Customer Stories / Government / United Arab Emirates

Promoting Investment in Ajman Using Amazon SageMaker Autopilot with Department of Digital Ajman
Learn how the Department of Digital Ajman created an innovative online investment risk-assessment tool using Amazon SageMaker.
Off-loaded the heavy lifting
of building ML models
1,000+
open datasets organized
Simplified data
access for potential investors
Overview
As a leader of digital transformation initiatives in the Emirate of Ajman, the Department of Digital Ajman (DDA) has a mission to use data to fully benefit citizens. The data team in DDA recognized that Ajman’s government entities held thousands of important datasets that could unlock value for investors, researchers, and interested citizens. The team began work on a digital tool that could centralize datasets and use information to drive investment in Ajman.
DDA sought guidance from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to implement machine learning (ML) and create user-friendly APIs to simplify access to data and insights. The data team built a model using Amazon SageMaker, which lets organizations build, train, and deploy ML models for virtually any use case with fully managed infrastructure, tools, and workflows. Using Amazon SageMaker and other services from AWS, DDA has cut costs by orders of magnitude and created a simple web-based risk-assessment tool for businesses.

Opportunity | Innovating with Data to Benefit Citizens of Ajman
DDA uses technology to improve the lives of the citizens of Ajman, the smallest of the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Established in 2017 under the leadership of the Director General, Her Excellency Dr. Ohoud Ali Shehail, DDA supports the competitiveness of the emirate and the entire UAE.
For the first several years of its existence, DDA’s data team focused on collecting and organizing more than 1,000 open datasets from various local government entities. It organized these disparate datasets into an online database called Ajman Data Portal. Anyone can access the information by using a simple user interface to search, download, or export data from categories such as environment, housing, leisure and culture, and transportation. The economics and finance category, for instance, includes tables listing available permits, amenities in Ajman, building licenses by license type, and many other datasets. “The next question for DDA was how it could use this data to benefit the citizens of the Emirate of Ajman,” says Shehail. “In the end, DDA was providing open data for a reason: to be useful to Ajman citizens.”

Using AWS, it’s just one click to run the ML model and make predictions.”
Her Excellency Dr. Ohoud Ali Shehail
Director General, Department of Digital Ajman
Solution | Attracting Investors with a Digital Tool Built Using Amazon SageMaker
DDA’s data team decided to build a digital tool to help investors evaluate the feasibility of starting a business in Ajman. Typically, evaluating business risk involves the time-consuming, laborious process of sifting through thousands of documents located in various offices throughout the region. Instead, DDA’s data team used ML to build a prediction model called the Ajman Smart Business Feasibility Tool. Potential investors can access the tool from a website, where they enter the type of business and an area within Ajman, and the model instantly returns its recommendation. “It is helpful and useful to our citizens and anybody who wants to start a business in Ajman,” says Shehail. “It will encourage investors to come to Ajman. It’s a quick win.”
The data team off-loaded the heavy lifting of building its ML model onto Amazon SageMaker Autopilot, which lets organizations automatically create ML models with full visibility. Using Amazon SageMaker Autopilot, the team managed to automatically explore different solutions to find an optimal model and directly deploy it to production with one click. DDA developed its ML model for jobs that could not be done manually—for example, studying the behavior of customers or investors over the years.
The Feasibility Tool stores data using Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), an object storage service offering industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. The Feasibility Tool automates access to the data in Amazon S3 through the use of AWS Lambda, a serverless, event-driven compute service that lets organizations run code for virtually any type of application or backend service without provisioning or managing servers.
DDA has received extensive support from AWS since the project’s inception. To develop the ML model, DDA’s data team participated in AWS Data Lab, which offers accelerated, joint engineering engagements between customers and AWS technical resources. After 5-day AWS Build Lab sessions alongside AWS solutions architects, DDA’s data team developed a working prototype, a path to production, deeper knowledge of AWS ML services, and strong relationships with AWS experts. The data team then continued its sessions online for another week to optimize and enhance the APIs, in addition to increasing the model’s accuracy. “The full support that we got from AWS helped to make this project happen,” says Shehail. “AWS guided us on best practices for using our data. We have used many other services and tools, but we have found AWS extremely supportive.”
Outcome | Expanding ML Initiatives to Drive Value for Ajman and the UAE
In the fourth quarter of 2023, DDA’s data team will begin to use live—rather than static—data to increase the Feasibility Tool accuracy, which is currently around 80 percent. “This is the type of enhancement that we are doing on the backend,” says Shehail. “We are trying to excel by providing customers with highly accurate data.”
Investors are currently using the tool on the DDA’s website. The data team also plans to work alongside AWS to develop additional models built on open datasets. “This is the wonder of artificial intelligence and ML,” says Shehail. “Using AWS, it’s just one click to run the ML model and make predictions.”
About Department of Digital Ajman
Established in 2017, the Department of Digital Ajman has a mission to provide smart government services through digital channels to benefit the citizens of Ajman, the smallest emirate of the United Arab Emirates.
AWS Services Used
Amazon S3
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service offering industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.
Amazon SageMaker
Amazon SageMaker is built on Amazon’s two decades of experience developing real-world ML applications, including product recommendations, personalization, intelligent shopping, robotics, and voice-assisted devices.
Learn more »
Amazon SageMaker Autopilot
AutoML automates each step of the ML workflow so that it’s easier to use machine learning.
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda is a serverless, event-driven compute service that lets you run code for virtually any type of application or backend service without provisioning or managing servers.
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