Dubai Free Zones Council Enhances Facilitation of Integrated Services and Users’ Digital Journey

The Dubai Free Zones Council organized an interactive workshop to facilitate integrated services and users’ digital journey across all free zones in Dubai, in collaboration with the Dubai Model Centre and the Digital Dubai Authority.

The workshop also addressed the development of standards and capabilities to facilitate services and procedures for establishing and conducting businesses digitally, with the aim of contributing to positioning Dubai as a global hub for opportunities, skills, and investments, especially in the fields of digital economy and knowledge-, innovation, and technology-based sectors.

The workshop was attended by Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi, Assistant to The Secretary General of Dubai Freezones Council, and representatives of the various free zones in Dubai. During the workshop, the Dubai Model Center delivered a presentation on the 360 Services policy, which ensures the provision of integrated, customized, smooth, and proactive services that anticipate future needs. Dubai Digital Authority also presented a comprehensive vision of digitizing life in Dubai and building an integrated journey in the smarter city of the future.

The workshop highlighted the opportunity to unify the names of government services within free zones, and design future services in line with the 360 services policy by focusing on customers’ needs and achieving efficiency by focusing on users’ digital experience. It also directed to providing proactive services, activating integrated data, allocating unified service channels, improving the efficiency of services, making it customer-centric, activating the role of service advisors, and strengthening partnerships with the private sector.

A global digital capital and a model in integrated services

Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi highlighted that the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aims to make Dubai a global digital capital and a model in integrated services that prioritize the customer. He mentioned that free zones in Dubai are an essential part of this commitment to advance the services system and the journey of customers and partners and supports boosting its contribution to the digital economy and Dubai’s GDP to AED250 billion by 2030.

Al Matrooshi said: “The proactive approach and the anticipation of future needs, whether at the level of services or the digital infrastructure required to facilitate customer experiences and attract companies, entrepreneurs, and investors, was behind the conceptualization of free zones in Dubai. It set an unprecedented step in the region and wrote an exceptional success story for Dubai. This is approach we are continuing into the next stage.”

He added: “The cooperation of the Dubai Free Zones Council with leading entities, institutions and authorities in promoting Dubai’s leadership in services and digital infrastructure, such as the Dubai Model Centre and the Digital Dubai Authority, is a continuous commitment to strengthen partnerships with the government and private sectors to continue development, innovation and knowledge sharing.”

Eman Al Suwaidi, Senior Director of Dubai Model Centre, emphasized on the importance of collaboration for the ultimate goal of reaching the vision of the 360 Service policy and create a more unified government, we will prioritize the team work moving forward in order to improve on the customer experience and improve the efficiency across the freezones and the local Dubai government.

Dr. Moza Suwaidan, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Digital Dubai, said: “Our mission at Digital Dubai is to digitalize every aspect of life for people in the emirate, in an effort to make their lives easier and happier with advanced technology and cutting-edge smart services. We are constantly looking to expand our network of partners and collaborations in that regard, and with that in mind, we are delighted to be working with the Dubai Free Zones Council to organize this interactive workshop, which supports our objectives, and offers a platform for bringing other entities onboard to contribute towards creating a smoother digital experience and facilitate access to integrated services across all free zones in Dubai.”

Partnerships are the foundation of integrated services

The workshop discussed the concept of partnerships between government entities, their types, and the complementary relationships between their roles to provide integrated, useful, and streamlined services to individuals and institutions alike.

Participants in the workshop also learned about the work principles of the Dubai Model Center, which include best practices, cooperation with partners, flexibility, sustainability, and transformation towards empowerment. They also learned about the stages of the basic 360 services methodology, which include research, understanding the customer experience, designing the ideal journey, followed by experimental results, approval and application, all the way to evaluation and honoring.

First place globally

The Digital Dubai Authority highlighted some of Dubai’s achievements in global digital indicators, including the first place globally in wireless broadband and the first globally in digital talent, according to the Global Digital Competitiveness Ranking for 2021.

The authority presented the principle of digital city experiences based on sharing the innovation of the customer’s journey and benefiting from unified service channels in accordance with the 360 services policy, using and sharing data on a large scale to facilitate customer experience to the greatest extent, and promoting digital adoption, automation, and the principle of decentralization, through digital tools and enablers.