There is a dictum that individuals or entities who make excellence their guiding principle believe in: Embrace accountability and the rest will follow. Dubai has constantly, and consistently, abided by this belief. In its avowed push for excellence in governance that lies at the core of its vision, it is peeling away layer by obfuscating layer the innate tendencies of governments to keep their functioning beyond the scrutiny of the public. And in consciously moving towards transparency at every step, Dubai is making accountability its hallmark.
A new initiative, launched by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, has created a fresh category in the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Smart Government Award, which is now in its second edition. The new category, called Public Opinion, invites people to vote through a specially devised app launched this week in English and Arabic for the 12 best public service offerings in 2014 that added value and contributed to their happiness this year. The feedback will be used to evaluate and improve public services and the department that wins this award will get to hoist the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Smart Government Programme flag for a full year — a mark of how it placed customer satisfaction as its top priority.
It is a simple but effective idea that offers citizens and residents a chance to turn city-makers, a privilege that is uncommon yet necessary to be enshrined at the heart of good administration. The fact that even visitors are urged to vote is a sign of just how serious Dubai is about realising its ambitions to be a world-class city with super-responsive governance.
The syllogism of this idea — government works for the people, people make a city hum and therefore, governance benefits from citizen input — is hard to miss. As Shaikh Hamdan put it: “Government entities cannot become number one on their own; we need the community to support us.” It is precisely this kind of pragmatic vision that distinguishes Dubai from the rest and is an affirmation of its desire to be a trend-setter rather than a follower.
