INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Abu Dhabi Municipality empowers
mobile workers with Citrix
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Abu Dhabi is in the midst of an
unprecedented boom. The city has
more than doubled in size in the last
10 years. It may double again in the next
five. Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) sits at the
centre of this growth. It oversees real estate
developments, agriculture, roads and more.
ADM systems are integrated with multiple
local and federal government entities.
Ahmed Abdulsamad Al Hammadi, IT
Manager at Abu Dhabi Municipality, said:
“The pace of work has changed dramatically.
Our staff cannot be tied to their desks. We
need the freedom to work from anywhere in
the city, anywhere we are needed.”
By deploying Citrix Virtual Apps and
Desktops to securely publish applications
and desktops for end-users on any device
over any network, ADM has created a
digital workforce. It has ramped up
productivity, taken control of the sharing
and access to corporate data and
established a more agile approach to
working. The solution is a key component of
Abu Dhabi’s ‘Smart City’ project.
ADM launched the pilot phase of a fiveyear
project for Smart Cities and Artificial
Intelligence (AI), called the Zayed Smart
City project, to validate key use cases and its
viability. The city-wide project is designed
to digitally transform the environmental,
social, and financial aspects of urban life to
improve the lives of the UAE capital city’s
citizens and visitors.
The most immediate impact of the Citrix
solution is on ADM’s 400-plus inspectors.
Each has been issued with a tablet and can
now access a range of corporate applications
from anywhere in the city. For instance, it
means inspectors can check building permits,
health and safety inspections or code
violations and then input data directly into
ADM’s core systems.
“We have many applications, all Windowsbased,
and to physically load these on to
every device would be unmanageable,” said
Azmi Afifi, IT Project Manager at Abu Dhabi
Municipality. “Using Citrix means this task
can be managed centrally. As an IT team,
we’re more productive, and our users are
more productive.”
It is also easier for staff to move between
ADM offices. Citrix Virtual Desktops allow
staff to log in at hot desks in different
offices; there are new shared printers and
scanners available for mobile workers.
There is also a significant cost saving. By
standardising tablet devices and switching
to thin clients, Afifi says the hardware
refresh cycle has stretched from three years
to five: “We have the same features and
functionality but on lower cost hardware.”
By being able to work effectively from
the field, staff are having to travel less.
With less time wasted returning to the
office to file reports, staff have time for
more visits. Senior management can also
access applications from home which were
previously restricted to the office. ADM
data is also more secure. In the event of
a tablet being lost, devices can be locked
down centrally. •
“We’re one of the most influential
government departments in the UAE, and
our actions are closely watched by others.
We’ve made significant investments in
our IT infrastructure to ensure we have a
platform to grow, and manage growth,”
explained Ahmed Abdulsamad Al Hammadi.
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