DUBAI // An asthma-related application is one of several the emirate of Dubai is developing based on public requests, according to the chairman of du.
Ahmed bin Byat said on Tuesday that the application would include red and green flags for the city’s parks to determine pollen levels in the air.
“The person who requested this is asthmatic but loves to jog all the time and walk in the park,” he said at the second day of the Government Summit.
“So he or she wanted to know when there was more pollen in the park to avoid it and go to another one. Someone is now working on an app to inform asthmatic residents to avoid parks with too much pollen on some days when the flowers are blooming.”
He was speaking during a talk on smarter people, smarter cities and smarter governments, moderated by CNN’s Richard Quest.
“The leadership has stated they want a happy city so it’s up to the Government, public and private sectors to work together to make sure this works because this is not a government job alone,” Mr bin Byat said. “Such apps are happiness.”
He said the future of Dubai as a smart city would include residents having their own personal dashboard.
“That way you can plan the way you want to do things,” he said. “If you are a diabetic, it will tell you where to get your injection, where is the nearest clinic or where to buy your medicine.
“It will remind you automatically how much your electric metre is consuming – you don’t have to wait until the end of the month. It will give it to you in real time and if you have strange peaks, it will alert you. So personalising your dashboard is something which we are aiming for and we will make sure that everybody has their own.”
As for the capital, Rashed Al Mansoori, director general of the Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre, said the city could expect less traffic in the future thanks to apps.
“We need to engage with people on the ground and listen to what they want to find out, how we can improve their lives,” he said.
Abu Dhabi’s City Guard app now has more than 70,000 users daily.
“We’re listening to the public and meeting their expectations,” he said. “The problem comes usually from inspections on the ground and fixing issues on the streets. From all the feedback we received, 85 per cent has been fixed but some of the tasks need time.”
Mr bin Byat said executing solutions was the most challenging part for any city, especially when bringing together multiple networks.
“Getting people to work together and executing it is the most difficult thing, but it’s doable,” he said. “The devil, when it comes to this type of set-up, is in the detail and getting these networks to talk to each other. So we need to plan more and execute properly rather than execute then correct.”
Keeping up with technology changes in the coming five years will be a challenge, according to Mr Al Mansoori.
“We have to accommodate to the change that is going to happen,” he said. “We have to adopt new policies to deliver services to customers and the city has to manage their connectivity.”
In 2003, 175 countries had an online presence. That number reached 193 last year, with 65 online services, including medical, flight schedules and exam results.
“Dubai has gone online but it’s not enough,” Mr Quest added. “You have to take that presence and nurture it.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
