His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, took to social media on Monday to announce the app's launch.
According to the app's description on the Google Play Store, users can evaluate their overall experience at government service centres, including location, parking spaces, reception, waiting time, clarity of process, completion time, service fees, payment method and employee attitude.
"The UAE will continue to open new channels of communication with residents to get their feedback and suggestions about government services. This feedback will be used to assess service centres and submit their performance reports to the Cabinet," Sheikh Mohammed tweeted.
- HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) March 2, 2020
"Every individual in our community in the UAE is a partner in improving government services. Every customer is a mystery shopper who will be the judge and the measure for the performance of any government entity and the efficiency of services it provides."
Govt mystery shoppers around since 1990
The application is a new-age adaptation of Sheikh Mohammed's approach in relying on mystery shoppers since 1990. "We launched the mystery shopper programme more than 30 years ago, and now it has become one of the most important tools in improving government services today. The application encourages all members of the community to become mystery shoppers, providing the government with instant evaluations of their experiences in obtaining government services; conveying success stories; and identifying hidden soldiers and role models within government employees. It also lets them report improvement aspects and development opportunities, as we want our government services to be the best of its kind in the world.
"The doors of our government are open to people. The voice of the customer is always heard and his feedback is the essence of our attention and follow-up. The duty of the official in any government entity is the interaction and direct communication with people, listening openly to them in the field and improving services as per their expectations."
sahim@khaleejtimes.com