Why Dubai residents trust the govt with their data

DUBAI: Residents in many parts of the world are concerned about surveillance and privacy, and what the government does with their data, but people in Dubai have a more relaxed stance on the matter.

During a media roundtable on the sidelines of GITEX GLOBAL 2023, Nakul Berry, Strategic Outreach & Marketing Manager at Digital Dubai, noted that UAE’s success has been built on the basis of trust in their government.

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“Our belief is that the more we share our data, the better services (we will get), and the more seamless our city is being made by the government. Therefore, the trust in government is very, very high. And over the past 50 years, we’ve only seen good come out of it.

“This started on a citizen level, but this has expanded exponentially to residents and visitors who may not be citizens of the country.”

Examples of such services include the UAE Pass, a digital identity for residents, and the DubaiNow app, which offers over 130 government services via a mobile app such as paying bills and registering vehicles.

Using AI to digitise life in Dubai

The most recent additional to these services is Dubai. AI, launched earlier this month by Digital Dubai in partnership with the Dubai Center for Artificial Intelligence.

At the roundtable, Dr Moza Suwaidan, CEO of Digital Applications and Platforms Sector at Digital Dubai, said Dubai. AI “is our latest achievement and complements 20 years effort of providing seamless experiences for our citizens.”

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She explained her department’s goal is digitising life in Dubai, and using every single tool and technology available to make that happen, the most recent of which is generative AI, something that she noted is being adopted by even “non-technical people.”

“Generative AI is a highly adopted technology and a great tool for us to use and offer services and information that comes from trusted sources. “

The platform is currently available on the official website of the city of Dubai (dubai.ae) and the DubaiNow app.

“You can go to it right away and ask any kind of question about Dubai,” she said. “We ensure that the data is protected and the infrastructure is solid and there is no threat that comes from providing services and providing information.”

Dr Suwaidan believes Dubai. AI is the “foundation layer” for more AI generated services that could come up in the future.

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“We are leveraging AI and the power it has today to provide services and information. If that technology improves and actually grows in that direction, we’re going to also be introducing another layer of service provisions”.

Transparency and awareness campaigns

Meanwhile, trust in data sharing is achieved by all government departments working together, said Hamad Al Mansoori - Director General - Digital Dubai.

According to him, the key is transparency and awareness of cybersecurity best practices.

“It’s very crucial for people to see examples of cyber issues that could potentially arise. That’s why at Dubai Digital Authority we have several videos, several awareness campaigns using social media to reach out as much as possible.”

He said that though a lot of good work has been done,“it’s never enough” and the authority continues to strive to do more.

Part of Digital Dubai’s strategy for 2023 – launched with the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai – was working with government departments to raise awareness on cybersecurity.

“Every government department has to have cybersecurity awareness as part of their agenda. With that awareness, people feel more comfortable. They know that things are under control. The public and those working within the organisation they see that, they feel safer about their data.”

Ransomware and phishing continue to be threats

Speaking about cyber threats that Dubai faces, Al Mansoori said they are pretty much the same as those faced on an international level, targeting every major city or community around the world.

He said one of the most popular and formidable threats is ransomware, quoting statistics that show that last year ransomware caused as much as $7 trillion worth of loss at an international level. This is expected to increase by 68% by 2028 to reach $50 trillion globally.

“If you just look at the news, you always see there are unfortunate incidents where companies got impacted and services stopped, and the only way is to pay the ransom or restore from backups. That’s why cybersecurity is crucial now more than ever. As we see, these types of incidents really hinder the well-being of companies and around the world.”

He said another form of attack is through social networks and social engineering where people try to obtain personal information via phishing campaigns.

“It’s the most popular form of acquiring information and you see that through WhatsApp, wherever it may be, and in most cases it’s the person willingly giving the keys to the kingdom by sharing that information with the social engineering tactics of the.

Elaborating on how Dubai manages these attacks, he said that if certain controls and cybersecurity practices are followed, “you’re safe from whatever that may happen.”

As part of its efforts, Digital Dubai now offers RZAM, a web browser extension that assesses each webpage for malicious content, unsafe browsing addresses, and online phishing sites. Earlier this week, new updates were announced for RZAM, which look to enhance its efficiency by expanding the user base and making it available on various browsers.

“If you look at every story on the internet of all the people who unfortunately got attacked by cyberattacks… at the end of the day, if they adopted these certain controls, they would have been in a much better situation.”

“And that’s our role. We always try to provide technologies, look ahead into the future as to how we can stop these type of attacks before they even happen. That’s the test to be future proof as much as possible.”