Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council Launches New Model to Enhance Innovation

Mustaqbali Programme for UAE National career and personal development proves to be a successful outcome of the UPC’s new Government Strategic Innovation Model, which aims to foster a spirit of creativity.

ABU DHABI, October 06, 2015: The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) has launched a new model aimed at improving overall performance by encouraging, assessing and measuring innovative ideas and initiatives within the organisation.

The Government Strategic Innovation Model (G-SIM) provides a model, developed using international standards as a base, for the UPC to steer policy towards ensuring that a strong culture of improvement and innovation exists.

Innovation has been a major focus for all UAE government entities this year, with Leadership announcing a national Innovation Week, which will run from 22ndto 28thNovember 2015. The UPC has always aspired to be an innovative organisation, which is reflected in the many unique and ‘first of their kind’ programmes and initiatives that have been launched over the past eight years, including the ground-breaking Estidama programme of sustainability.

The aim of the new framework is to nurture a spirit of creativity among employees in all departments by enabling the UPC to increase and assess levels of innovation across a range of categories.

Furthermore, G-SIM is not just limited to improving the UPC’s services, but also to make improvements internally to ensure its working environment and human resources are optimised to enhance the delivery of those services.

For example, the UPC is one of the first government agencies to offer integrated life coaching and careers management through its Mustaqbali Learning Programme, which means ‘my future’ in Arabic.

Launched in June this year, the programme for UAE Nationals aims to support professional growth and career development by increasing self-awareness and deepening the employee’s understanding of performance and potential.

H.E. Falah Al Ahbabi, Director General, UPC said: “We believe that our human capital is fundamental to the success of our organisation, and we have a responsibility towards our employees, based on clear direction from Leadership, to nurture and empower UAE Nationals. The Mustaqbali Programme is a great initiative that answers to both this mandate, and our desire to promote innovation. As a highly successful product of the Government Strategic Innovation Model, I’m positive that this initiative will help us in optimising our performance to support the achievement of Vision 2030.”

Employees enrolled in the first batch of the Mustaqbali Programme are encouraged to identify their strengths, development areas and readiness for future leadership positions within the UPC. The Mustaqbali Learning Programme is run in partnership with a global talent management consultancy to ensure access to international best practice in this area - demonstrating the importance the UPC places on maximising the potential of its employees.

16 UAE National managers are currently working through the programme with the full support of the UPC’s executive management, who understand how important it is to encourage UAE National to meet their objectives.

Yousif Al Fahim, Infrastructure Planning Manager, Planning & Infrastructure Sector, UPC, said: “Having joined the UPC as a graduate, I’ve benefitted from a range of training programmes over the years. However, Mustaqbali has been the first programme to provide me with comprehensive personal and professional development. It has reinforced the importance of maintaining a work/life balance in order to reach my full potential.”

On completion of the training programme for managerial levels, the second phase of the programme will be for training senior associate level employees, with all components of the programme being individually tailored to suit the needs of each UAE National.

As mentioned, the UPC is known for its Estidama sustainability programme - the first of its kind in the Middle East, which led to Abu Dhabi being awarded the ‘Leadership in Government’ award by the Green Building Council in 2013.

The UPC’s internationally recognised Estidama programme aims to preserve and enrich Abu Dhabi's physical and cultural identity, while enhancing quality of life for residents on four equal pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, social, and cultural. It is the first urban sustainability programme to include cultural preservation among its criteria, and has been tailored to deal with the specific challenges posed by the region’s arid desert climate.

Furthermore, as a result of Leadership’s foresight to make the Estidama Peal Rating System (PRS) mandatory back in 2010, a total of 12,524 villas and 1,120 buildings have been awarded a Pearl Design Rating, according to the latest official figures. The PRS is the first sustainability rating system to be mandated in the Middle East and is already making a significant impact on the Emirate’s sustainable development in pursuit of Vision 2030.