Three of Dubai Electricity and Water Authoritys (DEWAs) smart initiatives have been shortlisted for the final stage of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Smart Government, which is organised by Dubais The Model Centre, an entity under the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of Dubai. DEWAs initiatives support the Smart Dubai initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and DEWAs commitment to improve customer service to the highest international standards, and achieve the happiness of its customers.

Winners of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Smart Government will be announced at a special ceremony attended by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, on 9 December 2014. The public can vote for the nominated initiatives from 17 November to 3 December, via the Programmes smart app (HbMPSG) on iOs and Android.

DEWAs nominated initiatives are Ashir (for Best Shared Government Service), Ashal (for Best Partnership with the Public), and Estareeh (for Best Partnership with the Private Sector). Services were shortlisted after applications were evaluated by competent international judges, who evaluated all applications and visited government organisations to nominate initiatives and individuals. DEWA has called upon the public to vote for its innovative and smart initiatives that have been nominated.

DEWAs strategy supports the Smart Dubai initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world. These innovative services also support the Happiness Meter, the latest unique initiative launched by His Highness to measure peoples happiness and satisfaction with government services. This indicator is directly concerned with achieving stakeholders happiness, and embodies the vision of His Highness to make the governments customers happy, said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA.

DEWA is fully prepared to achieve this vision through various smart initiatives, programmes, and services that serve different segments of society. Being shortlisted for the Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Smart Government emphasises our contribution to significantly improving the services DEWA provides to its partners and customers, and to transforming Dubai into the smartest city in the world within three years. This will help to better manage the citys utilities and services through smart integrated systems to provide a better quality of life for residents and visitors of Dubai, added Al Tayer.

At DEWA, we aim to make the smart services and initiatives that we provide a lifestyle for all our customers. We strive to ease the lives of all segments of society and make them happy. Ashir is directed at the speech-and-hearing impaired. Estareeh enables customers to pay their bills round the clock through its partnership with 18 banks. Ashal educates the public about DEWAs smart services and encourages them to use its smart app, added Al Tayer.

DEWA launched its leading community service, Ashir in August 2014 to serve the speech-and-hearing impaired customers. It is the first government organisation in the UAE to launch such a service. It is a live-video chat service to communicate directly with DEWAs call-centre staff using sign language. The pioneering service is available round the clock on DEWAs smart app on iOS and Android. DEWA has collaborated with Dubais Community Development Authority to train customer service staff on how to use sign language.

Ashal was launched less than a month after Ashir, providing smart kiosks to show DEWAs customers how to use its smart services. Ashal kiosks are available at DEWAs headquarters in Zabeel East, and its customer service centres in Al Wasl, Al Quoz, Al Hudaiba, Umm Ramool, and Burj Nahar. Visitors to Ashal smart kiosks get to know everything about DEWAs smart app, from downloading the app, to creating an account, paying bills, and registering for the Green Bill and the Dubai Smart Governments MyID service. Visitors also learn about the different services and features of the smart app that enable them to complete their transactions, anytime, anywhere.

DEWA has launched the Estareeh initiative to highlight the bill payment services that are available electronically round the clock, according to the highest-international levels of reliability and security, in partnership with 18 UAE banks. In addition to making payments easier, the initiative promotes environment-friendly practices when paying bills, which supports DEWAs sustainability efforts and reflects its vision to become a sustainable world class utility.

The theme of the second session of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Smart Government is City Builders. Nominated organisations have been working hard all year, in close cooperation with Dubai's The Model Centre, during the annual improvement cycle of public services, on how to make the public happy. The public can vote for the nominated services from 17 November to 3 December 2014, on the Programmes app on iOS and Android. Voting is open for the public, except for Dubai Government employees.

The Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Smart Government is an annual award to encourage and recognise government organisations that make significant and sustainable improvements to their public services and service centres that are considered to be exceptional. The award supports the transition towards smart government, encourages public services improvement through innovative methods, and highlights efforts by work teams and individuals, service leaders and providers, for their effective role in making positive changes and promoting confidence in Dubai Government services. It also aims to document and disseminate best practices in government organisations to share them and benefit from them, in addition to advancing cooperation with service providers in various sectors.