Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) organised an intensive training course for 24 of its Enterprise Risk Management staff to obtain the Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) ISO 22301 certification. This certification contributes to strengthening the DEWA’s capacity to identify all possible threats, how they affect the work flow, develop appropriate plans to address them before they occur, or mitigate their impact if they occur. This is part of DEWA’s efforts to constantly improve its performance and its staff, according to the highest international standards, and supports its vision of becoming a sustainable innovative world-class utility.
“DEWA is keen to launch technical and specialised programmes, and organise training courses to raise the level of employee performance, according to the best international standards. DEWA believes that human resources are the real capital and that investment in minds is the investment of the future. This supports the framework of our strategy based on continuous development and looking ahead, and is in line with the vision and directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. This initiative aims to adopt a number of DEWA’s employees, in accordance with the requirements of the BCMS ISO 22301, part of DEWA’s Business Continuity Policy to ensure continuous improvement and integration of business continuity culture in DEWA’s sectors and departments,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.
“DEWA strives to continuously develop its capabilities, especially in the field of addressing potential risks, assessing them, and responding to them immediately. It acknowledges the importance of the services it provides. DEWA supplies water and electricity to more than 800,000 residents of the Emirate, based on the highest levels of availability, reliability, and quality,” added Al Tayer.
This system contributes to DEWA’s efforts to identify risks, establish appropriate controls for their management or disposal, adopt a precautionary approach to reduce the impact of accidents to the lowest level, ensure continuity of core business during times of crisis, reduce downtime, as well as other risk management principles.
“The British Standards Institute (BSI) plays a leading role in developing international standards, and is the top leader in this sector. BSI has made significant contributions in helping institutions worldwide in implementing management systems in their work, obtaining the accreditation of these systems. We are pleased to raise the standards of business continuity management, in accordance with the requirements of this important international system. We will be working on spreading the experience to include more employees in future periods,” noted al Tayer.
“DEWA is working on harnessing modern technologies as part of its strategy for smart transformation, in the field of risk management, and has launched two new platforms to support and accelerate DEWA’s risk management procedures. These include the Smart Risk Dashboard, which was launched in accordance with the ISO 31000, and DEWA’s Corporate Risk Management Framework, and SAP GRC Mobility, making it one of the first institutions, worldwide, to use this smart platform,” confirmed Al Tayer.
DEWA has successfully assessed compliance with risk management policies in accordance with the requirements of ISO 31000, as well as the Global Risk Award for Building Risk Management Capability from the Institute of Risk Management (IRM), in 2013 and 2015, and the ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management for 2016, becoming the first service institution to receive this accreditation in the MENA region.
Al Tayer handed over the certificates to the employees and encouraged them in a speech expressing his happiness with this achievement. This is a new addition to DEWA’s capabilities, as it enables various sectors to achieve the necessary harmony and coordination to challenge problems and risks, and motivates them to achieve more progress and excellence in the field of Business Continuity Management.