Dubai eGovernment announced today (Monday, June 06, 2005), the winners of its online customer feedback promotion. Aysha Khalid bin Zayed, Ahmed Sallam and Krishna Kumar Srinivasan, the first, second and third prize winners, along with the other 22 winners were awarded attractive prizes by Hewlett Packard, the sponsors for the promotion, at a gala ceremony held at the offices of Dubai eGovernment.
The unique promotion that began on April 27, 2005, was part of Dubai eGovernment’s efforts to increase the involvement of members of the public in the process of policy making at Dubai eGovernment. More than 6,000 suggestions were received by Dubai eGovernment’s portal www.dubai.ae from people of all nationalities and age groups.
“We received an overwhelming response for this promotion from a cross-section of Dubai’s population. The valuable suggestions received by Dubai eGovernment during the promotion underlines the strong participation of the citizens of Dubai in the process of policy making and governance,” said Salem Al Shair, eServices Director, Dubai eGovernment.
Joseph Hanania, Managing Director, HP Middle East, said: “HP is pleased to be associated with this initiative of Dubai eGovernment. HP had the privilege to participate in the selection of the best 25 ideas, and present prizes to recognize the most innovative and creative suggestions submitted to Dubai eGovernment. The prizes represent the latest technology from HP that provide users with the best digital experience, ranging from home theatre sets to notebooks, PDA-phones and digital cameras”
“On behalf of HP, I would like to thank all the participants, congratulate the winners and thank Dubai eGovernment for giving us the opportunity to take part in this project that aims to improve the Total Customer Experience,” added Hanania.
Under the customer feedback promotion, UAE residents had to fill-in an online feedback form on dubai.ae. A committee comprising representatives from Dubai eGovernment and HP, judged the entries and 25 best suggestions received prizes from Hewlett Packard.
The first prize-winner took home a HP ep9012 Instant Cinema Digital Projector inclusive of a projector, DVD player and a sound system, while the second and third prize winners received HP Compaq nx6110 Notebook PC Series. The other prizes included HP iPAQ h6340 Pocket PC, including PDA, phone and WiFi, HP PSC Photosmart 2610 All-in-Ones and HP Photosmart M407 Digital Cameras (L1839A).
Aysha Khalid bin Zayed, the first prize winner, said: “I am absolutely happy and thrilled to win this promotion. Moreover, it is even more exciting to be involved so closely with Dubai eGovernment, which has transformed the working of various government departments in Dubai, with its range of customer friendly eServices. I was always keen on contributing to social causes that would benefit a large section of the population and I am glad that I got this opportunity with an interesting competition organised by Dubai eGovernment.”
Aysha’s suggestion was to present the person using Dubai eGovernment’s eServices the most, with an ‘eCitizen of the Year’ award.
“One of the main objectives of the promotion was to familiarise the public about our integrated user-friendly portal that has been developed using advanced systems, and encourage more people to use our range of electronic services,” added Al Shair.
“Public feedback is vital to the success of every eGovernment project, and the excellent response we received for this promotion will boost our efforts even further. Although only the most feasible suggestions are rewarded, we would like to emphasise that we value every suggestion that we receive. As Dubai makes rapid progress in a technology driven society we hope that larger sections of the population can benefit from our eServices and eGovernment initiatives,” concluded Al Shair.
