Business & Money | Tuesday 29 March, 2016 5:57 am |

Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, approved on Monday a series of schemes and projects to make Makkah a smart city.

The projects provide online services for citizens and expatriates who do not have to personally approach the governorate and its branches.

The projects included “Tawasul’ portal that facilitates smooth interaction between citizens and the governorate, and “Self Service Machines” (SSM) which carry the logo “Less time; more comfort.”

There are more than 18 locations identified across the province to make available smart services, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

SSMs are instrumental in modernizing the interaction between the public and the governorate by helping people access services without approaching the governorate, mayoralties, branch governorates, airports and other entry points.

During a presentation at the governorate office in Makkah, Prince Khaled was briefed on the new service of “Your e-mail represents you.” Under this system, anyone can get information from the governorate offices by sending queries from his/her email ID.

The emir also approved “Digital Interaction” system that enables people to take advantage of SMS, Facebook and Twitter services from the governorate.
The programs endorsed by the emir also include performance assessment system under which senior officials at the governorate can constantly monitor and follow up performance of subordinate staff.

These services are part of the ambitious project that Prince Khaled announced earlier.

He had said that all kinds of highly advanced technology would be used to make Makkah, with the Grand Mosque as its focal point, smarter than any other smart city in the world, by the year 2017.

The governorate and mayoralty officials are taking steady and solid steps to transform Makkah into a smart city by making use of solar power and other alternative energy resources.