Innovations in Public Management: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates

The pre-eminence of innovation as an influential concept reflects the results of more than three decades of the stupendous changes in different arenas of society. Currently, innovation is well-ingrained in the discourses of... [ view full abstract ]

The pre-eminence of innovation as an influential concept reflects the results of more than three decades of the stupendous changes in different arenas of society. Currently, innovation is well-ingrained in the discourses of public sector management. In fact, it has become one of the key buzzwords beloved by policy makers and practitioners around the world (Osborne and Brown, 2013). The availability of the state of the art business practices in unison with the desire to improve the national administrative systems has positioned innovation at the center of public management around the world.

The developed world has always been the harbinger of innovation that it commenced in the late 1970s. Since then, numerous analyses of the trends, problems and prospects have been made to further signify the importance of innovation. The developing world has not lagged behind either in pursuing innovation in the public service delivery system. There are both successes and failures. This article is on innovations in the public sector in the United Arab Emirates. It’s a unique country with the co-existence of tradition and modernity. Although the euphoria of innovation resounded a long time ago, the UAE gave serious thoughts to it only in the early 21st century. Since then, innovation has become the most important area in the UAE public sector and the signs of success are being quite visible. In fact, the UAE government observed 2015 as the year of innovation. In spite of its significance, no serious researches are found on innovation in the UAE public sector. This research article will be a timely endeavor on account of lack of empirical studies on this vital area. Specifically, this paper aims at investigating the following research questions:

• What are the drivers of innovation in the public sector?
• How has the UAE government managed the process of innovation?
• What role has state leadership played in the whole innovation process?
• What are the factors that have supported the relatively successful innovation management in the UAE public sector?
• What are the challenges that the UAE public sector may face in the short and long run?