Page 216 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Executive Summary

 Governance:
SDP governance and strategic monitoring were put in place early on and has been instrumental for
overseeing different aspects of the SDP implementation On the other hand, the Dubai Data Law
defines clear roles and responsibilities for Data Providers and for the Dubai Data Establishment. The
Dubai Data policies and standards further define internal governance arrangements for managing
the publication and exchange of data within data providing entities. With clear accountabilities, data
teams, and data providers at large, are highly likely to succeed in implementing the Dubai Data
initiative.
 Clear Policies:
Detailed policies on protecting privacy, intellectual property rights, use and reuse of data, data
classification and technical standards were devised by the Dubai Data Establishment to assist Data
Providers in opening and sharing data. Previously, the absence of a clear framework that governs
how data should be handled has hampered data publishing and sharing between data providers.
With the clear definitions of rights, roles and responsibilities, those barriers to publishing and
sharing data are eradicated and this added clarity should result in the robust opening and sharing
of data in the future.
 Adoption of common standards:
Having common standards and processes enable well-defined interactions with SDP and also ensure
that Dubai Data is accessible, trusted, consumable and interoperable and that all data sets have
appropriate access controls with proper authorizations. With common definitions and processes,
data providers and platform operators can apply the same principles and reach an agreement
regarding what datasets to publish as open data and what datasets to exchange between
themselves and how to operate the city-wide platform. Absence of common standards was a major
challenge in the past.

 Amplifying data value by opening up and sharing:
Even though some opening and sharing practices currently exist in the Emirate of Dubai, the
environment prior to SDP and Dubai Data Initiatives was generally characterized by monopolization
and bartering of data and locking data within entities in closed platforms. By bringing the city data
on one platform and engaging users and data scientists in mining this data, Smart Dubai expands
the benefits of data to all stakeholders from students and researchers, to city planners, government
officials, business owners and individuals.

 Partnership building and Smart Financing:
Smart Dubai Platform has been implemented and financed through a PPP based approach. Building
a PPP based partnership is a relatively novel capability compared to traditional public procurement.
It requires sophisticated planning, contract negotiation, and accounting and budgeting for
contingent liabilities. It also requires a sound understanding and modeling of risks and rewards with
clear accountability mechanisms.

Public and private sector organizations’ missions and raison d’etre tend to differ. Unifying a common
mission and purpose for partners involved in a PPP which leads to a common vision for the
partnership is quite critical. Leadership in partners play a crucial role during this visioning and
alignment phase and sets the scene for a successful implementation.
A unique well-defined framework and accounting standard does not exist for PPPs since they tend
to vary in terms of arrangements based on project (e.g. short-to-medium term management
contracts, outsourcing arrangements, Build-Operate-Transfer arrangements, joint ventures, etc.).
The degree of ownership of assets and expenditures by partners also varies significantly depending
on type of PPP. Hence, it is important to agree on a viable PPP model early on by partners and to
address issues around it.

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