Introduction
The leadership of the United Arab Emirates operates on the understanding that it is mandated to engage in the adoption of modern concepts of development across different platforms as a way of ensuring that it provides boundless support to national and strategic initiatives and programs. From this perspective, the Emirates ID plays a critical role in driving UAE’s determination and momentum of continuing with its modernization and development efforts based on strategic thinking models. Through these initiatives, the country hopes to achieve its vision with dignity, sincerity, and honesty. To improve its functionality and efficiency, it is important for the government through its responsible agencies to improve the progress that the Emirates ID gets through from reception, information checking, and card printing.
The Evolution of Emirates ID Card
The Emirates ID is an independent federal authority whose establishment was based on the Federal Decree No. 2 that focuses on empowering the authority into developing and implementing a national identification structure. Through the Emirates ID, the UAE government has succeeded in its objective of developing, recording, and updating a sophisticated state-of-the-art identity management system (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 18). Part of its achievement includes enrolling the entire UAE population, both legal residents and citizens, through the issuance of a unique smart card and identification numbers with their biometric and biographical details.
Figure 1.0: The operating model of Emirates ID. Source: (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 35)
The process of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the ID card in the realization of its mandate will require the adoption of innovative and cutting-edge technologies. Through such adoption and integration of technologies, it will be possible for Emirates ID to be effective in the development of a comprehensive, accurate, and secure population register. Such a register will enable the government to easily access the necessary population demographic data, which will be effective in supporting strategic planning and decision-making-related initiatives such as resource allocation in different sectors and vital areas (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 20). Furthermore, through an improved Emirates ID card, it will be possible for the UAE government to engage in the development and improvement of existing service delivery models using advanced identity authentication capabilities.
Improving the progress of Emirates ID card
Reception. Part of the weaknesses associated with the implementation of Emirates ID revolves around the understanding that there has been the limited capacity of centers to ensure effective accommodation of a large number of registrants. In addition, the initiative also suffers from limited capacities of electronic devices and software coupled with a limited number of qualified employees on the global platform to manage the implementation process. These challenges have made the reception process relatively ineffective (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 28). To enhance the effectiveness of the reception process, it will be important for the government, through its line ministries and agencies, to introduce state-of-the-art technological devices and software that can improve the reception and processing time of the cards.
Through this initiative, more citizens and legal residents in the UAE will be motivated to acquire the Emirates ID card for conducting their operations within the country. The process will require some form of cooperation from the total quality management perspective which will require the manager of the project to focus on recruiting, retaining, and training highly skilled personnel to address the challenges facing the implementation of the Emirates ID initiative (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 28). Through this approach, it will be relatively easier to establish a motivating and innovative employee workplace. By improving the quality of service that is provided through the reception process, it will be relatively easier to ensure that the objectives of Emirates ID initiative are aligned with the desire of the customers.
Figure 2.0: Emirates ID stakeholder engagement, its partners in excellence. Source: Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 33)
The perception of the customers at the reception of the Emirates ID cards is crucial in determining its viability and effectiveness in delivering its objectives. It is based on the understanding that the management of the Emirates’ ID cards must ensure that its activities are guided by the provision of customer-centric services. Through this strategic plan, it will be relatively easier to provide seamless and high-quality customer service that enables convenient access to government services using customer-friendly and innovative delivery channels (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 28). It will also provide a platform for integrating government service delivery while enabling an effective process of re-engineering and streamlining processes for timely and quality government service delivery.
Information checking. Part of the weaknesses of the current Emirates ID card system is that some form of inadequacy defines it in its ability to develop a mechanism that establishes linkages with external entities. This disadvantage limits automatic data update considering that links can only be established with the ministry of interior (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 29). An effect of this phenomenon is that it increases the cost of investing in modern technology for identification while limiting the ability of this technology to access and integrate information in ways that make it possible to engage in the automated update of personal data without involving the ministry of interior.
To address this problem, it will be important for the UAE government, through its line ministries, to develop a realistic and effective plan for enrolling the entire UAE population. This approach will be facilitated by the introduction of data integration platforms that will electronically interface with vital government ministries such as labor, justice, interior, education, and health (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 21-22). The information generated through the data integration infrastructure will ensure the development of a modern electronic identity infrastructure that supports e-government initiatives. Highly effective information checking initiatives will be realized through the development and establishments of guidelines for achieving high level of customer service standards, and the development of infrastructure that is needed for providing identity verification and authentication services (Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs 22). Effective information processing will also be realized through the updating and development of existing financial, administrative, and technical, organizational policies and a review of the procedures and systems that are directly linked to the biographic and demographic information of the entire population.
It will be important to develop ways of incorporating the entire population’s data and introducing specialist to organize the available information according to specific variables that have been identified by the government. According to Thaler, it will be possible to enhance the security of UAE residents considering that the government will be able to identify criminal elements beads on their criminal records (65). This is possible when there are established guidelines on how to integrate population and demographic data with information from security personnel. To enhance this process, it will also be a requirement for the government, through its line ministries, to ensure that it procures state of the art devices and software, and hires highly qualified personnel to manage the Emirates ID system in the most effective way.
Card Printing. As a critical aspect in the promotion of its core values, the Emirates ID card is based on the desire to ensure that all government services are provided based on transparency, quality, and efficiency standards. By enrolling the entire UAE population into Emirates ID, a rational approach would be to ensure that all the register citizens and legal residents are provided with Emirates ID cards. Printing would require using paper, which, from an environmental perspective, would be relatively damaging. To address and improve this situation, the UAE government can introduce a motion sensor system and smart gates to improve service levels in different industries such as transport. The introduction of this technology is based on the understanding that majority of citizens, legal residents, and visitors accessing transport sectors such as airports possess smartphones. Instead of cards, the government can introduce an application that can be downloaded and installed in smartphones. Through such an initiative, it will be easier for passengers departing from UAE airports to use their smartphones as passports while accessing the airport instead of using cards to pass through the electronic gates.
Conclusion
For the UAE improving the process of Emirates ID from reception, information checking, and card printing will require the incorporation of experts and modern technology. For such improvements to occur, it will be important to develop policies that define the rationale and the relevance of such an initiative in improving service delivery using technology to the residents of the UAE. Through such guidelines, the responsible authority will have a basis of operating considering that they will seek improved and more efficient ways of improving customer experiences across all industries and sectors in the UAE.
Works Cited
Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs. Handbook: Strategic Plan
Emirates Identity Authority 2010-2013. Emirates Identity Authority Administration & Relations Affairs, 2010.
Manafez Dubai. Al Marri: GDRFA Dubai Committed to Enhancing Customer Experience. 2017.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57ecd8b215d5db158d012e81/t/59429103cd0f68f4fdcb758a/1497534804299/Manafez+dubai+english+may+-+june+2017.pdf
Thaler, Sebastian. “New ID Technology’s Role in Pinpointing Potential Threats.” USA Today
Magazine, vol. 139, no. 2782, July 2010, pp. 63-65.