UAE will play key role in designing the future

The UAE has positioned itself to play a key role in designing the future thanks to its proactive strategies, and ability to plan for and forecast changes and developments in major economic and technological sectors, experts said at the World Excellence Summit 2019.
Organised by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), the summit focuses on promoting a culture of excellence and innovation among employees from federal and local government bodies. The event drew the participation of several prominent international experts and specialists in excellence, as well as officials from local and international excellence programmes. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa, inaugurated the summit at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
"Excellence is a continuous and developing journey that requires effective partnerships based on flexible mechanisms that ensure organisational agility and keeping pace with the changes the world sees every day," Al Tayer said in his keynote speech.
"In the UAE, in line with the vision of our wise leadership, we aim to shape the future and not just anticipate it," he added. "This makes the UAE one of the countries that are prepared for the future and a leader in employing technology to innovate new opportunities. Thanks to this clear vision, the UAE has become a role model for excellence and leads global competitiveness indices in different areas. Government excellence in the UAE is based on an integrated system to achieve people's happiness by providing seven-star government services, as well as achieving the best financial and operational results."
Al Tayer also noted that in light of rapid changes in the business environment, public and private organisations need to be more agile to continue their sustainable growth. "To ensure sustainability of excellence, we adopt creativity and innovation in our strategies, plans, and initiatives. We have developed a special strategy for innovation and the future that is implemented through a framework that uses systems and mechanisms to accelerate the generation and implementation of ideas, as well as developing the necessary enablers. It also includes using the best disruptive technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as AI, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), energy storage, blockchain, and Big Data."
Towards this end, Dewa launched 'Digital Dewa' to redefine the concept of utilities, and become the world's first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage. It will also expand its use of AI and provide digital services. Adopting excellence standards has helped Dewa establish its position as one of the world's best utilities, with results surpassing leading international utilities. Losses in electricity transmission and distribution networks have been reduced to 3.3 per cent, water network losses were reduced to 6.5 per cent, while customer minutes lost is 2.39 minutes. The UAE, represented by Dewa, has maintained first place, for the third consecutive year, with scores of 100 per cent in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com