Municipality... 100% "Smart"
Continuing the vision of a “New Kuwait” aimed at digitizing the government apparatus and developing advanced technological infrastructure, the Kuwait Municipality is witnessing an unprecedented qualitative leap in its service system. This transformation involves crafting a smart institutional reality that completely abandons bureaucratic routines and traditional paper files. Engineer Yousef Al-Azmi, Deputy General Manager for the Development and Information Sector, has embedded within his sector’s plans a binding strategy and a fundamental pillar, supported by Law Decree No. 148 of 2025 concerning Electronic Transactions and Digital Signatures. This initiative has led to the elimination of waiting periods and enhanced the efficiency of state financial revenues by linking them to smart systems, thereby establishing the Municipality as a model for integrated government performance.
In this context, Al-Rai prepared a detailed report on the Municipality’s steps toward digital transformation from 2022 to the present, ranging from construction permits to surveying plans. Over the past few years, specifically since the launch of the unified government application for electronic services, “Sahel,” in 2022, the Municipality succeeded in migrating the majority of its transactions to secure digital platforms. This contributed to reducing the rate of field reviews to the minimum possible level. By 2026, the electronic system for issuing construction permits and engineering offices was operating with full digital efficiency at 100 percent.
Recent official statistics issued by the Municipality’s Development and Information Sector indicate that the “new engineering offices system” has reduced the issuance time for private residential construction permits from several weeks to less than 48 hours. This is a record achievement that translates the efforts made to simplify transactions and save time for both citizens and real estate developers.
The Municipality’s digital benefits are not limited to engineering permits but extend to other sectors. Reports issued in early January 2026 documented a noticeable increase in the issuance and renewal of various permits related to municipal work via the electronic portal, where data is automatically verified through direct linkage with the General Authority for Personal Information and the Public Authority for Manpower.
This integrated government connectivity has contributed to the effective activation of “electronic payment” services for transaction fees and tenders, significantly boosting the Municipality’s total digital financial collections. The issuance of Law Decree No. 148 in late 2025 represents the strongest legislative pillar, granting electronic documents and signatures full legal validity equivalent to paper documents. Under this legislative mandate, senior management has mandated all its sectors, including the Tenders and Contracts Departments, to fully adopt electronic systems in issuing public tenders, receiving company documents, and qualifying contractors.
On the operational front, municipal oversight has entered the era of “smart judicial police powers.” Inspector teams in health, hygiene, and road occupation monitoring sectors have been equipped with tablets directly linked to the municipality’s central system. This system enables inspectors to issue violations, send warnings, attach photos from the scene, and transmit them instantly to property owners via the “Sahel” app. This initiative has contributed to the efficient and fully transparent detection of hundreds of violations and encroachments over the past months of the current year. In the realm of real estate management and planning, the electronic daily updating of “survey plan” data has allowed property owners and investors to inquire about the legal and geographical status of their properties with a single click. This system integrates with the “Electronic Technical File for Construction” service, which has archived millions of old historical plans and documents, some dating back decades, preserving them from damage or loss and enabling their retrieval within seconds when a transaction is requested. More than 85 percent of direct public services for individuals and businesses are now fully available and processed through the unified government “Sahel” app.
