Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai Municipality organised the closing ceremony of the “Service Accelerators 2025” project, a pioneering initiative aimed at enhancing the efficiency of government services, reducing timeframes and procedural requirements, and improving the overall customer experience. The initiative adopts service design methodologies and strengthens the readiness of high-impact initiatives, creating constructive competition among organisational units and motivating teams to deliver innovative services that elevate customer satisfaction.

The ceremony recognised three winning teams following an evaluation by a specialised judging panel comprising senior government leaders and experts, including Her Excellency Dr Moza Suwaidan, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Applications and Platforms Sector at the Digital Dubai Government Establishment; Rashed Karmastaji, Director of the Business Monitoring and Investigation Office and Director of Business Transformation at Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation at the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism and Rashid Al Kharji, media professional and presenter at Dubai Media Incorporated.

Nearly 500 employees from across Dubai Municipality participated in the project through a series of forums and development sessions, during which initiatives related to 16 municipal services were reviewed and enhanced. These efforts contributed to increasing the rate of transactions completed without return by 39 per cent and raising customer satisfaction levels to 89 per cent.

The competition progressed to a final shortlist of seven services representing the most impactful improvement solutions for customers. These included approval of food establishment design layouts; issuance of completion certificates without contractor or consultant approval; approval or amendment of master plans for urban development projects; connection to sewerage networks; licensing for building modifications or additions and issuance of new building permits; burial service permits; and planning permit requests.

The participating initiatives demonstrated their ability to deliver innovative solutions that achieved measurable institutional outcomes. These included reductions in completion time by 60 per cent, processing time by 72 per cent, service delivery time by 47 per cent, requirements by 68 per cent, procedural steps by 46 per cent, and application assessment time by 47.5 per cent. The initiatives also standardised 12 exceptions at a 100 per cent rate, reduced contact points by 86 per cent, and lowered returned transactions by 65 per cent. In addition, the improvements facilitated more than 300 transactions through process re-engineering and enabled the transfer of knowledge to 40 employees within institutional improvement teams.

Manal Bin Yaroof, Director of the Customer Happiness Department at Dubai Municipality, said: “The Service Accelerators 2025 project represents a strategic step towards delivering government services that are faster, simpler, and higher in quality, while remaining focused on the needs and expectations of customers. The project reinforces Dubai Municipality’s commitment to proactive service design, institutional innovation, and continuous improvement, contributing to enhanced satisfaction and a more seamless customer journey that supports Dubai’s position as a global leader in government service excellence.”

The final shortlist of initiatives was selected based on votes from 1,592 employees, alongside evaluations by members of the 360 Services Team, whose expertise supported the readiness of initiatives prior to the final judging stage. The project also received 65 positive commendation messages, reflecting strong institutional engagement and broad internal support.