The city's water and electricity authority DEWA has become the first government agency to offer Alexa in Arabic.

Adding intelligent solutions to public service infrastructure is the key for evolution of cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi as future-ready urban spaces, where everything from bill payments to filing of complaints and even litigation is being digitised to ensure convenience of residents in everyday life. Traffic in Emirati cities is being managed by smart control centres that can predict congestion, and AI is being used to support facial recognition in surveillance, at a time when even local bodies are launching their own satellites.

Dubai has set sights on delivering a futuristic lifestyle for a rising number of residents, for which agencies that manage traffic as well as water and power have introduced intelligent route planning and gadgets like smart meters to monitor consumption. To add another layer of sophistication for day-to-day operations, the water and electricity authority in Dubai has now brought Amazon's digital assistant Alexa on board, so that residents can get details about bills and other services via voice commands.

Designed to provide smart services created by DEWA for making life simpler in Dubai, the solution backed by Alexa will address queries about power and water bills, consumption of resources by a household and its carbon footprint, to boost sustainable living. In order to make the experience more interactive, the virtual assistant will speak to people in Arabic, and will also support DEWA's own digital customer care mechanism called Rammas.

Other than answering questions, Alexa will also provide access to a smart living initiative, under which people will receive intelligent insights for reducing their consumption of water and power. An engaging infrastructure for serving customers will ensure that they get all the support they need to prevent wastage and increase efficiency, without even contacting the local body.

The introduction of Amazon's popular AI solution for residents, follows DEWA's use of robots at service centres, and the deployment of intelligent systems by organisations like Dubai Municipality for agriculture and drainage.