Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, honoured the winners of the 2nd edition of the ‘Zero Bureaucracy Award’.

The ceremony was attended by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence; and H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, along with a number of ministers and senior officials.

On this occasion, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said, “Today, we honoured the government teams that won the second edition of the Zero Bureaucracy Award. These teams have made simplifying procedures and speeding up services part of their daily work culture, strengthening a people first government model.”

“We congratulate the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure team on winning Best Government Team in Zero Bureacracy and extend our congratulations to all the winners. We also recognise the significant progress made by Emirates Post in enhancing services and streamlining procedures, which earned it this recognition,” His Highness said.

With this recognition, we today announce the next phase of the Zero Bureaucracy programme: Zero Bureaucracy using Agentic AI. A new phase for government entities and teams, aimed at further reducing procedures and building a faster, smarter, more efficient government through advanced technologies.

The award recognises the most outstanding entities in eliminating bureaucracy, simplifying procedures, and improving service efficiency across 7 main categories. In its second edition, it evaluated around 32 federal ministries and government entities. The categories included: Best Government Team in Zero Bureaucracy, Impact on the Business Sector, Making Life Easier for People, Digital Bureaucracy , Use of AI in Zero Bureaucracy, Government to Government Services, and Community Engagement.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed honoured the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure team, winner of Best Government Team in Zero Bureaucracy, for its Maritime Transport Bundle project, in recognition of its impact in simplifying procedures and improving service efficiency across the federal government.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour also honoured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs team for its One Time Digital Certification project, winner of the Digital Bureaucracy category, in recognition of its advanced digital solutions and smart services.

He also honoured the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security for its Smart Customs System; and Emirates Post for its National Logistics Network project, in the Impact on the Business Sector category.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan also honoured the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation team for its AI based Employment Contract Verification System, winner of the Use of AI in category. He also honoured two winners in the Making Life Easier category: the Federal Electricity and Water Authority team for its Instant Approvals for New Areas project; and the team behind the Recognition of Foreign Academic Qualifications project.

H.H. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed also honoured the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment team for winning the Community Engagement category for Farmers and Fishermen Services, recognising its role in strengthening community partnership, enhancing transparency and trust, and improving services based on user feedback.

He also honoured two winners in the Government to Government Services category: the Ministry of Finance team for its Smart Financial Governance Operations project, and the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security team for its One-Time Data Request project.

The Zero Bureaucracy Award was launched in 2024 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as a national initiative to recognise outstanding federal government teams for eliminating bureaucracy and delivering fast, tangible, and sustainable results.

In November 2023, the UAE Government launched the Zero Bureaucracy Programme, marking a new phase of government work focused on improving efficiency, quality, and agility by simplifying procedures and removing unnecessary requirements.