#WorldGovSummit: Mohammed launches '10X' initiative

Dubai - Sheikh Mohammed also noted that a new book, written by him, will be released in the next couple of days.

In a new initiative to develop government work in Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has called on public entities to come up with at least three innovative ideas every year that could be implemented to place Dubai ahead of other cities by 10 years.

The initiative called '10X' , which stands for thinking outside the box, targets government departments who will be required to launch ideas that can be implemented over the next 10 years.

10X will be followed up annually by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

"I will also follow up with its execution personally," said Shaikh Mohammed as he addressed delegates and the press in a brief session during the final day of the World Government Summit 2017.

He said that the mandate of the initiative is that Dubai will achieve what other cities will achieve in the next 10 years.

He stressed on the importance of planning and thinking ahead, giving two examples of UAE's successful planning.

"We planned that the country does not get affected by oil price reductions. Today, I would like to tell you that our country was the least impacted by oil prices," he said to an applauding audience.

"We studied our need of energy in 2050. Through our energy strategy, we slashed expenditures from Dh1.3 trillion to Dh600 billion. This shows progress in thinking and planning," he noted. "Luckily, the human thinking has no limits."

He highlighted the importance of experience and knowledge exchange between governments that took place during the three-day summit.

He also noted that he will release his new book in the next couple of days. In it, Sheikh Mohammed said he addressed leadership, management, happiness and positivity.

The highlight of this year's summit was a transparent question and answer session where Shaikh Mohammed discussed ways of reigniting Arab region development.

The fifth annual summit, held under the theme 'Shaping Future Governments' hosted 4,000 delegates and 150 speakers from 139 countries around the world who discussed current challenges the world is currently facing. New technologies were also displayed during the event.

Among the groundbreaking announcements was that Dubai will launch driverless flying cars by this summer.

The appearance of American tech pioneer Elon Musk also attracted attention, as he announced the launch of a sales point and service centre for his Tesla electric vehicles would be opened in UAE.

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai