Industry, Logistics & Shipping

First World Excellence Summit opens in Dubai

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is organising the first World Excellence Summit, which opened yesterday (Nov 19) to promote a culture of excellence and innovation among its staff as well as government employees.

Prominent international experts and specialists in excellence and officials from local and international excellence programmes are taking part in the summit.

Inaugurated by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, The two-day summit includes panel discussions and presentations on different aspects of excellence.

The first day of the summit witnessed the launch of the New EFQM Module 2020 in the Middle East. HE Al Tayer was handed the first Arabic version of the Module by the CEO of the European Foundation for Quality Management.

In his keynote speech, Al Tayer said that Dewa is organising the first World Excellence Summit as a platform for experts and specialists in different areas of excellence. This includes organisational excellence, innovation, project management, governance, and modern technologies; to anticipate and shape future trends for excellence and sustainability.

“Dewa’s efforts in excellence have resulted in recognition from many specialised local and international organisations. Dewa received the Distinguished Government Entity award by the Dubai Government Excellence Programme (DGEP) in 2016,” said Al Tayer.

“In 2017, Dewa was the first organisation to win the Leading Government Entity, according to the fourth generation excellence system. Dewa also won six awards in DGEP 2018. This month, DGEP announced that Dewa will be assessed in the ‘Elite’ category. Three new standards have been added: Organisational Agility, Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences, and Public-Private Partnerships. In 2017, Dewa won the highest award in the EFQM Excellence Model, becoming the first organisation outside Europe to receive this prestigious award, and the first organisation to get it from first application.

“Dewa achieved between 750-800 points, leading it to rank in the Platinum category, which includes leading companies and institutions that promote sustainable excellence. At Dewa, we contribute to promoting sustainability and building a green economy. This will ensure a balance between our social, economic, and environmental needs, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030. We work to provide safe, sustainable, and reliable energy and water supplies by increasing the share of renewable energy, managing energy demand, and reducing carbon emissions,” said Al Tayer.

“To ensure sustainability of excellence, we adopt creativity and innovation in our strategies, plans, and initiatives. We have developed a special strategy for innovation and the future that is implemented through a framework that uses systems and mechanisms to accelerate the generation and implementation of ideas, as well as developing the necessary enablers,” he added.

Waleed Salman, executive vice president of Business Development & Excellence at Dewa, said that many key excellence programmes are participating in the first World Excellence Summit. EFQM presented its new excellence model 2020.

Dewa is one of the selected organisations that tested the EFQM Model 2020 in light of Dewa’s international standing in various areas of excellence. Last year, Dewa hosted EFQM’s Annual Good Practice Visit to review the standards and practices of excellence adopted by Dewa’s divisions in all its activities and operations, and introduce them to the business community. – TradeArabia News Service