Dubai, UAE, 27 November 2015

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has affirmed that DEWA adopts innovation as a major pillar and a core government value, in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to improve government performance across all sectors, to encourage a culture of innovation, and to spread it as a standard process, to develop government services, combat challenges and to contribute to improving efficiency.

His Excellency made these observations as part of his keynote speech during the fifth Innovation Conference, held as part of DEWA's Innovation Week. International experts participated in the conference, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai, to discuss innovation in sustainability, renewable energy and water.

"To support the directives of our President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has stressed the importance of innovation in the UAE's strategy, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, declared 2015 to be the Year of Innovation and launched the UAE National Innovation Strategy. I am pleased to welcome you to the fifth Creativity and Innovation Conference, organised by DEWA as part of DEWA's Innovation Week. This forms part of the Dubai Innovation Strategy, launched by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to make Dubai the most innovative city in the world," said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer affirmed that DEWA uses an integrated approach in all of its work, as part of its efforts to advance the innovation of energy, renewable energy, water, sustainability and environmental best practices. Furthermore, DEWA is committed to improving skills in these fields and to developing its performance in administration, operations and service, as part of its efforts to support innovation in the UAE, and as part of its vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility.

"DEWA exerts all available efforts to support innovators, and prioritises talented individuals, to encourage them to develop their abilities, improve their skills and knowledge, and gain new experience to achieve the Dubai Plan 2021, to make Dubai a city of happy, creative and empowered people. This stems from our belief that personal development is one of the major pillars of success in any institution. All of the most successful and innovative organisations in the world recognise this. DEWA provides its employees with the required tools and training programmes to enhance their competitive abilities, and to reinforce DEWA's goal to become the most innovative utility in the world," added Al Tayer.

"DEWA's efforts have resulted in several prestigious regional and international prizes. For example, DEWA was awarded two prizes by the IdeasUK 29th International Conference 2015 for Process Improvement and Health and Safety. DEWA was also awarded the UAE Ideas Award 2014, an IdeasUK 2014 award for innovation, and received an award from the 71st IdeasUSA conference for having the best administrative system to manage feedback. At DEWA, we have also learned from our wise government that we should never rest on our laurels. Success is a continuous process, dependent on flexible management that can respond to developments and qualified employees who are able to tackle any challenges they face at work. So, I urge everyone to continue working hard, to intensify our efforts to make the UAE number one," concluded Al Tayer.

The opening session featured talks by Professor Rajit Gadh from the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Founder and Director of the Smart Grid Energy Research Center (SMERC) in California, and Thomas Kosbau and John Walsh, Co-founders of VENA Water Company.

DEWA's Innovation Week comprises 30 innovative activities and events, and the launch of more than 40 innovations for sustainable energy and water. These events include a Government Innovation Lab to explore initiatives to use energy in an efficient way. The Government Innovation Lab attracted visitors from the DEWA Innovation Exhibition, in which DEWA's employees, partners, innovators and emerging companies were given the opportunity to review the latest innovations, shown for the first time in China, the UAE, Germany, Spain and Austria, to enhance DEWA's operations and customer satisfaction in Dubai. The innovations are based on the latest research and technical concepts. DEWA also organised a series of inspirational talks under the title 'I Talk' and a 'Design Thinking Lab' which comprised a series of workshops that used scientific and practical methods to develop forward-thinking initiatives. One of the workshops included an initiative received via the Mohammed bin Rashid Smart Majlis. DEWA has also organised a Build-It-Yourself Robotics Kits competition for schoolchildren from the age of six, up to high-school age. The activities also include the launch of 'My Innovation' (Ibtikari in Arabic), to encourage innovators and designers from the UAE and abroad to offer innovations via a smart platform. This incorporates science and engineering competitions for university students and engineering specialists to identify scientific solutions and innovations in the fields of sustainability and water.

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For more information, please contact:
Ribal Dayekh or Noora Khoory    
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority 
+971 4 515 1784 
ribal.dayekh@dewa.gov.ae 
noora.khoory@dewa.gov.ae 
              
Jessy Chami or Rawad Khattar
Orient Planet PR
+971 4 4562888
jessy@orientplanet.com
rawad@orientplanet.com                

© Press Release 2015