Global competition for ‘Best m-Government Service Award’ announced

Submissions to open from 1st until 8th December, winners to be honoured at World Government Summit 2017

The 4^th edition of the ‘Best m-Government Service Award’ was launched for all government entities worldwide highlighting the award’s global role in promoting a competitive spirit and providing innovative solutions for improving the quality of government services and achieving happiness for customers. This was in conjunction with the award’s announcement that it will start receiving submissions to the competition for the 4^th session through the website www.mgov-award-ae from December 1 to 8, 2016. The winners will be honoured during the 5^th World Government Summit in February 2017.

The award is being organized by the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs & The Future – Prime Minister’s Office in collaboration with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

 Al Mansoori: Global Competition

H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, said, “The 'Best m-Government Service Award' has witnessed a year-on-year momentum, attracting the attention and interest of people who are skilled and talented in creating mobile applications. Its presence has become a key pillar in the move to support innovation in IT, which highlights UAE’s leadership in providing government services for all customers through smart devices”.

“This year's award features engaging all levels that will open up new opportunities for national organizations from the Arab region and the rest of the world to compete with each other and showcase their talents in mobile applications development. We are confident that this competition will encourage these government entities to come up with creative ideas and new solutions and bring the best possible mobile solutions on a global scale. The success of this award enables us to continue and renew the award every year,” H.E. Al Mansoori added.

 Hessa Buhumaid: Shaping Government Trends to achieve integrity among entities

H.E. Hessa Buhumaid, Executive Director for the Government Services Sector at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs & The Future – Prime Minister’s Office, has confirmed that the changes on the award’s categories reflects the success, development and increase in global turnout of award participants compared to previous editions, highlighting the UAE’s leading position in adopting innovative ideas.

“The award organized in collaboration with the TRA is advancing the UAE’s efforts to encourage national participation and push government entities to deliver the best results,” Buhumaid said. “The award has become a global platform for the best innovations in government services provided through mobile phones, allowing application developers to compete and provide effective services that ensure people’s happiness,” she noted.

 Three major criteria for evaluation

The mobile applications evaluation goes through various levels after submissions and review of the applications. A jury will be formed to include experts in smart apps evaluation as well as from the government sector to review the competing applications and choose the best among them.

The evaluation process will be based on three main criteria --Efficiency and Effectiveness (40 percent), Ease of Use (40 per cent) and Creativity (20 per cent). The Efficiency and Effectiveness criterion measures the application's efficiency in solving specific issues and how it can provide more effectiveness as a service. The Ease of Use criterion evaluates the major tasks of the app and the support methods it provides. Lastly, the Creativity criterion reviews the competing app’s solutions to specific problems and how it differs from the traditional approach as well as how it enhances the customer experience.

The nine categories of the award are Health, Education, Environment, Social Affairs, Safety and Security, Tourism, Trade and Economy, Transportation and Infrastructure and One Stop App.

The ‘Best m-Government Service Award’ launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is an annual award which aims to encourage government entities to submit innovative mobile applications-enabled solutions to ensure government services are delivered at all times using easy, simple, highly efficient and transparent procedures to meet customers’ expectations and attain their satisfaction.