LAST week, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced that the Dubai government has gone 100 per cent paperless in its operations and services.

By that feat, Dubai has become the world’s first government to run 100 per cent in its operations without paper.

According to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, all internal and external transactions and procedures in the government of Dubai are now 100 per cent digital, managed from a comprehensive digital government services platform.

For watchers of countries making advancements in eco-tech and innovative policies that are providing solutions to global environmental glitches, the Dubai government’s paperless milestone should not be a surprise.

Early this year, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, had also announced the availability of a residence permit for remote workers in UAE and approval of a multiple-entry pathway tourist system for people of all nationalities.

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That innovative policy, which allowed an employee anywhere in the world to reside in the UAE and work remotely even if the company is not present in the country, was expected to reduce air travel responsible for a large amount of the climate-damaging carbon emissions.

It was also projected to reduce air-mishaps. It is quite instructive that while the world was looking up to leading nations in environmental technology such as the United States, Germany and China for leadership in paperless revolutions, that leadership is rather coming from one of the least expected countries – The Dubai Emirate of the UAE.

According to Forbes, the United States government spends $930 million annually on unnecessary printing costs. About $28 million was spent on printing copies of congressional records which are available online.

For US businesses, the annual cost of filing, storing and recovering paper was estimated to be between $25bn and $35bn.

Not long ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission set a target to save $1.5 billion in a decade through a decision to go paperless.

That decision was estimated to save around two million trees each year apart from saving $1.5 billion.

As expected, the current Dubai eco-digital revolution is savings 1.3 billion Dirham (USD 350 million) and 14-million-man hours for Dubai!

The rest of the world, especially Nigeria, where papers are heavily used in government and non-government operations, needs to learn from Dubai.

Heavy use of papers means more destruction of trees. Papers are made from trees, and those trees are one of the cardinal reasons for our survival on planet earth. Going paperless, however, does not mean we will no longer use paper at all for daily tasks, or even have access to it in our offices.

According to experts: “Going paperless means using paper wisely while turning to more secure, ‘paperless’ alternatives for processes that are typically completed manually.

It begins with our decision to step away from the shadow of paper and into the efficient, cost-effective, and more secure world of digital document management.”

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