This presentation was conducted at Gitex 2020 and sponsored by Ajman Digital Government. It highlights the future of remote work and how the UAE is preparing to a hybrid work in terms of government policies and technology enablement. The presentation addresses the importance of foresight and futures thinking to anticipate signals of change that will impact work, workforce, and workplace in the next 10-20 years and how to prepare for the future

1. The Future of Remote
Work in the UAE
Government:
Technology & Policy
Enablement
Dr. Saeed Aldhaheri
Principle Partner,

2. COVID-19 Forced us to embrace new ways of working
From using digital
technology in workplaces
defined by industrial era
management models
“A rapid remarkable shift from viewing remote work as a top inhibitor to productivity to being a top enabler” - IDC
To using technology to
define truly digital ways of
working

3. Remote
work:
Drivers
• Demographic
• New generation demanding greater freedom & flexibility
• urbanization
• Technological
• Automation AI & ML Robotics
• Socio-economic
• Resilience Empowerment efficiency
& productivity

4. Remote work: the preferred choice for people
• 60%of workers in the US and UK preferer to continue remote work after COVID-19
• 63% of people believe that the eight-hour workday will become obsolete. Work-life 3.0
• 49%of US employers allow employees to set their own hours. The modern workplace report 19/20
• 50%of UAE people are looking for a company that offers flexible working hours.

5. Remote work: UAE case study during COVID-19
•89%of employee satisfied about the tech tools used during remote work
•77%of employee satisfied by the fast response of their colleagues
•73%agree they were more productive working from home
•94%were happy about Internet connectivity when working from home
Survey on UAE Gov. employees
• 727 across the emirates
• 60% Emiratis
• 62% males, 38% females
• 67% from Abu Dhabi
Source: Center for Futures Studies, University of Dubai

6. What “Normal” will look like!
Hybrid: In-office / Remote work
Impact: work models need to be redesigned
Tech:
• Network architecture, Cloud platforms, Automation, Security
• New work environments,
• Org structures
• Training: critical skills
• metrics

7. Foresight the Futures of work
• Anticipating disruptions and discontinuities
to impact the future of work
• Foresight thinking: offers a fresh point of
view about the futures of work
• Signals of change & driving forces
• Technology: re-architecting the world of
work
• collaborative AI, emerging interfaces,,
extended reality XR,,etc
• Socio-economic
• Envision scenarios
• UAE Gov: Designing the next 50

8. New style of leadership to support remote/hybrid work
• Legacy (traditional) leadership model does not work
• New ways of working need new style of leadership
• Goal-driven, empathetic and inspiring leadership style
• Clearly define the end goal of any project
• Ask new kinds of questions and accept unexpected answers
• Enable hybrid distributed teams
• Being transparent about work policies and work climate
• Lay down foundation for a more resilient cultures
• How to grow this type of leadership?
• Digital mindset

9. Remote work in the UAE

10. Remote work in the UAE
• Federal Authority for Human Resources (FAHR)
• Providing choices for Gov orgs and employee
• Attract & retain talent
• Create new jobs
• Cost saving
• Performance appraisal of remote workers
• productivity, number of outputs and their quality
• % of tasks performed to target
• # of deliverables
• Meeting deadlines

11. A need for Hybrid work strategy
• Develop leadership for the new norm
• Revise remote work policy and clarify expectations
• Accelerate digital transformation and explore new opportunities
• Enable remote workforce:
• Mobile capture, electronic forms, automated workflows,
• enterprise file sharing
• Investing in collaboration and comms tools
• Training on new skills to work in a virtual environment
• From HR to talent management
• Review and enhance cybersecurity measures
• Develop new KPIs to measure performance
• Guidance on work-life balance
• Culture change: adopting to a new culture

12. Example: Connect to LA City

13. Policy
Recommendations
• Local and federal governments need to develop a hybrid
work strategy/model that is aligned with the digital
transformation in the UAE
• Foresight the futures of work to anticipate futures
disruptions that will impact work and workforce and
workplace. Better prepare for the UAE 2071 initiative in
designing the next 50 years
• Review and enhance local and federal levels HR and talent
management policies
• Focus on culture change and shifting mindset

14. Innovations from UAE

15. Thank you