Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate's dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage, recently won the ALECSO App Award, which awarded its mobile smart application ‘best cultural application in the Arab world’. The award was presented by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) at a ceremony in Dubai held in December, which recognised the best mobile applications in education, culture, science and education.
Director of Information Technology Department at Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Mohamed Yousif Al Hammadi said: “Dubai Culture’s IT efforts continuously employ advanced technology trends in order to provide innovative creative services, making the Authority a key government catalyst carrying out the Emirate's vision to make Dubai the smartest city in the world. An example of Dubai Culture’s work in this regard is the recent launch of our corporate application which was awarded the ‘Best Government Mobile Service’ for the tourism sector during its second edition. Our recent win of an ALECSO Apps Award is testament to our focus on employing the latest developments and rapid changes in information technology, to strengthen and promote the cultural and creative fabric of Dubai."
The competition attracted a total number of 1,350 applications from 19 Arab countries. The Authority’s participation stemmed from its commitment to participate in regional and international events related to innovation, to further raise awareness of the UAE’s advanced technological position in the world. This event provided an opportunity to the Authority’s delegation to exchange knowledge, ideas and experience in the cultural field.
The 2016 ALECSO App Awards were held under the theme ‘Arab applications by Arab Capacity’, in an initiative that aimed to support entrepreneurship in the Arab world. The competition also served to identify and shine a spotlight on young and emerging IT talent in the region, thereby empowering them and contributing towards their development. Furthermore, the competition also sought to develop and support the production of mobile applications in the region.
The Authority’s focus aligns with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to deliver world-class smart services and infrastructure to create happiness, achieving higher satisfaction rates for visitors and exceeding their expectations. It also comes in line with the ‘Dubai Government Towards 2021’ initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai.
The Authority won an ALECSO App Award for its Dubai Culture smart application, which has recently been enhanced with a number of new features. The app utilises ‘augmented reality’ as a tool, supported by ‘iBeacon’ technology which enables users able to identify sites of historical interest and provides notifications of nearby historical sites. Through the medium of a smartphone camera, the app also overlays smartphone screens with information and interactive images.
The ALECSO Apps Awards aim to achieve a number of objectives including identifying young talent in the Arab world, encouraging producers to create and innovate, and creating a network for mobile applications developers in the region. In addition, the awards also aim to contribute towards promoting Arabic digital content, in order to support and encourage young people to employ new smart mobile devices to serve education, culture and science.