First ’Dubai Statistics Center Award’ Announced

Dubai Statistics Center (DSC) yesterday (Tuesday, May 05, 2009) announced the winners of the first ‘Dubai Statistics Center Award’ during a ceremony held at the Dubai Police Officers’ Club. Awards were given in four categories – Government Institutions; Private Organisations; the Media; and Households – which have demonstrated their support towards statistical work.

Arif Obaid Al Muhairi, Executive Director of DSC, said that the award comes within the Center’s strategic framework which aims to activate the role of statistical work and raise awareness in different categories, and added that the award creates an environment of healthy competition. He pointed out that all levels of society, including the government departments and organisations, private institutions, individuals, families and the media have a role to play in supporting statistical work and enhance its direct contribution to planning activities and decision making.

Al Muhairi explained that organisations and individuals can contribute to statistical work, by providing timely, accurate and comprehensive data to the Center when it conducts census and statistical surveys. He said that accurate statistics are also important when issuing statistical indicators about Dubai, which form the basis for future estimates and forecasts, and for planning and decision making. Al Muhairi also revealed that the award will be presented annually as the Center continues its focus on developing the assessment standards of the candidates.

Winners of category 1 – Government institutions supporting statistical work:Five government departments and organisations won the ‘Dubai Statistics Center Award’ for the category ‘Government institutions supporting statistical work’ for the year 2008, these include: Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRD), Department of Economic Development (DED), Dubai Municipality, Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities (DICD) and Dubai eGovernment.

Director of DNRD, Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri received the award on behalf of DNRD, which was recognised for its continuous focus on providing statistical data, despite the complexity of Dubai’s demographic profile. DNRD, whose statistics are regularly used by planners, decision makers and strategic committees, is also an active member of the Statistical Coordination Committee in Dubai.

The award for the Department of Economic Development (DED) was received by Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director General for Planning and Development at DED. The department was recognised for its support of statistical work as it is the first department to provide its statistics for electronic upload, which gave DSC access to latest statistical frameworks that are used as a basis for conducting economic surveys in the emirate and for the calculation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The department is also an active member of the Statistical Coordination Committee in Dubai.

The award for Dubai Municipality was received by H.E. Eng. Issa Al Hajj Al Midor, Assistant General Manager, General Project Affairs at Dubai Municipality. Dubai Municipality is regarded as the pioneering government department to support statistical work in the emirate as it hosted DSC when it was set up and has continuously supported the Center ever since. Dubai Municipality is also an active member of the Statistical Coordination Committee in Dubai.

The award for the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities was received by H.E. Saeed Khamis Al Marhoumi, Assistant Director General of Technical Support at DICD. The department was honoured for its initiatives in collaborating with non-profit organisations and providing statistical data for these partner agencies of long standing. DICD provided data on financial resources quickly and accurately; the information was to be used in a specialised survey as part of the calculation of the GDP.

Dubai eGovernment was also a recipient, with Matar Saeed Al Humairi, Head of Application Management Unit, Government Information Resources Planning Department, receiving the award. Dubai eGovernment was recognized for its exceptional support in providing the technical infrastructure for electronic statistical linking. It was particularly cited for enabling departments and organisations of the Dubai Government such as the Dubai Statistics Center (DSC) to participate at GITEX 2008. DSC’s portal (www.dsc.gov.ae) was launched during the event by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Dubai eGovernment’s activities during GITEX helped the government save on related expenditures.

Winners of category 2 – Private institutions supporting statistical work: Majid Al Futtaim Group, Etisalat and Emaar Properties received the ‘Dubai Statistics Center Award’ under the category “Private institutions supporting statistical work.” The cooperation of the three organisations in the Center’s 2008 economic surveys was highly commended, as they provided their required data in an accurate and comprehensive manner in record time. The award was received by Obeid Mohammed Al Shared, Financial Director, Etisalat; Mohammed Malek, Vice President, Human Resources, Majid Al Futtaim Group; and Essam Galadari, CEO of Emaar Properties. It is worth noting that these surveys provide basic data that are included as inputs for assessing the GDP of the emirate and considered important economic indicators.

Winners of category 3 – Households supporting statistical work: ‘Dubai Statistics Center Award’ for “Households Supporting Statistical Work” is intended to motivate families and individuals to fully cooperate with the Center and respond quickly to censuses and statistical surveys that require accurate and comprehensive data on families. The two households that won the award were those of Mr. Rashed Masoud and Mr. Khalid Hussein Harb.

Winners of category 4 – Media supporting statistical work:Al Bayan Newspaper was chosen as the most supportive of statistical work in Dubai, winning under the category ‘Media supporting statistical work’. The award was received by Hamad Salmeen, Head of Local Affairs at Al Bayan. The TV channel and radio station of Noor Dubai was named the most exclusive and supportive channel/radio. The event honoured distinguished journalists who have achieved their goals with regard to statistical works in accordance with the highest levels of professionalism.

During the ceremony, Al Muhairi also gave tribute to exclusive suppliers in line with the Center’s efforts to build partnerships and promote mutual interests between them. The Center’s outstanding employees for 2008 were also recognized and commended for their efforts and achievements.