Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, DEWA, has won three awards in the third .GOV Awards, organised by ITP in Dubai, which recognise the use of IT by government organisations. The awards add to DEWA’s list of achievements in smart government and smart transformation.

DEWA won the Smart City Initiative of the Year Award for a pilot project that combines autonomous robots with Virtual Reality and Internet of Things to remotely inspect high-voltage cables. This saves time and effort in the maintenance of high-voltage cables compared to conventional methods.

DEWA also won the Public-Private Partnership of the Year Award for its Tayseer service, a smart payment platform, in collaboration with Emirates NBD bank. It enables customers to pay their bills instantly by depositing cheques issued by any bank in over 200 Emirates NBD Cash Deposit Machines for all customers who have individual or multiple accounts.

Fatima Al Marzooqi, Senior Officer - Smart Technologies and Business Intelligence at DEWA, won the Young Government IT Professional Award for her active contribution with the Rammas service development team. Rammas is a virtual employee that uses Artificial Intelligence to answer customers’ queries. The service is characterised by its capability to analyse and evaluate questions, understand customer needs, and then make the necessary decision to answer accurately.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, commended ITP's efforts in recognising the achievements of government organisations in smart transformation.

"We are happy to win these awards, which underline DEWA’s pioneering role in supporting the Smart Dubai initiative, which was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into the smartest and happiest city in the world. This is achieved by adopting creativity and innovation and the optimal use and appropriate use of modern technologies. Our efforts support the Dubai Plan 2021, which aims to make Dubai a smart, integrated, and connected city, and DEWA’s vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility," said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA uses the latest technologies and solutions to improve customers' experience and contribute to making Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world. DEWA has made significant progress in the smart transformation using VR, which enhances the efficiency of its operations and supports innovation.