Dubai Smart Government wins UN Public Service Award

UAE, July 14, 2013:  Dubai Smart Government (DSG) Department won an international award at the United Nations Public Service Awards 2013 in the category of ‘Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches in the Information Age' for the Western Asia region. This international recognition of excellence in public service was presented to Dubai Smart Government by Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary General for Economic & Social Affairs at the United Nations (UN).

The award was received by a team from the Communication and Business Development Department at a special ceremony in Bahrain on 23 June 2013, also known as United Nations Public Service Day. Previously, the team made a presentation to the visitors of the exhibition held on the sidelines of the ceremony which focused on the electronic shared services (ESS) and smart phone applications provided by DSG to government entities in addition to the official portal of the Government of Dubai (dubai.ae), which offers eServices to Dubai government entities in one place.

Commenting on the award for DSG, Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director-General at Dubai Smart Government, said: “This award is the fruit of our co-operation with our partners of government entities in the eTransformation process since its start in 2000.  We were also delighted to note that the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon in his welcome message on the occasion of United Nations Public Service Day said that the winners of the UN Public Service Award have set an example in improving delivery, promoting accountability and that our innovative approach to public governance was building a better future for all.”

Bin Humaidan added: “During our nomination process to the UN, we showed how our ESS were adopted and used across 56 government entities in Dubai to achieve back-office operational efficiencies and significant cost savings for the government, which translated into streamlined and automated customer services that entitled us to gain the satisfaction and trust of customers. In addition, we get regular delegations from brotherly Arab countries wishing to make benefit from how to create centrally managed ESS and redirect cost savings towards other public welfare schemes. These ESS have also helped us reduce our carbon emissions due to a single highly utilized infrastructure for multiple government entities resulting in a smart government that is also environmentally sustainable in line with the criteria that are taken by the UN into account while recognizing the efforts of the winners.”

Bin Humaidan asserted that DSG, which always aims at bringing satisfaction to all individuals of the society, would continue to enhance the existing ESS while responding to the requirements of the new stage of smart government, by supporting its partners with its modern infrastructure, secure government information network, sophisticated platforms and government resources planning systems. Its MyID initiative, which was recently launched in collaboration with the Emirates Identity Authority, allows customers a unified access to all eServices provided by Dubai government entities via smartphones or the Internet by means of only one identification that eliminates the need for customers to register with each government entity separately, he said, adding that the initiative would become operational in October this year.

The UN Public Service Awards 2013 is an international event designed to promote and support innovations in public service delivery worldwide. The awards are open to public organizations of all kinds, including governments and public-private partnerships involved in delivering services to citizens. The winners of these awards receive a trophy and a certificate of recognition during the UN Public Service Awards ceremony.