.2 million consumed annually by these entities. The Strategy also allowed entities to save AED831 million and 8.8 million hours of labour, in addition to saving 23,448 trees.

Smart Dubai is working to transfer 100% of the Dubai Government’s internal transactions and public services to digital platforms before the end of 2021.

The Strategic Affairs Council plays a key role in supporting policy development and strategic decision making in The Executive Council of Dubai by proposing plans for realising the leadership’s vision and developing innovative solutions to enhance government services.