The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) has launched the new ‘Abu Dhabi Energy Services Platform’ as it takes part in GITEX Technology Week 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Centre under the umbrella of the Abu Dhabi Government.
The platform offers a new generation of government services that align with the Abu Dhabi Government’s directives to enhance customer happiness, promote seamless operations, and support the emirate’s economic activity. It is designed to provide next-generation government services in Abu Dhabi, expediting licensing processes, and producing compliance reports.
Eng. Saif Salem Bamadhaf, the DoE’s Director of IT and Smart Government Services, said: “The Government of Abu Dhabi has achieved remarkable success in recent years in terms of digital transformation in the government sector, which we, at the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, take great pride in. It is an accomplishment that helps drive digital transformation, enhances business competitiveness in the energy sector, and cements ease of doing business principles.”
“The Department of Energy is committed to spearheading the sector’s transition towards efficiency and sustainability – the pillars of the vital economic sectors of the future. In announcing the launch of the ‘Abu Dhabi Energy Services Platform’, we reaffirm our commitment to these two essential principles,” Bamadhaf added.
For his part, Hamad Al Ameri, the DoE’s Head of Licensing and Compliance, said: “As we designed the new platform, we had our sights set on integration and ease of use to include services, such as issuing new licenses, as well as modifying, extending, or revoking existing business licenses. In terms of compliance control, the new platform provides companies in the energy sector – who are required to submit compliance reports – with a simple procedure to compile and submit these reports, and explore the results of their performance, in accordance with the Department of Energy’s compliance programmes.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy has developed the platform to reaffirm its commitment to implementing the latest innovative technologies as a means to upgrade services provided to its partners in the emirate’s energy sector, ensure a seamless, integrated experience for customers, and drive the digital transformation in government services in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The platform provides a thorough database, where the DoE can gain insight into the current situation of the energy sector, the size and type of investments, indicators of the sector’s development, and future projections on the impact of technologies and business practices on the sector’s structure. The platform operates using the Department’s new integrated system to ensure compliance across the sector, relying on a qualitative rather than quantitative evaluation of performance. It helps enhance the Department’s ability to detect legislative and regulatory needs in the sector and anticipate future developments.
Business licensing services offered through the platform fall into the DoE-approved categories; they include 23 activities, nine of which are water services, seven for electricity, four for sanitation, and three for district cooling services. The management of compliance procedures is shifted from traditional methods to automated processes, reducing the number of periodic reports required by 80% from 8,000 to 1,600 reports.
The Department of Energy had recently launched an easy-to-use instant licensing service through the Abu Dhabi Government Services System (TAMM), in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA). The new service employs innovative, fast, and efficient technologies to provide instant licensing services to small businesses in the emirate’s energy sector, which include free of charge two-year licenses processed in one day.
In addition to launching the platform, the Department will be showcasing the Abu Dhabi Integrated Energy Model (‘Energy Cube’) at GITEX Technology Week 2019, which seeks to empower decision makers in the emirate to develop policies for a holistic future energy ecosystem. The DoE has equipped this model with advanced tools that enable it to test and predict the impact of policies on the energy sector and the wider economy.
The ‘Energy Cube’ examines 24 trends related to potential demand-side challenges in sectors such as industry, transport, urban development, as well as the three main issues on the supply side, namely, gas, water, and electricity in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It processes all possible outcomes for the 24 trends, addresses sensitive topics, and evaluates performance along the four priorities of the emirate’s energy policies (sustainability, supply security, cost efficiency, and economic development).
GITEX Technology Week is the largest tech exhibition in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia region. The 2019 edition is taking place on October 6-10, offering an ideal setting to communicate with international delegations, build partnerships with government and private-sector stakeholders, and communicate with influential decision makers in technology sectors.