Dubai, UAE; 22 May, 2014

The Enterprise Risk Management Department in Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in partnership with the UK Institute of Risk Management, hosted the Developments in Enterprise Risk Management conference 2014, at Atlantis The Palm - Dubai, in the presence of HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, and HE Saeed Mohammed Al Sharid, Member of the Board of Directors of DEWA, Mr.  Abdulqader Obaid, Chairman, of the Internal Audit Association (UAE IAA), Executive Vice Presidents and Vice-Presidents at DEWA, and Richard Anderson, Chairman of the Institute of Risk Management, and a large number of experts and specialists working in the field of risk management from the public and private sectors.

Part of DEWA's risk management challenge for the department responsible for tracking and identifying methods to mitigate risks, the Enterprise Risk Management conference is highlighting the best practices in the field by implementing suitable mechanisms.

"DEWA organised this conference to support the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to achieve the highest standards of excellence in public performance, and improve the competitive capabilities of all government authorities and departments, to promote Dubai's position as a global hub for trade, finance, and tourism," said Al Tayer.

"The conference aims to review the policies and experiences related to enterprise risk management, as well as identify the best practices in this field. This comes as a result of the developments that have occurred over the last ten years in how international businesses have changed their corporate strategy and enterprise risk management practices to adapt to changes in their internal and external work environments. This has resulted in many changes to corporate strategies and reorganisation of ERM structures worldwide. The conference identified and focused on the best global practices adopted in enterprise risk management and accountability in organisations. This provides the means to achieve our strategic objectives through a proactive approach to examine and evaluate risks, as well as prioritising and monitoring them across DEWA," added Al Tayer.

"The conference also intends to provide information and balanced recommendations in terms of: The concept of enterprise risk management and its importance within the context of organisations, including the United Nations, evaluating the practices of Enterprise Risk Management, the best global definitions of some concepts of risk management and methods of implementing them and joint collaboration and coordination between DEWA and its strategic partners," confirmed Al Tayer.

"Since its formation two years ago, DEWA's Enterprise Risk Management department has succeeded in investigating, identifying and studying all the risks across DEWA's various divisions and the solutions to mitigate them, as well as setting up the necessary plans and strategic objectives. These efforts and endeavours have resulted in our starting work on management of procurement and supply chain management, with the support and recommendations of the Higher Enterprise Risk Management committee," said Al Tayer.

"In line with our vision to become a sustainable world-class utility, DEWA adopts the best global practices that comply with ISO 31000 and the finest cutting-edge integrated system for enterprise risk management, as they are closely related to DEWA's strategic planning and drive," commented Al Tayer.

"Our unprecedented achievements in this field, resulted in DEWA winning the Global Risk Management Award 2013, in the Category of Developing Risk Management Capabilities from the UK. DEWA is the first organisation in the Middle East and North Africa to win this international accolade after tough competition with 350 of the best organisations from the public and private sectors," said Al Tayer.

"We in DEWA are committed to providing electricity and water services to the Emirate of Dubai to the highest standards of availability, efficiency, and reliability, and to achieve this, we are constantly examining all the possibilities and risks that may affect the operational processes or the service quality which we provide to our customers. This process is followed by implementing preventive measures and alternative plans to ensure the best results, and enhancing the global competitiveness of DEWA across all areas of operations," concluded Al Tayer.

The conference, attended by internationals speakers, where Paul C Dwyer, Chief Cyber Solutions Strategist - EMEA at Mandiant, presented the first keynote on Cyber Risk, and Richard Anderson, Chairman of the Institute of Risk Management gave the second keynote speech on 'Managing Risks in Complex Organisations.' The Conference also hosted workshops on the latest developments in the area of administrative and technical management of risk, and the best technological solutions that contribute to improving efficiency and accuracy when predicting current and future risks.

-Ends-

For more information, please contact:
Ribal Dayekh / Fatma Al Shamsi
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority
+9714 307 200
ribal.dayekh@dewa.gov.ae / fatma.alshamsi@dewa.gov.ae 

Mutasem Shadid/Kelly Home
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
+9714 4507675/450761
mutasem.shadid@bm.com / kelly.home@bm.com 

© Press Release 2014