CASE STUDY
T
he DIFC Wills and Probate Registry
(The Registry) in Dubai, a public
entity of the Dubai Government
and an ancillary body of the DIFC’s
Dispute Resolution Authority, is less about
automation and more about innovation.
While it’s not unusual for courts to operate
a degree of automation, it became clear to
those at The Registry that an innovative will
making system for non-Muslims expatriates
would need to be complemented by
technological innovation.
Spearheading this innovation was the
Registry’s Senior IT Manager, Arul Jose
Vigin, a young and enthusiastic technologist
with 14 years of experience in the IT arena.
A key advantage of automating the will
registration process was to ensure adherence
of processes while allowing the Registry to
handle a higher volume of transactions. It
is now able to provide a better experience
for clients by enabling them to book their
appointments online, draft their asset
specific will through a template and register
via the virtual registry.
The automated system also ensures a higher
level of data security and confidentiality
through encryption. Personal data and
the will contents had to be protected;
maintaining an encrypted digital will was of
paramount importance to the Registry.
It also increased the ease of use for
customers who can now log on to request an
appointment and complete personal data
for the will. Regular back-up of the databases
reduced the risk of losing critical data.
Furthermore, the new system provides
insightful reports at the click of a button,
helping the Registry to make faster and
better decisions.
The introduction of the virtual registry
benefits overseas customers by allowing
them to create and register their will
through a video conferencing link to the
Registry. Overseas investors and non-
residents are now able to protect their
assets without attending an in-person
registration appointment. The key users
of the system are customers (known as
testators), lawyers and the registry staff. The
application is built on the Microsoft .NET
framework 4.5 (C#), with WCF service using
Angular JS and Bootstrap. The database is
SQL Server 20008R2 with 64-bit Encryption.
The apps are natively built on Objective C
THE PROCESS
REQUIRED A
LOT OF USER
EXPERIENCE
DESIGN MODELS
WHICH ALSO HAD
TO SUPPORT
MOBILE DEVICES.
and Java. The solution’s customer portal
allows users to:
• Book an appointment for will registration
– virtual will registration or in-person at
the DIFC Office
• Create asset specific wills: property wills,
free zone company share wills or financial
asset wills online
• Lawyers can also create a profile for their
clients and book an appointment on
their behalf
EmQube business analysts had some legal
background and were also able to quickly
grasp the business requirements. The
Registry demonstrated the manual process
of registering a will and the EmQube team
was able to replicate this into an automated
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