Dubai Police Academy - Innovative Use of Technology in Customer Service

Company: Dubai Police Academy
Company Description: The Dubai Police Academy was established in 1987 by virtue of Law No. (1) of 1087, and its internal regulations were issued by Law No. (1) of 1988. The College graduated its first batch in 1991, the number of programs offered is 14 programs, (4) doctor, and (8) (Master programs, Bachelor program and other diploma). The academic structure consists of 13 subsidiary and supportive departments, the number of its employees exceeds 200 , and has obtained a QS certificate in the world rankings.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in Customer Service - Non-Profit

Nomination Title: Innovation in the development of the service from paper-based to fully electronic

Provide an essay of up to 625 words describing the nominee's innovative achievements since July 1 2018:

To Whom It May Concern’ Certificates

In order to advance its electronic services as well as increase customer satisfaction, the Dubai Police Academy (DPA) works with its talent development team to design a student affairs service. This service aims to increase the efficiency of the services provided in terms of speed, accuracy, and ease of use, as well as through conducting an analytical study to assess the types of requests students submit, concluding that ‘To Whom It May Concern’ certificates constituted the majority of these requests. As such, the focus was on these types of certificates and ensuring that electronic services were improved more widely, ultimately establishing a system through which students are able to request such certificates and access them immediately.

2-Implementation of the Project

The program is designed for interested parties to access the service through a number of steps:
-Log on to the DPA’s website or smart application.
-Registration of eligibility.
-Select to request a ‘To Whom It May Concern’ certificate.
-Print out the requested certificate.

DPA website: www.dubaipolice.ac.ae/academy_prod/ar/index.jsp

3- Target Groups

Students enrolled in the College of Graduate Studies, as well as in the Evening Studies Program.

4- Results and Outcomes

-This service is considered the first of its kind at a college or university (of all disciplines) across the UAE, reducing the waiting-time substantially for students and allowing them to immediately access the certificate.
-The service reviews the students’ academic profiles to ensure that there are no outstanding payments to be made to the DP, and the student has met the minimum attendance requirements. Once the aforementioned are ensured, the student is able to access and print the certificate.
-There has been a reduction in costs as the DPA no longer prints these certificates.
-The DPA has been able to re-allocate its employees to ensure such certificates are provided.As the service relies on its speed, ease of use, and accuracy, this in turn increases customer satisfaction.
-The service reduces the margin for human error that is present in the use of traditional methods for obtaining certificates and statements.
-The service provides statistics automatically for the number of printed.
-The service links the smart programs at the Dubai Police General Headquarters with the DPA’s.
-The DPA registered its intellectual property work for the ‘To Whom It May Concern’ certificates (order No. 2018-329, dated 24/06/2018) with the UAE’s Ministry of Economy. The program wasimplemented in 2018 following registration.
-This new electronic program provides a number of services to students, which they can access electronically and in a straight-forward manner. Examples include: a letter confirming enrollment in the introductory stage of a postgraduate program; a letter confirming the student’s weekly schedule; a letter prior to the formal examinations; a letter following completion of the formal examinations; and a letter to initiate the Thesis Stage of the relevant postgraduate program).
-The effectiveness of the program was measured through the use of a specific and detailed questionnaire, and the program achieved a 100% rating.
-Moreover, student satisfaction under the program was measured to be 100%.

Without a doubt, the working group faced a number of issues, namely:

-Updating to Windows 7 software to ensure printing was possible as a result of the Acrobat Distiller program not being loaded, which was subsequently resolved.
-Issues with telephone lines during implementation of the service on smartphones, which was subsequently resolved.