Abu Dhabi's Tamm app and other streamlined government services, such as the UAE Pass and Dubai’s Work Bundle, are the result of years-long efforts to enhance government services. Photo: Tamm
Abu Dhabi's Tamm app and other streamlined government services, such as the UAE Pass and Dubai’s Work Bundle, are the result of years-long efforts to enhance government services. Photo: Tamm
Abu Dhabi's Tamm app and other streamlined government services, such as the UAE Pass and Dubai’s Work Bundle, are the result of years-long efforts to enhance government services. Photo: Tamm
Abu Dhabi's Tamm app and other streamlined government services, such as the UAE Pass and Dubai’s Work Bundle, are the result of years-long efforts to enhance government services. Photo: Tamm


How the UAE is cutting back on red tape with technology


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  • Arabic

June 18, 2025

Applying for a visa, obtaining a driving licence, renting a property or signing up for health insurance … what is sometimes called “personal admin” can be a time-consuming part of modern life. Most people, already busy with family and careers, simply want these unavoidable processes over and done with as quickly as possible.

It should come as no surprise therefore that Abu Dhabi’s AI-powered super app for government services is called Tamm, the Arabic for “done”. The app, which can be used to access more than 1,000 public and private services, is an example of how the UAE has worked hard to cut bureaucracy, make services simpler and generally free citizens and residents from the burden of onerous paperwork. A good quality of life includes ease of day to day activities, which Tamm enables for many in Abu Dhabi.

Last month, Tamm even caught the eye of Microsoft’s president and vice chairman. Brad Smith praised Abu Dhabi’s AI initiatives and apps, telling a US Senate committee hearing: “We need to bring it to America.” However, Tamm and other streamlined government services, such as the UAE Pass and Dubai’s Work Bundle, are the result of years-long efforts to enhance government procedures and to put the user at the heart of designing these processes.

Establishing a comprehensive Emirates ID system that links the holder to different services, the public ranking of the best and worst-performing government departments, impromptu inspections of civil service offices and bonuses for employees or work teams that raise standards are just some of the measures taken to improve services for everybody.

On Monday it was confirmed that such efforts will continue. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the next phase of a Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, which he described as “a national project to make government services simpler, faster and more efficient”.

It is a project that has gone quite some way in making people’s lives simpler. During the first phase of the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, more than 4,000 unnecessary or duplicated procedures were cancelled. Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said members of the public, customers, businesses and investors were saved more than 12 million hours and Dh1.12 billion ($326.7 million).

Having a bureaucracy – that is, people working on this information – is not inherently inefficient. It is flawed design, execution and staffing that make it so

As a country with a growing population, most of whom are from overseas, it makes sense that the Emirates is harnessing its technological know-how to develop a robust system of efficient services. With cities such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai acting as magnets for regional and international talent, the arrival of more people results in a huge amount of paper and digital information to retain, process and update. Having an efficient system to process all this information is vital.

Initiatives like the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme, coupled with broader measures such as the UAE’s Digital Government Strategy 2025, show it is possible for bureaucracies – as Mr Al Gergawi noted – “re-engineer processes” to deliver quicker outcomes. Entrenched bureaucracies can be an issue, but a flexible approach that focuses on improvements and outcomes is one that can cut the dreaded red tape, increasing individual and societal efficiency.

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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

South Africa's T20 squad

Duminy (c), Behardien, Dala, De Villiers, Hendricks, Jonker, Klaasen (wkt), Miller, Morris, Paterson, Phangiso, Phehlukwayo, Shamsi, Smuts.

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Updated: June 18, 2025, 9:18 AM`