Sharjah DSCD Develops App to Help Government

The Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD), has unveiled a unique e-application that can help to pin-point communities in the emirate which may need added social assistance. The government breakthrough was revealed at the UAE Innovation Week, which runs from November 20-26, 2016 at the Expo Centre Sharjah. The application will be confidential and exclusive to government services establishments which can provide extra facilities and resources to residents.

Set to be launched in the near future in collaboration with a software and programme development company, the e-application has data-driven features which can identify the location of many disadvantaged people including orphans, divorced and abandoned wives, widows, the elderly, people with disabilities, the illiterate and unemployed. Following the Sharjah Census 2015 which was conducted by the DSCD, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, decreed that there should be a focus on providing practical aid to those seven categories.

“Our participation in the UAE Innovation Week 2016 is a reflection of our commitment to creating new ways and new means to help society. It is a strategic goal to produce data that is a true representation of the people of Sharjah and it is a humanitarian goal to use that information for the good of our society,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the DSCD.

“We are the first ever department to use iCensus, a self-counting system, in the Arab world during the Sharjah census project 2015, and that has helped us to collate our results and draw our conclusions in good time with such accuracy.”

On launching the e-application that specifies the geo-locations, Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani said: “This innovation is in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, which call on providing all segments of society with a decent standard of living and family stability. We are contacting the relevant government departments and entities and will provide the application and the data in order to reach out and support those who are most in need.”

The DSCD showcased its experience in the field of innovation and creativity at the UAE Innovation Week in Sharjah. It highlighted its most important projects that are directly connected to the concepts of ‘Innovation’ and ‘Creativity’ including the project that was implemented in cooperation with the 2GIS company, which provided Sharjah with the opportunity to join the global map of smart cities. The project was an ambitious move that promoted Sharjah as a trade and cultural hub for investors and tourists. Thanks to that project, the DSCD was given the green light to implement the 2GIS application in order to develop the map of the smart city, which was used in the Sharjah census project 2015.