Five UAE ministries pledge to accelerate happiness

Shaikh Mohammed signs on a board displaying a quote by him atGovernment accelerators headquarters in Emirates Towers. - Wam

As the second Innovation Week kicked off on Sunday, the UAE government stole the show by announcing the setting up of the first government accelerators in the world.
In the first phase, the accelerators will focus on five key sectors: security, economy, Emiratisation, environment and education.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who launched the government accelerators, approved an execution plan for achieving the goals of the National Agenda. He directed a 100 per cent success rate for the agenda's goals.
The government accelerators will initially focus on five ministries: ministry of interior, ministry of economy, ministry of human resources and Emiratisation, ministry of climate change and environment, and ministry of education.
"Today we launched our first Government Accelerators, a solutions-based collaboration between government, private sector and academic teams," Shaikh Mohammed tweeted.
"The Government Accelerators aim to drive change, raise government efficiency and speed services to build happiness for our people," he added.
He inspected the Government Accelerators headquarters at Emirates Towers that will house the work teams of the five ministries.
He said every effort exerted by the government aims to raise the standard of living in Emirati society. He said the accelerators were launched to achieve this goal using effective methods that rely on creativity in the ideal utilisation of resources. The office includes specialised innovation labs, office spaces and meeting rooms.
Shaikh Mohammed stressed that a successful country is not measured by its size but by how quickly it completes achievements and innovates solutions for challenges facing the transition into the future.
"The launch of the first government accelerators in the world represents a new phase in which we boost the efforts of government bodies to make them work as a single entity in one location," he said. "The accelerators have multiple tasks and responsibilities, boosting the pace for achieving the goals of the National Agenda and projects. Directives have been issued for all government bodies under the umbrella of the accelerators programme to develop initiatives, laws, policies and services that support national indexes and programmes. The government bodies will also be tasked with implementing joint projects in record time in order to shift government services into advanced standards by 2021."
Shaikh Mohammed will personally follow up on developments pertaining to the implementation of the plans and objectives.
Present during the launch were Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; Lieutenant-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; and Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future.