If you think about all the time you’ve spent filling out forms or waiting on hold to get help from your local authority, it probably adds up to quite a lot.
But in Qatar, management of such resources is expected to progress in line with the ‘National Vision 2030’. The country is collectively working towards becoming a modern society with a high standard of living, by focusing on four key developmental pillars: Human, Social, Economic, and Environmental.
It seeks to address five main challenges:
- Balancing modernization with the preservation of traditions
- Meeting the needs of current and future generations
- Managing growth and expansion
- Regulating the expatriate labor force
- Ensuring sustainable development
The state’s Ministry of Municipality (MM) is supporting the initiative by simplifying the way it provides services to citizens and residents, saving them time and enhancing their user experience, as well as boosting its operational efficiency.
MM recognized that the method to request government services needed improvement. The main challenge was a reliance on semi-automated, paper-based processes, each with its own unique, manual procedures. This lack of standardization made it difficult to adapt to different areas. Always keen to embrace the adoption of new technology, MM was inspired to launch a digital transformation project to solve this issue.
The ministry is currently replicating its catalog of services online, applying fully automated processes that will reduce effort on both sides. By modernizing the essential system with a state-of-the-art experience for citizens, businesses, and employees, MM is able to ensure availability via multiple channels, anytime, anywhere.
These ‘e-Services’ can help citizens and residents with applications for a wide range of licenses, permits, certificates and direct municipal activities, whilst also serving as a platform to report incidents or issues. There is even an option to receive digital guidance throughout service requests.
Oracle Consulting is leading the ministry’s digital transformation project, which aims to develop more than 400 e-Services by the end of 2025. Since it began, over 100 have been publicly launched, and in a bid to change how people interact with them, the ministry’s website and mobile application, ‘Aoun’, has been revamped.
A significant feature of this transformation is the seamless integration of Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) into the ministry’s web and mobile portals. The tool offers personalized interactions and quick responses to specific queries, available in both Arabic and English, to better accommodate a diverse and expanding user base.
As well as simplifying access to services, the portal provides a single source of truth for data management and integration.
“We are thrilled to announce that the implementation process of our new digital transformation has been remarkably smooth. The benefits are clear: tasks that used to take hours can now be completed in minutes, thanks to the efficiency and time saved. Our user-friendly platform has made accessing services much simpler, truly enhancing our experience, and streamlining our interactions. This transformation marks a significant step forward in providing efficient, accessible services to all.”
Mrs. Hamda Abdulaziz Al-Maadeed – Information Systems Department Director, Ministry of Municipality
For the ministry, the solution ticks a lot of boxes:
- Improved Accessibility: Citizens can access services anytime, anywhere, through web or mobile platforms, eliminating long waits and reliance on limited office hours.
- Enhanced Efficiency: Automated processes speed up tasks like permit applications, leading to quicker service delivery.
- Greater Transparency: Digital records let citizens track requests and easily get information, building trust with the government.
- Lower Costs: Reducing paper use and in-person interactions results in cost savings for both the government and its customers.
- Better Data Management: Digital systems ensure information is accurate, current, and easily retrievable.
- Increased Engagement: Digital platforms improve communication between all parties, with tools like online surveys and social media influencing community decision-making.
- Positive Environmental Impact: Less reliance on paper and physical infrastructure supports sustainability and green initiatives.
- Additional Peace of Mind: High availability of database for easy access and reliability, plus Disaster Recovery setup to mitigate risk.
- Streamlined Critical Services: Comprehensive insights into performance indicators help focus efforts on key areas.
- Reduced Effort: Digitalization makes manual processes more efficient.
“This project is not only a game-changer for Ministry of Municipality (Qatar) services but also unlocks immense expansion opportunities. By embracing digital transformation, we are setting a precedent that can be followed by other municipalities and entities across EMEA, significantly improving service delivery for everyone. The importance of this project extends beyond immediate benefits. It paves the way for a future where efficient, user-friendly digital services become the standard for all customers.”
Dr. Muhammad Sherif – Oracle Technology Consulting Leader, Senior Director, Middle East, Saudi & Turkey
Complimentary to Qatar’s forward-thinking approach, MM is already planning the platform’s next steps. It believes the natural progression is to take advantage of a Dedicated Region Cloud @ Customer (DRCC) based on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) when it becomes available in the region.
DRCC equips customers with benefits around compliance and data privacy requirements, allowing them to experience the value of public cloud while keeping data in their own data centers. It also supports low-latency applications, modernizes infrastructure, and includes Sovereign AI for increased control over data and AI systems.
For a pioneering organization like Ministry of Municipality, adopting Generative AI is an inevitable progression that will accelerate progress and ensure it stays ahead.
With the Oracle solution in place, Qatar’s citizens and residents can rest assured that their government is working to enhance the services that matter most to them.
The customer selected Oracle Consulting services in August-September 2022.