Sharjah ‘A good place to live, study, work and start a business,’ says a government adviser
Sharjah’s approach to building connected ecosystems across academia, research and business is now being applied to how government delivers digital services.
Eng. Majid Almadhloum, a consultant at the Sharjah Digital Department, describes the emirate as “a great place to live, study, work and start businesses,” pointing to urban planning that creates the perfect balance of citizens and entrepreneurs. The recently approved digital integration program aims to replicate this thinking in how citizens interact with the government.
“This large natural area makes it a great place to live, study, work and start a business,” said Almadhloum Arabian businessreferred to University City, which includes educational institutions, Sharjah research and Technology Park, a house of wisdom and student neighborhoods within ten minutes of the airport.
“Digital services are designed for the same environmental thinking.”
Sharjah Shifts Mix integration
The program, supported by the governor and announced in May, represents a transition from digital transformation to integration. After 20 years of operations, the digital department of Sharjah has received a new mandate that focuses on ending conflicts between government agencies rather than simply providing services for themselves.
Almadloum explained: “The challenge we have seen is integration between companies. “We want citizens to focus on the experience and the service they need, not what they are dealing with the Department.”
Nsondela Mirrors How Sharjah builds physical infrastructure. Span Agriculture Cultivation from soil to shelves, creates food security, health benefits, education programs and jobs in one integrated value case. Similarly, digital services will lead users through a complete experience regardless of how many government companies are involved behind the scenes.
The program is organized around five domains – digital services and channels, data and artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, cyber infrastructure resilience and trust, and digital ebesital. Some 50 methods will be phased out, starting with a management framework before moving on to analytics and AI-driven decision support.
Almadhloum emphasized that the Ministry showed private financial partners and citizens before formulating the strategy. “We listen before we start thinking and designing,” he said. This outsources informed decisions on everything from data management to infrastructure design.
The department works with its eastern cloud while partnering with hyperscalers such as Microsoft and AWS to scale local control on a Global scale. For data and AI, adopt a hybrid model that starts with speed, then the transformation of planned structures as mature frameworks.
“We can start doing the transparent one little by little, then go hybrid mode until we prepare the situation to be empowered,” said Almadhloum. “While we’re doing that, we’re training people, we’re investing in the skill building.”
Technology for purposes
The previous AI training program, developed with partners, graduates thousands of participants. HACHackathons bring students and entrepreneurs of different ages working on real challenges. Team building platforms include developers, subject matter experts and data scientists who are interested in their projects.
“We care about those teams. We want to see them grow, measure up, and they will pay it forward to other teams,” said Almadhloum. “This is how this nation was built anyway.”
When asked what he is most excited about the program, Almadhloum pointed to creating better decision support for leadership and integrating how the government identifies problems. “We’ve gotten better at identifying real problems,” he said. “What we are sure of, platforms designed to solve real problems that exist today, is that people like me and you look.”
The Ministry views its role through three interconnected pillars – working with the private sector, treating citizens and government agencies as partners and not as end users.
“It’s not just about showing technology or presenting applications,” Almadhloum said. “It shows the purpose of these apps, how they affect you or me or anyone you interact with. It’s all about people and people.”
