His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has launched the Annual Government Challenge, a national platform that lets employees of federal ministries and entities help design innovative solutions to national priorities and turn strong ideas into scalable projects.
Launched alongside UAE Innovation Month, the challenge dedicates each annual edition to a single national priority. The first focuses on developing Agentic AI solutions to redesign services and operations, improve decision making and lift government performance. It will be overseen by the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.
Sheikh Mohammed said the initiative aims to inspire government talent to create bold solutions with real impact. “We want unconventional ideas,” he said.
The first edition will honour nine winning projects across three categories, with total prizes of AED 9 million. Government Services covers solutions that simplify the service journey and cut time and steps for customers. Internal Operations targets coordination, monitoring, analysis and decision making within entities, with an emphasis on reducing repetitive work. Unconventional Ideas invites new models that reimagine the role of government.
Entries will be judged on alignment with strategic priorities, quality and feasibility, the suitability of the Agentic AI application, measurable impact and scalability, and governance and sustainability. Teams can register at challenge.gov.ae.
Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the National Committee for the Agentic AI Project, said the government plans to deploy Agentic AI assistants to work alongside employees. He described the technology as an opportunity to redesign how government works rather than simply a new tool.
The challenge forms part of the UAE Government’s target of moving 50 percent of government sectors, services and operations to Agentic AI models within two years.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
