UAE Developing Drones For Citizen Services

[eridani]

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2014/02/uae-developing-drones-for-citizen-services?et_cid=3766141&et_rid=54679148&location=top

The United Arab Emirates hopes to start using drones to fly government documents to citizens and is offering a $1 million international prize for unmanned aircraft that can improve the quality of life in the oil-rich Gulf state, a government adviser said Wednesday.

The drone campaign is part of a wider push by the UAE to upgrade government services through technology, often pioneered in its glitzy commercial hub of Dubai.

"We want to reach to people before they reach us. We want to save time, to shorten distances, to increase effectiveness and to make services easier," Dubai's ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a statement.

The Gulf Arab nation has already introduced a wide range of smart-phone governmental services and there are plans to make Dubai a "smart-city" by incorporating government services through the use of smart phones and tablets.

Power in the UAE is concentrated in the hands of ruling families. Unlike other countries in the region, it has not experienced widespread demands for reform and appears to be counting on its vast wealth to deliver cutting-edge state services to keep its citizens conten