GITEX 2019: FCSA And Smart Dubai Sign MoU To Open Data Exchange And Sharing Across The UAE

Smart Dubai and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA) announced that they would be collaborating to open data exchange and sharing across the UAE and populate the UAE’s official data platform with data from Smart Dubai’s Dubai Pulse – the backbone of the emirate’s smart transformation.

The collaboration was announced as the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on day three of GITEX Technology Week 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Her Excellency Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of Smart Dubai, and FCSA Director General H.E. Abdulla Nasser Lootah, signed the MoU representing their respective entities.

“Data is an indispensable component for all sustainable development and smart transformation plans,” said H.E. Dr Aisha. “It offers a solid foundation for decision-making and fuels digitalisation and automation projects. As the government entity tasked with transforming Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world, Smart Dubai has spearheaded efforts to collect and catalogue Dubai’s city data.”

“We’re delighted to be forging this partnership with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, which presents a starting point for scaling Smart Dubai Data’s services to the national level,” H.E. added. “The Dubai Pulse platform is one such service, which was launched to be the backbone of the emirate’s smart transformation. The platform has been a tremendous success, recently reporting a surge in visitor numbers – particularly from abroad – where it registered 1.5 million visits.”

“Furthermore, the MoU expands our network of partners and moves us forward towards achieving our objectives. Smart Dubai is dedicated to collaborating with government and private entities from across Dubai and the UAE, in line with the vision and directives of our wise leadership,” the Smart Dubai Director General concluded.

For his part, H.E. Abdulla Nasser Lootah said: “We are very excited with the ongoing collaboration we have with Smart Dubai. Supporting this important project is in line with the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority’s vision and strategic objectives, which are based on the principle of ‘knowledge for prosperity’ and forging innovative partnerships with government and private entities in the UAE and abroad. By disseminating accurate and up-to-date data across Dubai Pulse, the FCSA is adding a new and innovative channel to make knowledge more accessible to users.”

H.E. Lootah added that the FCSA, in partnership with Smart Dubai, would enable Dubai Pulse users from federal, local, private, and academic sectors to access data provided by the FCSA quickly and efficiently, which serves to empower users, be they individuals, institutions and communities.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) lists five main objectives, the first of which is Franchising the Data Science Lab Approach, whereby the FCSA would collaborate with Smart Dubai Data (SDD) to replicate the Design Thinking Workshop the SDD had organised with public and private-sector entities earlier this year on a federal level. Secondly, the two entities are set to work together on Use Case Collaboration, classifying each use case along four key criteria: Data; Data Analysis; Productization; and Resources.

The MoU’s third objective is Knowledge Sharing, whereby the FCSA would contribute to the upcoming Open Data Science Meetups and Hackathons, while the SDD, in return, participates in a series of knowledge workshops the FCSA is organising around Big Data. Participation in this case can take on many forms, including hosting, sponsoring, content sharing, and attending.

Objective number four is entitled Compliance Framework; it calls on the SDD to share its insights, lessons learned, and success stories on the federal level. Meanwhile, the fifth and final objective centres around Open Data and Dubai Pulse Collaboration, and will see the Authority collaborate with the SDD on open data, using the latter’s approach to enrich the UAE’s open data on a national level.

Dubai Pulse was designed to be the backbone of the emirate’s digital transformation, compiling data from various government entities. It includes three layers of data: the first is free of charge and caters to the public, while the second offers a thorough analysis of the data (in exchange for a fee) to be used for academic, professional, commercial, and economic purposes. The third and final layer includes data accessible exclusively to Dubai Government entities.

Dubai Pulse now boasts 460 datasets from 35 entities, out of a total of 2,000 that the platform is looking to add in the near future, offering holistic information on vital sectors, namely, business, the economy, education, the environment, finance, government policies, healthcare, housing, residency visas, security and justice, sports, and transportation (land and maritime).

The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority is a Federal Government entity created to enhance the UAE’s national data and competitiveness capacities, functioning as the official government source for national statistics, and working to improve the UAE’s ranking in global competitiveness reports.