IT Students at UD Develop the Dubai Smart View Portal

For the city of Dubai to maintain its status as the ultimate destination for International Business, a large number of Government Services have been initiated over the years which have enabled the inhabitants of the city, individual or as an institution to live up to their utmost capabilities. Some of these services have been able to provide the most efficient amenities to its end users mostly through the use of technology among other support systems. Technology has become one of the most essential parts of any organization in order to achieve efficiency in its operations or through the communication to the beneficiaries of their products or services. In an attempt to make use of the available technology to communicate well with the targeted segment of consumers, the University of Dubai has launched the Dubai Smart View portal. The portal, developed with a mission to provide the public an access to the Dubai Smart Government services with ease and satisfaction lives up to its promise. The Dubai Smart View was completed as a part of a Capstone project in spring 2015, undertaken by the undergraduate students of the University majoring in Information Technology. Started a year ago by the team of Islyn Fernandes, Khalid Najib, Arefeh Khaled, Amina Qassem and Ahmed Sufyan, the project was a long-term investigation directed at producing a final product. The presentation was attended by the President of the University of Dubai, Dr. Eesa Al Bastaki and the Acting Dean of College of Information Technology (CIT), Dr. Sami Miniaoui on June 15, 2015. The Capstone project is aimed at developing the academic and intellectual experience of students in order to encourage them to think critically by solving challenging problems and enhancing their expertise in skills such as research, media literacy, teamwork, planning among many others. Many a time, such as in the present case, the students connect their projects to community issues or problems, which integrate out-of-the-box thinking with activities such as interviews, observations etc. This enables them to accumulate huge amounts of learning through experiences that enhance their personality as a whole. ìUniversity of Dubai has made a commitment to work with the government entities and private companies in order to develop plans for smart cities in UAE such as Dubai. We encourage our students to be part of these ongoing and exciting plans and strive to be #1 in developing necessary technology for future generations,î said Dr. Al Bastaki during his address at the event. Aimed at curbing the problem of lack of awareness about the government entities and services, in addition to providing a platform to the public to raise their issues at a much faster pace, the goal of the project was to develop a smarter view of the offerings through a swift access with a one tap service. The smooth navigation system through its easy-to-use interface has been able to lower the costs by saving time and money and this effective approach has given its users guaranteed results thereby enhancing the user experience. To facilitate the use of the portal extensively, the Smart Board initiative is expected to enhance the user experience by giving them a chance to use the mobile apps to get access to the Smart View services. This Smart Board will be put up at multiple places around the city such as bus stops, metro station and government departments. The Smart Board uses the Technology of Near Field Communication (NFC) and the QR Code.† Since not every phone is equipped with the NFC feature, this weakness will be eliminated by embedding the QR code within the Smart Board. A user can simply use the QR Code Scanner application in their smartphone to access different services that the Smart View has to offer. ìThis idea was in my mind for over a year and I had to do a lot of research to witness the advantages of using technology such as QR Code and NFC before suggesting it to Dr. Sami. He was very supportive and after receiving approval from Dr. Al Bastaki, the Capstone project was executed with my team members,î said Ahmed Sufyan, the project manager of Dubai Smart View. In addition to offering a direct access to Government entitiesí websites, there are other services that the Smart View provides. The user can order a Taxi as well as have a direct access to the nearest offices of the different services through the embedded maps in the portal. Besides this, the latest offerings in terms of discounts, newly launched mobile applications would be available to the users through a single tap. At present, the Government entities covered are the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Police, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Land Department, Dubai Customs and Dubai Trade. The next version will see an addition of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs (DNRD), Dubai Municipality (DM) and the Dubai Courts to its existing list of services. With the portal just 2 months old, it has a long way to go and certainly looks promising to take the challenge ahead. The awe-inspiring idea of providing a one-stop-shop that delivers an easy and efficient access to the Government services is just a small trailer of what the students at the University of Dubai can offer. The out-of-the-box thinking of the individuals and their ability to work as a team through the Capstone projects gives them an experience how the world in the industry works thereby leading to increased levels of learning and motivation, besides preparing them for a better future.