Local, regional and international experts share their perspectives on contributing to the community

Dubai - Leading local, regional and international organisations, businesses and thought leaders shared their ideas on excellence and sustainable development at the ‘Best Practices & Benchmarking Forum 2017’ hosted by Dubai Economy. The annual forum, which showcases the best practices of the winners in the Business Excellence Awards of Dubai Economy, was held under the theme ‘The Joy of Giving’ this year and had over 400 attendees.

Along with the winners of the Business Excellence Awards – which comprises the Dubai Quality Award, Dubai Human Development Award, Dubai Service Excellence Scheme and the Global Islamic Business Awards – the Forum also brought the spotlight on the top performers in the BED-EBM Benchmark Programme, a joint initiative between the Business Excellence Department in Dubai Economy and Emirates Business Management International Consultants.

A panel discussion on how organisations grow sustainably and contribute towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in that process was among the highlights of the Forum this year. Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General of Dubai Economy, said the messages highlighted in the Forum this year reinforces the strategic focus of Dubai Economy on sustainability, prosperity for all and the vision defining economic development in Dubai and the UAE in general.

Organisations honoured at the Forum for the highest score across various categories in the BED-EBM Benchmark Programme during 2017 were: Body & Soul (Overall Score), UAE Exchange (Approach), Jumeirah Group (Deployment), Gulf Medical University (Assessment & Refinement), Drydocks World (Creativity & Innovation), Emirates Gas, Union National Bank and Dubai Airports won the top three slots in that order for the highest contribution to Data Sharing.

Award-winning author, speaker and coach Mustafa Hamwi, acclaimed as a Passionpreneuer & Chief Energy Officer, delivered the opening keynote in the Forum, sharing his perspective on passionate leadership and how leaders can give and contribute to all the relevant stakeholders and their success.

Frank Fenrich, the second keynote speaker of the day drew on his experience as International Programme Manager at Deutsche Telekom and spoke on the joy of receiving customer feedback and satisfying them. Fenrich has been working with Deutsche Telekom’s customer experience measurement since 2006, across diverse channels including call centre, shops, self service, and technical service.

Engineer Khalil Odeh Al Shalan, Senior Vice President Operations & Facility Department at Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA); Zack Zainal, Divisional Vice President, Emirates Group Security; Eugene Mayne, Group CEO, Tristar Transport; Jassim Al Baloushi, Executive Vice President & Head of Organisational Excellence at Sharjah Islamic Bank, and Tahir Shah, Founder of Moti Roti, joined the panel session on the ‘Gift of quality to UN Sustainable Development Goals,’ sharing their key initiatives in linking organisational goals with sustainability. Sunil Thawani, Member of the Board of Director, American Society for Quality (ASQ) moderated the session.

Raja Al Mazrouei, Vice President Harvard Business School Club for the GCC, who also oversees the FinTech Hive at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) – the region’s first FinTech accelerator - briefed the audience on the ‘GCC Crossroads Summer Programme’ of her school.

The Forum was supported by Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Thumbay Group, as Gold Sponsors and British Orchard Nursery, RAKBANK and Tristar Group as Silver Sponsors.

-Ends-

About Dubai Economy:
Dubai Economy is the government body entrusted to set and drive the economic agenda of the emirate of Dubai, UAE. Dubai Economy supports the structural transformation of Dubai into a diversified, innovative service-based economy that aims to improve the business environment and accelerate productivity growth. Dubai Economy and its agencies develop economic plans and policies, identify and support the growth of strategic sectors, and provide services to domestic and international investors and businesses.

© Press Release 2017