The Ministry of Environment and Water reassures its full commitment to technological development and further development of services offered through its participation in GITEX 2012 this year, which comes in support of the UAE's strategy and the governmental guidelines, that seek to provide high quality services to meet the needs of customers and provide safer and reliable options to achieve the mission and vision of the ministry for 2013-2016.
Based on the directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai – may Allah protects him - that all federal entities and agencies at this year's exhibition shall be displayed under one platform, where the Ministry of Environment and Water will offer its services and new initiatives which are based on the principle of complementarity government to facilitate transactions and to contribute to the consolidation of Dubai's leading stature in the evolving technological and knowledge-based economy race.
One of the many electronic services offered by the ministry during GITEX 2012, is the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). LIMS is a system that is widely used in running scientific disciplines, industrial, medical laboratories and to help laboratories store, retrieve, and analyze data electronically, to dismiss the use of traditional documents. Through this system, infrastructure of computer systems and networks is provided as well, and information and reports are delivered to applicants and customer service follow-ups, according to the requirements of the international accreditation system. In addition, the system includes laboratory equipment calibration and times of maintenance, and also includes the management and tracking of laboratory work from receiving the sample, recording data, automatically giving a random number for each sample, distributing samples on different analyses sections and following-ups, processing data that has been obtained, and controlling their quality until the laboratory results are released electronically in their final form and in a way which would guarantee information storage and ensure its safety from loss. This system has been prepared on the basis of ISO 17025 standards, which covers laboratory quality system.
Among electronic services offered by the ministry in the exhibition, there is the fisheries and quarantine e-service that enables customers to provide and review applications without visiting the ministry and to submit the payment electronically through portal of the Ministry of Finance, where the system notifies the customers with the status of the application through text messages. This e-service in particular, also includes 32 other services for fisheries licensing company, institution, shop or fisheries equipment factory and fishing supplies, and offering public services to fishermen as well as 7 services for the management of quarantine for import, re-export, and other applications.
Also, the ministry displays, through GITEX 2012, the project "My Correspondences", which aims to create an electronic paper-free work environment to allow workers to easily communicate and exchange data through the system for a faster and more accurate transfer, to maintain the confidentiality of the data and to keep ongoing operating procedures. In addition, it provides easy and accurate retrieval of transactions and official letters, as well as consolidation of tools used in the preparation of speeches and puts the, in archives to unify all the procedures in a single system from which to electronically gather editing, attestation and archiving operations, which saves time and effort.
The Ministry of Environment and Water launched its "internal portal" project with a new look for the ministry staff in order to facilitate the process of documenting all kinds of various knowledge, whether it was news, events, activities, photos, and knowledge electronic library to configure the level of departments or sections in addition to easily access the information required. The portal aims as well to publicize the identity of the ministry in terms of design and colors and by the use of the latest technologies to facilitate the changing requirements display of various departments on a unified portal for all staff, as they maintain the confidentiality of files and securely saved for reference at all times.
In a new initiative, MOEW is launching its new website for "Nakheelna" (our palm trees) for the first time at GITEX 2012, this initiative which was launched recently to protect palm trees and to combat palm trees pests. The website will display the definition of the initiative, its goals, news and events to which they relate, in addition to a photo library of the types of dates and palm trees, research papers and studies related to palm trees and pests that affect them, and diversified FAQ to answer any public inquiry.
It is worth mentioning that the ministry has designed the MOEW website application for many mobile devices such the iPhone, the iPad, which includes maps and addresses to communicate with ministry centers and to benefit from services provided by the centers, allowing customers the access to information and news related to the ministry through the site and to take advantage of the services offered with ease as well as the launch of the Ministry dedicated page on social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to communicate directly with the customers and to answer their questions. The application of the management system standards of Information Technology Services ISO 20000 was implemented, and that would contribute to the improvement of services and raise the level of provided services efficiency.