DED concludes comprehensive audit surveying management, staff and customers

• Audit finds faster processing time, shorter waits and increased convenience

• More than 20 DED executives across 10 departments along with DED Contact Centre were involved with the process

• More than 100 DED customers interviewed

At the close of the 12-month audit of its business and internal processes, the DED announced it will move ahead with implementing new information management initiatives and customer-oriented best practices along with providing comprehensive information on businesses in Dubai.

The audit, conducted by Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East Limited (D&B SAME), the worldwide leading provider of business information, risk management solutions and analytics, found that the DED's improvements in processes, branch openings and enhanced online services capability has reduced wait times at the DED, led to faster processing time and increased convenience to businesses.

The audit is part of the DED's vision to provide the best services to its customers through improved processes and systems, and superior data management. The survey also included an international benchmarking exercise.

'Dubai's high competitiveness ranking, endorsed by an international institution against some of the major global economies, clearly reinforces the message that the Government of Dubai is focusing on implementing business friendly initiatives to offer value-added services to investors,' said Mr. Ali Ibrahim, Deputy Director General for Executive Affairs, DED.

'This audit will go a long way towards highlighting the positive trends in Dubai's economic environment and ensure that Dubai becomes the destination of choice for international investors and multinational corporations,' he added.

Rajesh Mirchandani, D&B CEO said, 'We are very pleased to announce that the DED processes, systems, and data flows have been reviewed in depth, and that they adequately meet the requirements of D&B's DUNSRight™ Audit. The Department of Economic Development follows a very forward looking and visionary approach, and D&B looks forward to supporting the DED in its future initiatives,' he added.

In addition to implementing the D&B DUNSRIGHT Audit for process review, D&B professionals working on the year-long project conducted detailed interviews with DED management and business operations personnel, observed DED processes in action, and conducted customer satisfaction surveys and contact centre sampling. More than 20 DED executives across 10 departments were involved with the process, alongside the new branch and DED Contact Centre. The survey team also interviewed more than 100 DED customers.

The DED has also adopted D&B's D-U-N-S number™, the internationally recognized corporate identifier. The D-U-N-S® Number automatically ensures a listing on the D&B website, which is one of the most visited B2B portals worldwide, thereby linking businesses in Dubai to a wealth of quality global information products and services.