Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | DEWA wins highest EFQM Award in the Platinum category

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) won the highest award in the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model, becoming the first organisation outside Europe to receive this prestigious award, and the first in the Award’s history to win it from first application. DEWA achieved between 750-800 points, leading it to rank in the Platinum category, which includes leading companies and institutions that promote sustainable excellence. This is a new achievement to be added to DEWA’s list of global achievements.

“We dedicate this global achievement to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. His Highness is the leader of excellence whose vision is the guiding light in our journey towards making achievements. It motivates us to contribute to making the UAE rank first in all fields, and at all levels,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

“During the launch of the fourth generation of the government excellence system, the first of its kind in the world, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum identified the basic features and proactive approach for future governments. This is based on achieving the best accomplishments in various sectors of government, to reflect positively on the level of services provided to citizens and members of society. DEWA had previously won Distinguished Government Entity Award in 2016, and the Leading Government Entity Award in 2017, according to the fourth-generation excellence system. Since its launch 20 years ago, the excellence process within the Dubai Government Excellence Program has contributed to promoting a culture of institutional excellence, consolidating the foundations of sustainable excellence, and spreading its practices. DEWA provides a positive work environment that contributes to improving individual and organisational efficiency by applying the best global practices in our various operations and institutionalising a culture of excellence at DEWA among all stakeholders, according to the highest standards of total quality management and sustainable excellence standards. For us in DEWA, excellence is a daily work programme implemented according to specific and well-thought-out strategies and plans carried out by all staff, to achieve the vision of our wise leadership and the happiness of our customers and society as a whole,” noted Al Tayer.

The EFQM, established in 1991, recognises the role of companies and institutions that have achieved outstanding levels of sustainable excellence in all areas of the EFQM Excellence Model. A team of independent assessors spends about 500 hours reviewing documents and conducting on-site interviews for each organisation.

The EFQM Excellence Model Award is awarded annually, according to the evaluation conducted by the EFQM. A team of seven assessors visited DEWA to review its procedures and practices in innovation, excellence, continuous development, and policies to maintain its achievements. The team commended DEWA’s efforts which contribute to realising its vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility, and applauded its achievements over the past years.

DEWA has achieved competitive results worldwide, by reducing losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3%, compared to 6-7% in Europe and the USA. DEWA’s results are among the best internationally for customer minutes lost per year. DEWA’s figures reached 3.28 minutes, compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union. Water network losses decreased to 8%, compared to 15% in North America, achieving global results in reducing water losses.