The utility company, EtihadWE has demonstrated its commitment to national efforts to streamline government processes by organising a series of internal, idea-generating workshops.

These workshops, complement a wide range of other engagement activities organised by the company to drive the UAE’s ZGB programme.

The ZGB programme, launched in November 2023, aims to ensure the cancellation of at least 2,000 government measures, halving the time required for procedures and removing all unnecessary bureaucracy by the end of 2024.

As a key industry leader, EtihadWE believes it can effectively contribute to the overall enhancement of the nation’s global competitiveness rankings in government efficiency and minimal bureaucracy.

The EtihadWE internal workshops resulted in 150 ideas being generated for ways to boost efficiency and minimise bureaucracy. Of these, 43 were approved: 29 are to be implemented internally through IT initiatives, and 14 are to be rolled out through external partners.

The approved ideas focus on eliminating unnecessary procedures and steps to simplify processes for EtihadWE customers, reduce service delivery time, empower employees, and eliminate all repetitive, unnecessary and redundant documentation and requirements.

Eng. Yousif Al Ali, CEO of EtihadWE said: “At EtihadWE our priority is our customers. We know how crucial our services – water & electricity – are to their everyday lives. We work tirelessly to provide them with the utilities they need with a reliable service that meets their expectations.

"The new initiatives generated through our workshops will go further in streamlining our services, improving accessibility and ease of use.”

He added: “We believe in the power of efficiency and innovation to transform the way utilities are provided and managed. By restructuring services and setting new standards in the sector, we contribute to the well-being of our customers and the progress of our society.”

As a result of the proposed changes that emerged during the workshops, EtihadWE plans to establish a platform between itself and civil defence to see clearance certificates uploaded through the portal, streamlining, and expediting the certification process.

It will also reduce the approval process for residential category to just one level of approval, offer a new service bundle for Land Clearance Certificate (LCC) and transfer of services to a single request for both water and electricity services.

New Customers requesting for service activation (connections) will benefit from a streamlined eight-step application process, rather than 13 as it currently is.

Building on the ideas generated during EtihadWE’s workshops, the company has begun a programme of engagement meetings with strategic partners across the UAE’s municipalities.

This inclusive approach, bringing together consultants, contractors, and customers, embodies the UAE’s spirit of collaboration.

Eng. Yousif Al Ali adds: “The workshops have inspired us all to continue analysing our day-to-day operations and consider whether there are elements of processes that could be removed to speed up and streamline processes.

"In supporting the ZGB programme, we are ensuring a better service to the loyal communities we serve.”