Digital transformation via e-permit for motorsports governance

ATCUAE - or to give it it’s full title the Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE - is one of the oldest national organisations in the United Arab Emirates, and was founded in 1965 is the sole representative of the Federation Automobile International (FIA) in the UAE, ATCUAE governs approximately 140 competitive motorsports events including the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 GP, Cross Country World Cup and World Rally X events.

Dr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem President of ATCUAE explained: “The decision to select ActionPoint was influenced by their successful delivery of the award-winning online passport renewal system, on behalf of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland’s growing international reputation as the Silicon Valley of Europe and ActionPoint’s strong track record in the sports industry.”

Essentially before any motorsport event is organised within the UAE, a permit must be granted by the ATCUAE. The application process has to date been slow, manual and labour intensive, with multiple event types and data point requirements, across location, insurance, course maps and user details. The new portal will provide motorsport event organisers with an online self-service tool to initiate and complete their event-permit application process. It will also facilitate secure online payments with full PCI-DSS compliance.

The new E-Permit system will provide event organisers with complete visibility of the approval process significantly reducing the time and costs around managing permit approvals. The new system is scheduled to go live later in the year. Dr. Ben Sulayem, himself a fourteen times Middle East Rally Champion, confirmed that once the system is working in the UAE he plans to roll out the system across the Middle East and North Africa region, ideally in the next 12 months.

The solution will be built on Microsoft Azure and Dynamics ensuring a highly secure, scalable and enterprise-grade platform. This provides the ease of use and stickiness, key to driving rapid adoption for the ATCUAE. In building the solution on Microsoft Azure the organisation's growth plans are fully supported now and into the future.

ActionPoint’s CTO and Co-Founder John Savage said of the news: “ActionPoint is delighted to have been chosen for this project, which will enable ATCUAE to completely transform their permit application process, using the power of Microsoft Azure combined without our vast experience at building custom software and enabling Digital Transformation. With over 140 events running each year in the UAE, the new system will make a significant impact on their organisational resourcing and overall efficiencies. 

"We work with a number of sports data and sports technology clients, and so the inclusion of motor sports to the mix is very exciting. This project will have a focus on usability, security and of course accessibility across multiple languages.”

Dr. Ben Sulayem said: “Our mission is to improve the management and governance of motorsport. This new system will greatly reduce the amount of admin time spent processing permit requests for all users. This will also be the first regional system of its type in the motorsport world and the start of a development journey which will bring more new technologies to the governance of motorsport.“ said Dr. Ben Sulayem who is also the FIA Vice president for the MENA region.