The Roads and Transport Authority, RTA, in Dubai is working on a process for listing, registering and managing its intangible assets under a plan to bring them in line with the world’s best strategies and standards.

The process is in line with the upswing seen by the UAE in general and Dubai in particular, serving RTA’s clients of various community segments.

Nasir Hamad Bu Shehab, CEO Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector and Head of a team for listing, registering and managing RTA’s intangible assets, said, "This project is aimed at charting out process and standards for listing, registering and managing the intangible assets of RTA. The overall objective is to play a leading role in the region in designing and implementing a system for managing intangible assets in the public sector."

"Such a system enables the listing, registering and archiving of intangible assets, protecting RTA’s intellectual property, patent rights and taking pioneering initiatives augmenting RTA’s revenues through managing the lifecycle of intangible assets and maximising the value of RTA assets," he added.

Bu Shehab said that the team preparing this process has fully accomplished a number of tasks such as setting up standards for specifying and classifying intangible assets according to local and international standards, and preparing a process for listing, registering and managing intangible assets of RTA including intellectual property and patency rights, research, technological solutions, and smart apps, among others.

He added that the tasks completed also included designing a formula for computing the value of intangible assets and listing them in the financial statements and designing a process for registering and managing the lifecycle of intangible assets in a way ensuring optimal utilisation of those assets.

"They also include naming organisations to oversee the management of those assets during their lifecycle, defining a procedure for storing and archiving intellectual property certificates, and naming an entity responsible for maintaining this register. The team has also drawn up a plan for raising awareness about the importance and value of intangible assets, and the process applied in listing and registering these assets along with the compliance with the plan charted by the team in accordance with the approved timeline," Bu Shehab said.

He added that to set this process in motion, the team charted out a plan specifying the respective tasks of each team member. The team has reviewed 10 international references used in managing intangible assets highlighted by ISO55000, AS-26, IAS-38, and JFRS, Bu Shehab said.