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Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO, DEWA
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO, DEWA

DEWA aids Dubai's vision to become a progressive smart city

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Published: Mon 20 Jul 2020, 1:01 PM

Last updated: Mon 20 Jul 2020, 3:05 PM

Smart services are being heavily embraced in the country and government services have successfully transitioned into the virtual field for daily requirements. Among these is the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) with its virtual employee, Rammas. The AI-powered feature recorded responses to about 3.6 million enquiries from January 2017 to mid-June 2020.

Rammas has been supporting DEWA's efforts to provide round-the-clock services through several channels and smart platforms according to the highest standards of availability, reliability, and efficiency.

The UN E-Government Survey 2020 recognised Rammas as one of the best practices of local governments. It highlighted it as a model for using emerging technologies. The UAE ranked 1st in the Arab World and 8th globally in the Online Service Index within the E-Government Development Index.

"DEWA's vision is inspired by the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It works hard to maintain its leadership and global position in digital transformation and smart adoption," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA.

He added that this supports the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai proactive and creative to meet the needs of individuals and society, and further supports the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy to create a productive, creative, and innovative environment, by investing in, and using, AI technologies and tools.

"Amid the current global crisis and efforts to fight the Covid-19 outbreak, Dubai and DEWA's advanced digital infrastructure has played a pivotal role in ensuring the continuity of services and raising stakeholders' trust. Thanks to the visionary leadership of the UAE, DEWA has become one of the world's largest and most innovative utilities. It aims to redefine the concept of utilities by becoming the world's first digital utility, using autonomous systems for renewable-energy and storage, and increasing the use of digital services," he added.

DEWA has entered the race for the future by employing the Fourth Industrial Revolution's technologies such as AI, unmanned aerial vehicles, energy storage, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as developing the technical infrastructure and state-of-the-art customer centres.

"DEWA's smart services are based on the latest world-class technologies. They have contributed to the health and safety of all society. DEWA provides all its services through its website and smart app. This enables them to complete their transactions anytime and anywhere, easily and safely, without visiting any of DEWA's Centres," added Al Tayer.

The advanced version of Rammas offers new features, including a happiness index, a glossary of terms, as well as an advanced interactive menu. The service enables several transactions, including bill enquiry and payment, tracking application status, new connection requests by contractors and consultants, and job enquiries. This raises DEWA's quality of service, expands its scope, and adds more information to its database," said Marwan bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at DEWA.

Rammas answers customers' enquiries in English and Arabic through DEWA's smart app, website, Facebook page, Amazon's Alexa, Google Home, robots, and WhatsApp Business on 04 601 9999.

DEWA is one of the first government organisations in the UAE to verify its account on WhatsApp. Rammas responds to customers instantly, while continuing to learn and understand their needs based on their enquiries. Rammas then analyses these enquiries based on available data and information, and takes action to accurately answer and streamline transactions with ease.

First UAE government entity to integrate NVIDIA GPU in AI applications

DEWA continues to mark an outstanding progress in smart applications. Besides being the first government organisation to collaborate with C4IR UAE to develop standards to govern procurement of AI technologies, it was recently recognised by the US-based NVIDIA Corporation as the first government to adopt NVIDIA GPU computing technology in artificial intelligence (AI) and data processing since 2019.

DEWA also uses it to improve its services in areas such as training and inferencing of AI and deep learning models, with utility-focused applications of network design and area planning, smart response, along with ongoing initiatives such as advanced image recognition, smart grid big data and analytics applications, and verification of engineering drawings.

"We are proud to pioneer this achievement which aligns with the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031, the UAE Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the Dubai 10X initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai a city of the future, putting it 10 years ahead of other global cities. This meets our ambition to anticipate and shape the future. DEWA pursues an integrated futuristic strategy, as well as innovative plans and frameworks aimed at achieving continuous development in all its administrative and operational services," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA.

Digital DEWA, the digital arm of DEWA, is redefining the concept of a utility to create a new digital future for Dubai and disrupt the entire business of public utilities by becoming the world's first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage.

"We are also expanding the use of AI and digital services, improving performance and efficiency, enhancing the quality of our services, and creating a brighter and happier future for generations to come," added Al Tayer.


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