Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), confirmed that RTA’s efforts to upgrade the technological infrastructure and transformation of all customer services to smart services enabled it to continue business normally during the Covid-19 crisis. He added that RTA was able to perform thanks to comprehensive remote work systems in place.
Al Tayer made this statement during a visit to RTA’s Corporate Technology Support Services Sector in the presence of CEO and Directors of the Sector. He heard a briefing about the plans for coping with Covid-19 pandemic, deliverables achieved and tools used to support the technological infrastructure and the remote work environment initiative. The initiative involved providing 1063 additional computers to employees, activating 850 devices within two weeks, supplying 314 devices to the Call Centre, opening 2500 VPNs, and providing 50 routers to establish an alternative communication for top executives.
The briefing also explained the deliverables of the Microsoft Team interactive system. From March 20 to June 6, the system enabled the holding of 35,611 formal meetings, handling 121,709 audio and video calls, and exchanging 11,370 instant messages.
Al Tayer was also briefed about the features of employee attendance system (myRTA) including auto-response to inquiries, intro screen displaying symptoms of Covid-19, an interactive geographic dashboard in support of coronavirus management team, and tracking employee whereabouts along with their bios.
The briefing revealed that 267,468 smart transactions and services were completed between Jan to May this year. It also touched on Tasreeh digital platform for crowds management and seeking permits along with relevant features such as health records in addition to retail outlets and public transport.
The briefing also covered the services of the Smart Decision Taking Support Centre, which has 42 dashboards, 970 smart screens and 47 integrated systems. The centre improves the efficiency of RTA projects portfolio management, evaluates the earned value of projects performance and spending rates, and automates the reports of Commercial and Investment Dep’t that saves hundreds of work hours every month. The Centre supports Human Resources and Development Dep’t in measuring the Emiratisation indicators, tracking the signing-off of internal audit comments, and verifying the compliance with directives given, and boosting the risk management and governance practices.
Al Tayer reviewed the use of artificial intelligence in combating Coronavirus in taxis including detecting passengers adherence to precautionary measures in place.
Al Tayer was pleased with the upsurge in the technological performance of RTA, which demonstrated high preparedness for emergencies. He stressed RTA’s persistent efforts to raise the standing of Dubai amongst top metropolitan cities in terms of adopting hi-tech in services and operations. He concluded that such a drive would address contemporary needs and cater to future challenges as well.