The Government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced this Saturday it has completed its digital transformation strategy, becoming the first in the world today to be "paper-free".

According to the emirate's Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Rashid, the so-called "Dubai Paper-Free Strategy," launched in 2018, was implemented in five phases that contemplated the transformation of various government agencies.

"We are proud to announce that today the Government of Dubai has become the first in the world to be paper-free," the crown prince said at the Twitter, adding that this "milestone" consolidates the emirate as "an example to follow in the development of integrated digital services."

For the crown prince, in addition, 45 government entities have reduced paper consumption by "more than 336 million sheets" and saved the emirate 1.3 million dirhams (about 313 million euros).

Meanwhile, digital transformation has also meant, for the Dubai government, a cut of 14 million man-hours for civil servants thanks to process automation.

However, in the last four years, Dubai has provided 1800 digital services and more than 10,500 major transactions through entities such as the Police, the Water and Electricity Authority, commerce, the Public Prosecutor's Office, courts or customs.