Our Goal: A Streamlined Government with Prompt Services and Meaningful Outcomes for Citizens
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, emphasized that the UAE, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, continues to establish a pioneering global framework for government operations. The focus is on delivering services that are more efficient, higher in quality, and significantly impactful on society. This is achieved by making life simpler and smoother for citizens, enhancing service design with streamlined processes that incorporate the best practices in governmental performance, leveraging accumulated knowledge and human experience, and utilizing technological advancements to meet human needs swiftly and effortlessly.
His Highness stated: “Today, we launched the second phase of the Bureaucracy Zero Program in the UAE government, a national initiative aimed at creating simpler, faster, and more influential governmental services. In the first phase, we reduced service processing time by over 70%, eliminated more than 4,000 unnecessary procedures, and saved users over 12 million hours in time and travel costs.”
He expressed gratitude to more than 30 government entities and 690 teams that contributed to simplifying and reducing governmental procedures, stating: “Today, we expand our efforts, particularly in the domain of digital bureaucracy elimination. Our aim is to create a government free of complexity, services without waiting times, and outcomes that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
This announcement was made during the launch of the second phase of the Bureaucracy Zero Program, during an event in Dubai attended by over 200 ministers, deputy ministers, and directors of federal agencies.
The program represents a comprehensive national framework for initiatives aimed at eliminating bureaucracy and consolidating efforts across all ministries to achieve the strategic objective of making the UAE government the best in the world for service delivery and attaining a zero-bureaucracy status.
The Next Phase Will Focus on Further Reducing Unnecessary Procedures and Enhancing Digital System Efficiency
His Excellency Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Qaraqawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, confirmed that the steps taken and the results achieved during the first phase of the Bureaucracy Zero Program align with the vision of the UAE leadership, aimed at continually improving the ease of life for citizens through proactive and simplified services. During his opening speech at the launch of the second phase, he noted: “As one team, we collaborated with 30 government entities and 690 working groups to eliminate over 4,000 unnecessary procedures, reducing service processing time by more than 70%, and removed 1,600 redundant conditions. The UAE government celebrated its top three entities in reducing bureaucracy.”
Minister Al Qaraqawi highlighted that the recent achievements showcase a new benchmark in effective government management, illustrating how governmental teams have successfully re-engineered processes and enhanced service efficiency, translating into real savings of over 12 million working hours annually and savings exceeding 1.12 billion dirhams.
He pointed out that the upcoming phase will place an emphasis on further reducing unnecessary procedures, expanding the simplification of digital platforms, and enhancing the availability and efficiency of digital systems around the clock.
This includes reinforcing digital integration between governmental entities and improving the digital experience for users.
The program produced remarkable results in its first phase, establishing a new model for governmental operations, redesigning procedures, and enhancing service effectiveness. Over 690 teams from 30 government entities were involved in eliminating more than 4,000 unnecessary procedures, shortening service processing time significantly. Additionally, over 4,500 participants and more than 19,000 employees contributed to this bureaucratic reduction initiative.
The program’s results improved 200 million transactions annually, saving users 12 million hours each year, along with 1.12 billion dirhams saved in time and travel costs. Seven million dirhams were awarded to outstanding teams within government sectors.
The program’s goals for the second phase include achieving 100% elimination of digital bureaucracy, addressing digital complexities and application overload, updating and enhancing all government digital systems, and effectively implementing artificial intelligence.
Furthermore, the program will continue to eliminate unnecessary governmental procedures and services, eliminate redundancy in processes between entities, and eradicate all burdensome and unnecessary requirements.
At the program launch event, His Excellency Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice, discussed the ministry’s achievements and its distinguished journey in reducing governmental bureaucracy, showcasing several initiatives and projects launched by the Ministry since the program’s initiation, which contributed to it receiving first place in the award for the best team in the UAE government for reducing bureaucracy.
Engineer Mohammed Bin Taliah, Head of Government Services in the UAE, outlined the features of the second phase of the Bureaucracy Zero Program, targeting further elimination of unnecessary government processes, achieving full digital bureaucratic elimination, and erasing redundant and unnecessary requirements. He indicated that the next phase will focus on enhancing government collaboration, supporting data sharing, innovating joint solutions, and adopting leading practices in the business sector.
The governmental workshop concluded with an interactive dialogue session titled “Bureaucracy Elimination and the Private Sector,” featuring industry leaders discussing how reducing bureaucracy affects sector efficiency, service quality, and overall excellence.
It is important to note that in November 2023, the UAE government announced the launch of the “Government Bureaucracy Zero Program” aimed at simplifying and reducing redundant procedures to align with the leadership’s vision of fostering an innovative future experience that simplifies citizens’ lives while creating a supportive business environment that attracts talents and minds.
The program’s first phase aimed at simplifying government procedures and eliminating unnecessary requirements by abolishing 2,000 governmental actions and reducing processing times by 50%.
Key Focus Areas for the Second Phase:
100% elimination of digital bureaucracy, including digital complexities and excessive platforms
Update and enhance all government digital systems
Effective adoption of artificial intelligence
Continuing the elimination of unnecessary governmental processes and services
Eradicate redundancy in procedures between government entities
Eliminate all burdens and unnecessary requirements