Q&A with Khalifa Alzeraim Alsuwaidi, CEO & Board Member, ERES – Emirates Real Estate Solutions
How is ERES helping to digitalize the real estate sector in Dubai?
I launched ERES when I was the IT director in the Dubai Land Department. We thought that providing real estate solutions to the community was a goal that would impact everyone in Dubai and ERES has achieved that goal. In fact our solutions can now be implemented anywhere in the world. Our vision is to have the same impact in many countries.
Our systems have conducted more than 52,000 property transactions worth more than 220 billion dirhams ($60 billion). In 2018 we registered more than 500,000 lease contracts that are worth more than 50 billion dirhams ($13.6 billion).
More than 200 nationalities now own a property in Dubai, and the Dubai Land Department is ranked the seventh in the world for property registration in the World Bank Doing Business Report. Without the technologies developed by ERES, that may not have been possible.
What have the main contributions of ERES been?
ERES provides tools and solutions to Land Department partners in Dubai to help them process their requests in a faster and safer way. The Land Department deals with many different clients in the industry such as banks, brokers, developers, property managers, real estate professionals and owner associations. With each sector, we provide IT solutions which help them to conduct business in a better way. We also form a bridge between other government departments and utility providers so that they can provide seamless services to the real estate sector.
Having a dedicated team which is focused on introducing new technologies into the real estate community has made it easy for the Land Department to generate ideas, laws and regulations and to provide cutting-edge services which satisfy the needs of all players in our real estate market.
What are the benefits of going digital?
When you compare how long services used to take a few years ago to what is happening now, then you can understand our partners’ interest in ERES. Dubai is a very fast-moving city. Our partners need to accomplish their goals in a very fast and safe way but also with maximum transparency. Thanks to our investments in digitalisation, landlords and developers can now carry out their business efficiently and at reduced cost. They no longer need to come to Land Department offices to process their requests and services. The platforms that have been provided make it easy and safe to finish in a few minutes processes which before ERES needed weeks to complete. We have already achieved a 53% level of paperless processes.
How are you exploring the potential of blockchain in the sector?
Blockchain enables trust, transparency and safety. Blockchain can help us provide a seamless digital journey to our clients, so they no longer need to go to multiple places. In a blockchain environment, our partners can host a node where they can access and write information without contacting the Land Department. Furthermore, paperless smart contracts, property sales contracts, tenancy contracts and broker sales contracts can all be saved onto a blockchain database. So developers can sell their properties and landlords can list their vacant units directly. Utility providers can also access the data in order to provide clients with the right service.
“ERES is unique as a software company specialised in implementing real estate solutions. Enabling our solutions with blockchain differentiates ERES from other software providers.”
Khalifa Alzeraim Alsuwaidi, CEO & Board Member, ERES, Emirates Real Estate Solutions
Our main objective at ERES is to provide a seamless and safe way to lease and buy property in Dubai. Blockchain will help raise the quality of service in the sector, reduce the time needed to complete transactions, and increase convenience, trust and transparency across the industry.
How and when do you plan to enter new international markets?
ERES is unique as a software company specialised in implementing real estate solutions. Enabling our solutions with blockchain differentiates ERES from other software providers.
We are rolling out our systems internally in UAE and expanding to the GCC countries and North Africa. We have several implementations and partnerships outside the UAE and we will soon be sharing these stories with your readers
