In May 2021, Dubai Municipality won the coveted 3rd Organisation-wide Innovation Award for its exemplary ideas and innovation management (Fig 1). With 12,000 employees and workers, Dubai Municipality has excelled in inculcating a culture of innovation across 6 vital sectors and 175 public services.

Led by the vision to make Dubai “A Happy and Sustainable City”, and being an innovation-driven organisation, innovation is set as one of the main organizational values and behavioral competencies. The leadership promotes innovation culture as the CEO of Business Development is the Innovation Value Ambassador. Dubai Municipality has an Innovation Charter, a dedicated department for knowledge and innovation management, up-to-date innovation tools and processes, e.g., the automated suggestion system, 5-Gate Knowledge and Innovation Ecosystem aligned with future foresight, innovation-based appraisal system, incentive system, and awarding scheme. In Jan 2020, the Director General with 7 executives and 22 directors and supervisors participated in the Innovation Lab Year of Preparation for the next 50 years. Furthermore, Dubai Municipality made strong strategic innovation partnerships with leading international organizations e.g., Huawei and Etisalat.

Dubai Municipality ensures its knowledge and innovation strategy is perfectly aligned with its organisational strategy and local and federal initiatives as shown in (Fig 2).

Dubai Municipality Knowledge Portal Gate publishes more than 100 publications yearly to promote innovation awareness. In 2017-20 a total of 10924 participants received training in IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence, 3D technology, blockchain, big data, and intellectual property. The training hours for each employee in innovation and future foresight have been increasing for the past five years. 18 employees passed the ‘Certified Innovation Strategist Exam’ to be the Future Makers at Dubai Municipality. The Dubai Municipality Innovation Spaces provide a lively and energetic environment with team-brainstorming rooms, group meeting rooms, etc., to maximize open thinking and collaborative work between employees and partners for passionate innovation ideas. Dubai Municipality partnered with American University in Dubai to support education in research. In 2017-20, 89% of 6,610 feasible ideas of 65,696 submitted ideas were implemented until 2020; some ideas from customers were implemented and rewarded such as the Braille Menu.

To sustain its innovation position, Dubai Municipality collaborated with United Nations Habitat for long-term partnerships with globally recognised institutions. In 2020, Customer Happiness for innovative projects was 88%, and 94% of employees participated in innovation and knowledge tasks. From 2017-20, 719 Dubai Municipality employees received rewards and recognition in innovation. Dubai Municipality’s Innovation Readiness Score increased from 64% in 2018 to 89% in 2020, and innovation-related cost reduction amounted to AED 1.5 billion (2018-20). With a total of 73 awards (2018-20), Dubai Municipality’s innovation outcomes contribute to UAE’s pioneering position in international indexes. As an example of innovation and future foresight in action, Dubai Municipality’s international benchmarking breakthrough project Dubai Waste Treatment Center (2020-2023) will process more than 5,666 tons/day of solid waste and produce enough energy to run more than 130,000 homes annually.

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