Muscat Municipality plans to transform Muscat into a 'smart and sustainable city'

Oman Saturday 01/June/2024 15:55 PM
By: Times News Service
Muscat Municipality plans to transform Muscat into a 'smart and sustainable city'

Muscat: Muscat Municipality showcased its relentless efforts to transform Muscat into a "smart and sustainable city" in line with its objectives towards the complete digital transformation of electronic transactions.

The COMEX exhibition is an ideal opportunity for the Municipality to build on its prior years of successful participation; each year, the booth showcases significant advancements in terms of design, presentation, and service introduction. Muscat Municipality was eager to actively participate in specialised technology exhibitions, the most well-known being COMEX, to highlight its most significant achievements and current and future projects, in addition to its innovative digital solutions.

This commitment aligns with Oman Vision 2040, which advocates for innovation and excellence, leveraging contemporary technology to provide the best services possible to enhance the quality of life for society’s members. This year, Muscat Municipality presented various innovative projects and services, particularly in electronic services and platforms designed to keep pace with technological advancements and maintain Muscat's leadership position in the development of future cities.

Muscat Municipality's Electronic Services Portal: A step towards an integrated digital society

Muscat Municipality continues its journey towards improving and developing the digital services system by enhancing its electronic portal and offering comprehensive electronic services that enable individuals, the government, and private sectors to complete their transactions without visiting municipal offices. The portal includes several services related to contemporary building systems, such as the registration request service for consulting offices, designed to arrange and authorize offices providing architectural and structural engineering consulting services.

Additionally, it allows citizens to quickly and conveniently obtain maps and request additional copies of plans. The address updating service, which deals with changing survey drawings or commercial building data in case of a sale, contributes to creating an accurate database for Muscat Governorate.

The electronic certification service for residential rental contracts streamlines the legal process for disputes related to rental contracts, commercial and industrial shop regulations, and landlord-tenant relationships. The beneficiary can also apply through the electronic services portal for permission to coordinate afforestation activities beyond plot limits, by submitting the necessary documents electronically to the Customer Services Department.

The Unified Municipal System: A step towards smart cities and distinguished government services

The Unified Municipal System project aims to govern the municipal work system through the development of smart digital solutions that rely on innovation and advanced technologies. The project focuses on unifying and improving municipal procedures, ensuring the stability and support of the digital system, and enhancing beneficiary experiences to meet their expectations in light of rapid technological changes.

Etamad Platform: A national achievement in accelerating drilling permits and improving the business environment

The Etamad platform is a central system offering innovative solutions that improve industry efficiency. Users can obtain approvals from several parties with a single application.

The platform operates with a smart alert system to ensure compliance with specified transaction completion periods. By activating GIS technology, decision-making is accelerated through accurate data and live web maps.

The platform centralises contractors’ requests, facilitating management of processes related to issuing no-objection certificates, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in decision making. It also provides an integrated geographic map connecting government and private organizations involved in communications, power, and water resources.

Approval automation reduces potential risks and eliminates human error, while maintaining high-security electronic authentication methods to protect data. The platform also offers P2P communication services for direct contact between applicants and engineers.

The Geospatial Portal of Muscat Municipality: Embracing modern geospatial technology

The Geospatial Portal uses spatial technologies to boost operational efficiency, increase transparency, and aid decision-making. It serves various sectors, including the lighting sector via a digital lighting map that allows staff to observe and analyse the lighting network.

The portal also benefits the investment and pest control sectors by enabling professionals to view municipal properties and pest locations on a map, facilitating informed decisions for pest elimination.

A smart services system enhancing user satisfaction and management effectiveness

Muscat Municipality's integrated system of smart electronic services reflects its efforts to stay updated with technological advancements and improve service quality. The smart city's control center includes a system for monitoring roads and lights, contributing to the vision of a smart and sustainable city. The road monitoring system, a significant project, uses sensors and monitoring devices for early detection of vehicle density and accidents. The system displays geographical maps of Muscat Governorate, identifies traffic congestion areas, and manages lighting data, enhancing maintenance efficiency and reducing costs.

Smart Lighting System: Enhancing sustainability and energy efficiency

Muscat Municipality is implementing a project to replace current lighting with energy-efficient LEDs in major areas and streets, as part of its strategy to reduce electricity consumption and promote environmentally friendly alternatives.

The project has replaced over 24,000 conventional lighting lanterns with LEDs, providing central control over the lighting network, lowering maintenance costs, and enhancing system operation.

Muscat Municipality Communications Center: Enhancing community engagement

The Muscat Municipality Communications Center continually improves service quality using advanced technical tools to ensure prompt and effective service delivery. The center updates its systems and programs periodically and employs a performance measurement team to assess employee performance. Training programs enhance employees’ abilities to handle reports and inquiries, keeping them informed about service developments.

Through its participation in COMEX 2024, Muscat Municipality reaffirms its commitment to transforming Muscat into a "smart and sustainable city" and strives through its various projects and initiatives to provide the best services to citizens and residents, in line with the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.

Muscat Municipality concluded its participation in the 'COMEX Technology 2024' exhibition, held from May 27-30, 2024.