Messaging service WhatsApp will soon be used to pay parking fees and for registering births and deaths with health authorities in Dubai.
The announcements were made at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (Gitex), which opened at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday.
Parking via WhatsApp will be available within two weeks, using the same 7275 number, rather than just via SMS.
It means motorists can avoid paying the 30 fils for each message to telecoms companies when they want to park in a Roads and Transport Authority allocated zone.
A QR code available on iPhones can also be scanned to open the area or parking zone. Drivers can then put in their registration number and pay via ApplePay.
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Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, officially opened Gitex at Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday. All photos: Wam -
Sheikh Hamdan went on a tour of the event accompanied by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, chairman of the Dubai Media Council, Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed; and a number of dignitaries, including Helal Saeed Al Marri, director general of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. -
Sheikh Hamdan stopped to visit some of the global industry’s biggest technology companies, including Huawei, Dell Technologies, Avaya, Cisco, Intel, Ericsson, TeamViewer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, Dubai Internet City and Etisalat. -
The technology showpiece encompasses six co-located shows: Gitex Global, Ai Everything, Gitex Future Stars, the Future Blockchain Summit, Fintech Surge and Marketing Mania. -
Sheikh Hamdan said the success of the event demonstrated that Dubai was a safe destination for international trade shows. -
Sheikh Hamdan tours Gitex. -
Sheikh Hamdan speaks with an exhibitor at Gitex. -
Gitex is being in held in line with strict Covid-19 safety measures.
“We are participating at Gitex to show the digital challenges of paying parking fees,” said Ahmed Hasan Mahboub, director of parking at the RTA.
“An enhancement has been made to our smart application to have a map to help people find where they have parked so they can pay the correct fee.
“An auto-renew service for parking is also now in the app, as we have seen a lot of people forget to renew their parking tickets.
“It will hopefully reduce the chance of getting fined.
“The idea is to have a seamless experience of parking in Dubai.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHP) is preparing to roll out a new registration service on WhatsApp for births and deaths.
An Artificial Intelligence-powered virtual assistant will respond to health enquiries and direct people to the relevant services.
The Facebook-owned messaging service was one of several new smart services outlined by the MoHP at the tech exhibition.
