The competition included eight challenges revolving around key services that affect people's lives.

Round two of the UAE Government Accelerators saw teams register successes that surpassed all forecasts, asserted the UAE Government. Addressing challenges and working towards services that directly affect people’s everyday lives, the eight teams managed to exceed their stated goals without committing to additional resources.

Six teams successfully achieved their stated targets for as far ahead as 100 days. Their success led to: reducing the time needed to issue a residency visa; increasing the number of social development beneficiaries in Ajman; enhancing the workplace relations service; accelerating retirement payroll; improving residential support; and reducing wait times for accessing the electric grid for new home owners and tenants.

The remaining two teams, meanwhile, activated the newborn services package; as well as the feature allowing customers to access smart services offered by seven government agencies using only their Emirates ID.

Huda Al Hashimi, Assistant Director General for Strategy and Innovation at the UAE Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, stressed that: “The great success of the Government Accelerators teams in achieving outstanding results in record time – and even overcoming their set targets – proves the programme’s efficiency as a results-driven scheme that develops top-notch services to improve people’s everyday life.”

“The teams developed useful one-stop-shop integrated services, as directed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, who stressed that real success is spreading happiness among people by providing integrated services that save their time and effort,” Al Hashimi continued, explaining that the projects launched during the Government Accelerators programme are on-going, and that the teams continuously discuss ways to upgrade their services.

Mabrouk Ma Yak

The Ministry of Interior led two teams to accomplish two separate challenges. In the first challenge, the team activated the newborn services package, in which the Ministry issues all documents for newborn citizens during one visit instead of seven. The team delivered all identity documents to 200 new-borns across three hospitals – which is equal to 66% of all new-borns.

The Mabrouk Ma Yak service is organised in partnership with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Dubai Health Authority, Abu Dhabi Health Authority, Federal Authority for Nationality and Identity, Emirates Post Group, Ministry of Health and Prevention, Smart Dubai, Ministry of Finance, Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Center, and the Ministry of Finance.

Reducing Wait Time for Issuing a Residency

The team responsible for the second challenge led by the Ministry of Interior had originally set out to reduce the waiting period associated with issuing new residency visas in Ajman by 50%. They, however, exceeded their target, reducing the wait time by 60% instead.

The team included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Ministry of Health and Prevention, and the Federal Authority for Nationality and Identity.

Attracting Customers to Ajman Tanmia Office

The Ministry of Community Development led a team in the accelerators to bring more customers into government service centres, as mandated by the UAE Government. While the initial plan was to multiply the number of customers by 10 within 100 days, the team ended up attracting 15 times more customers – going from 1,000 to 15,000. The team saw the Ministry work with the Ajman Youth Council, Al Janahi Real Estate Centre, Ajman Executive Council, Emaar Group and the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare.

Stronger Workplace Relations

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation set out to improve the workplace relations and complaints service: it successfully reduced the time to resolve complains in Dubai by 82% from 30 to 5.3 working days, exceeding the original target by a full 10 working days. The team included the Dubai Courts, as well as representatives from the labour market.

Fast Collection of Retirement Pension

The team for this accelerator succeeded in delivering pensions and end-of-service benefits to retirees from four government entities within a mere 12 days of their retirement date – exceeding the original target of 14 days.

The accelerators team consisted of the General Pensions and Social Security Authority, in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Ministry of Health and Prevention, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, and the Securities and Commodities Authority.

Improved Housing Support

The Government Accelerators team, led by the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme in partnership with Fujairah Municipality and the Department of Planning and Surveying in Sharjah, has enabled 93% of citizens who were approved to receive residential support in Sharjah and Fujairah to benefit from the service within 100 days, exceeding the 90% target.

Smart Government Services

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has been working to provide access for customers to the smart services of seven government agencies using just their Emirates ID card, in order to promote these smart services among customers. The team provided clients with access to 90% of the smart services in the seven government agencies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dubai Smart Government Establishment, Emirates Post Group, and the Federal Authority for Nationality and Identity.

Faster Access to Electric Grid

The Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA) worked to reduce the waiting period for new homeowners and tenants in the Emirate of Ajman for connecting their residential units to the power grid from 47 to 14 working days (a 70% reduction). The team – which included the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Etisalat, Ajman Sewerage Company, and the Municipality and Planning Department in Ajman – exceeded that target, reducing the time to just 10 working days (an 80% reduction).

The Government Accelerators programme is a platform for cross-sectorial government teams to address challenges and achieve ambitious goals in short periods of time, focusing on four key areas: National Key Performance Indicators (NKPIs), Policies, Projects and Services. The programme accelerates the implementation of projects, policies and regulations; promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in government; facilitates integration between the public, private and academic sectors; and accelerates the implementation of the National Agenda.

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© Press Release 2017