US expert praises UAE's planning skills

Abu Dhabi: The UAE is one of the leading countries in developing strategies and implementing them.

The country knows what it wants, but the challenge is to move forward from separate strategies for each ministry to inter-ministerial strategies, where the top priority is the overall welfare of the country, a top US strategist said on Wednesday.

"No government works well without a successful inter-ministerial system. In the absence of such a system there is no accountability, with each ministry blaming its failure on another ministry's shortcomings," said Richard A. Clarke, chairman of Good Harbor Consulting, based in Arlington, Virginia.

Clarke, a former senior White House advisor on national security and foreign policy issues, defined an inter-ministerial strategy as a national strategy to guide all government ministries, agencies and industries on issues that cannot be solved or handled by just one ministry.

He was speaking at an interactive workshop on Interagency Coordination and Strategy Building, organised by the Critical National Infrastructure Authority under the auspices of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of the Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA), said boosting security of the critical national infrastructure is a key component in the country's strategy to maintain economic stability. He added the CNIA's vision is to cope with the latest wave in the technology revolution and embrace the latest trends and concepts in asset security and protection.

Decision-making

"Strategic planning is crucial to an organisation's ability to foster good decision-making, effectively execute an agency's mission, provide guidance for future courses of action, and create public value," he said in his keynote speech read out by Col Muhayer Ali Al Khateri, general manager of CNIA.

CNIA monitors and assesses all procedures that guarantee the security and safety of all strategic infrastructure against any threat.

Its scope covers installations such as water and power stations, gas distribution networks, seaports, airports and communications networks.

Shaikh Ahmad said the workshop will provide a high-level overview of strategic planning in effective government initiatives.

As an internationally recognised expert on security, including homeland security and national security, Clarke delivered a presentation called Strategic planning process: using strategy to drive change and providing lessons learned and best practices.

He said that a strategy includes a roadmap to the goal, timeliness and a description of the situation today and tomorrow.