Etisalat announced a partnership with Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) to provide dedicated information and communications technology (ICT) services for DED and its agencies. The partnership is in line with DED’s efforts to provide an improved service experience to customers as well as employees and forms part of Etisalat’s strategy to deliver enhanced telecom ‘&’ ICT services to key business hubs in the UAE. Under the agreement, Etisalat will establish a dedicated presence at DED through an all-encompassing outlet, which will bring all the benefits of enhanced ICT services as well as help Etisalat serve DED on a priority basis. Etisalat, through its interaction with DED and its agencies, would also be able to understand their respective ICT requirements and provide customised solutions that will boost productivity and reduce response time for customer requests. Sami Al Qamzi, Director General, DED, said: “The Department of Economic Development has established a dynamic ICT environment and progressively implemented various eServices to improve overall ease of doing business in Dubai. We are confident that our partnership with Etisalat will enhance our service delivery and organisational efficiency across DED and its agencies.” Abdulla Al Mane, GM - Dubai Region, Etisalat, said: “Etiaslat’s partnership with Dubai’s Department of Economic Development is a validation of our commitment to partake in the sustainable economic development of the Emirate via our sophisticated ICT infrastructure and operational efficiencies. Etisalat will provide the best resources to the Department and we will ensure that the needs of DED are constantly assessed and integrated into our offering.” GAPCorp With the objective of providing mobile telecommunications solutions for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) services, Etisalat has signed a partnership agreement with GAPCorp FNI, a company that specialises in providing GPS services for vehicles. The agreement with GAPCorp will allow Etisalat to offer a wide range of positioning services such as hourly vehicle positioning, monitoring, follow up with emergency assistance, a geographical barrier service, automatic warning in case of theft, emergency cases warning facility, low battery warnings and other services. Several key managers from both parties attended the signing ceremony: from Etisalat, Abdullah Al Ahmed, Senior Vice President for Business Solutions, Abeer Norman, Vice President for Business Solutions, and Hamad Al Katbi, Manager Business Solutions; and from GAPCorp, Nasser Watar, Chief Executive Officer and Director Majed Wattar. Commenting on the signing of the agreement, Abdullah Al Ahmed said: “Etisalat will continually position its achievements in the Information and Communication Technology sector in a way that serves the business sector of the UAE. Etisalat’s agreement with a leading company like GAPCorp will help the business sector and particularly banks to complete its dealings and provide an easier safer flow of services.” GAPCorp’s Chief Executive Officer, Nasser Watar commented: “We are very pleased with this new partnership with Etisalat, which will utilise its well-developed network for mobile devices alongside our advanced GPS solutions. Through this collaboration we will be able to provide our clients with total peace of mind as we fulfill their demands and needs in line with the present market demand levels.” Under the agreement, Etisalat will provide special data-supportive GSM cards for positioning mobile devices within the vehicles. The GSM cards are able to send and receive data through the leased line connection, also provided by Etisalat, which links the GSM cards and the communication center at the company. The Global Positioning System utilises a highly developed data and communications platform attached to a satellite global positioning receiver and a wireless modem in the front of the vehicle. The devices work to ensure two-way 24-hour communication between the vehicle and the communication center at GAPCorp. In the first phase of the agreement, GAPCorp will sell around 100,000 GPS units, followed by a further 250,000, to reach a total of 350,000 units by the end of 2016. Moreover, in the project’s second phase, GAPCorp plans to extend the application of the project to other regional and international countries. From gulftoday