Dewa summit puts spotlight on enterprise agility challenges
DUBAI, February 3, 2021
Leading global industry experts met at the virtual Agile Governance Global Summit to share international success stories in governance and enterprise agility both in the government and private sectors, as well as to discuss new trends and challenges in the sector.
Prof. Raed Awamleh, Dean of the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), joined a panel discussion titled Enterprise Agility Journey at the virtual event hosted by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).
Representatives from various high-profile organisations attended the Summit, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and German multinational conglomerate Siemens, among others.
This year’s summit sought to shed light on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing response.
The Enterprise Agility Journey panel discussion brought Prof Awamleh together with Trish Clancy, Managing Director and Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Rodrique Engering, Chief Customer and Operations Officer at the Netherlands’ Chamber of Commerce. The session was moderated by Abeer Al Ahmad, Manager of Agility at Dewa.
Prof Awamleh discussed his book ‘Agility in Government Management’, issued by MBRSG in cooperation with Dewa on January 21, underlining the need for new, unconventional, and more agile methods of governance, better capable of responding to rapid global changes and ensuring a better future for government institutions.
“Agility in governance is the ability to adapt quickly and innovatively to rapid developments,” stated Prof Awamleh.
“Government entities must balance agility and stability. This requires a set of competencies that allow organisations to seamlessly restructure themselves and their systems in order to seize promising opportunities and address pressing challenges,” he added.
Prof. Awamleh highlighted the importance of restructuring government entities to ensure their preparedness and enhance their agility in response to any circumstances. These entities must form dynamic internal teams to replace the traditional hierarchy, he noted.
“There is an urgent need to adopt better and more modern human resources practices that meet current challenges and are in line with the new reality,” stated Awamleh, stressing that regulation and policy labs will play a greater role in the future, ensuring policies and regulations meet the requirements for agility.
For her part, Boston Consulting Group’s Trish Clancy presented the findings of a BCG survey on agility, canvassing local and federal governments, as well as entities active across a range of key sectors.
A prominent point of focus for Clancy was the importance of adopting technology and providing more efficient services as a means to ensure customers and consumers are at the top of these entities’ priorities.
Roderick Engering of the Netherlands’ Chamber of Commerce agreed, pointing, in addition, to the importance of empowering employees and engaging them in the efforts to drive transformation and ensure agility.
The Agile Governance Global Summit 2021 included a full agenda of sessions, namely: Why We Do What We Do: Lessons Learned from Pandemic Response; Balancing Risk, Compliance, and Innovation: Operational Governance in Action During the Pandemic; and Global Trends in Corporate Governance for State-Owned Enterprises.
The panels brought together speakers from various government entities and private institutions to share their thoughts on agile regulations and governance.-TradeArabia News Service
