paperless business systems

                    A long way from paperless

In spite of all the progress made in e-government there still seems 

to be one highly persistent part of the process that just won't seem 

to go away paperwork. While many government entities promote 

themselves as paperless there still seem to be an inordinate amount 

of paper involved in local notional and international government interactions.


By now paper should have been a thinking of the past. Many 

projects promised to eradicate paper and  with it eliminate 

duplication of processes unnecessary data entry human error and all 
the associated overheads of transporting processing storing and 

securely disposing of hard copies.

There are some areas where this objective has been achieved. 

Transaction and processes across many different government 

department have transferred to digital systems. Where you 

previously needed to fill in from's it possible to complete tasks just 

through your keyboard or even mobile device.


Where the system breaks down is in the need for identification and 

the seeming addiction that government departments have to getting 

a photocopy of your ID. No matter what the procedure it still seems 

to be impossible to visit a service counter without a stack of 

Emirates ID or passport photocopy or stack of change to pay to use the onsite photocopy.


This insistence on ID copies seem pointless when visiting a counter 

in person. Most card contain bio-metric information or other form 

of verification so why is it not possible to have the process digitally authenticated and signed on the spot.


Procedures are also complicated by the fact we are still struggling 

with a mix of digital and paper simultaneously for the same 

interaction. On a recent visit to a government department ter was 

rejected this process had gon digital, and I had to visit the bank fill 

in a paper form and hand over yet another ID photocopy just to get the digital process completed .


Government should establish a task-force to root out the remaining 

paperwork. The UAE has one of the leading ID card schemed in the 

world, so it time to fully leverage the capabilities of the card and to 

equip all service points with card readers, fingerprint or eye 

scanners, digital signature technology and so  on so that precesses 

can be completed and authenticated with a swipe and a scan not a 

photocopy. It might put a generation of photocopier salesmen and 

repairmen out of work but we won't achieve paperless untill the ID copies are gone.