Dubai is a shining global trendsetter. What it thinks or does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow. In a phenomenal display of green gusto, the emirate, in a bow to the Dubai Paperless Strategy launched in 2018, has become the world’s first government to go paperless.

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said, “Today marks the beginning of a new stage in Dubai’s journey to digitise life in all its aspects – a journey rooted in innovation, creativity, and a focus on the future.

“Four years ago, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had a vision that no Dubai Government employee or customer would need to print any paper document after 2021,” Sheikh Hamdan said. “Today, that promise has been fulfilled.”

Dubai’s eco-friendly efforts have catapulted it to centre stage where being a role model for sustainable smart cities is concerned.

All internal and external transactions and procedures in the Government of Dubai are now 100 per cent digital and managed from a comprehensive digital government services platforms. This achievement is all the more important since it coincides with the UAE’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

The efforts to establish a new work culture in the Dubai Government and encourage customers to opt for paperless transactions and digital services in their everyday lives is truly praiseworthy. The moves save time and effort, raise happiness levels and promote resource sustainability.

With the Dubai Paperless Strategy fully implemented, no employee or customer of the Dubai Government will need to print any paper documents or transactions, unless they personally prefer to do so.

The Dubai Paperless Strategy was implemented in five consecutive phases, each of which enlisted a different group of Dubai Government entities. By the end of the fifth phase, the Strategy was fully implemented across all 45 government entities in the emirate. These entities provide more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 key transactions.

Consumption has been cut by more than 336 million papers. The Strategy also helped save more than Dhs1.3 billion and over 14 million man hours across the Dubai Government.

The fourth phase also included the launch of the ‘100% Digital Stamp’ initiative, which aims to honour government entities that make significant efforts to fully implement the Dubai Paperless Strategy and provide smart services supported by an internal digital infrastructure.

Two additional government entities have also recently joined the Dubai paperless Strategy: the Financial Audit Authority Dubai and Dubai Chamber. The two entities achieved their strategic goals by 100% and saved more than 938,000 sheets of paper.

A 2016 report says that according to the US Chamber of Commerce, for every million dollars in revenue, a company generates an average 7.8 metric tonnes of waste. Almost 40% of that waste is easy-to-recycle paper. The study also found that if companies could reduce their paper waste by just 1%, they’d save almost $1 billion. A few years ago, almost 19,000 kilogrammes of recyclable waste were collected from public drop-off centres in Ras Al Khaimah in five months.

A total of 18,600kg of household rubbish, including plastics, paper, cardboard, cans and glass bottles, was collected from the centres at Saqr Park and at RAK Mall and diverted from landfills between May and September this year.

According to another report, paper waste is a severe problem in many industries and offices. Because of printing mistakes, junk mails, billings, and packaging, the paper may comprise up to 70% of a company’s total waste.

An average office employee apparently uses about 10,000 sheets of paper in a year.  That is a colossal waste.