TRA Launch a new system for Innovation

Mobilk - H.E. Majed Al Mesmar, Deputy Director General of The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), launched the TRA’s innovation system, which is a comprehensive system for managing digital innovation. The system allows TRA employees to share their innovative ideas, and verify and validate their execution. The system works according to specific mechanism to regulate the innovation process starting from challenges, to developing ideas and converting them into tangible projects.

The new system guides innovative ideas and links them to TRA goals and strategies. The system also supports users through an interactive innovation lab and interactive brainstorming sessions, as It was designed according to the concept of open innovation, based on collecting ideas and developing them through sharing ideas between employees, and discussing them to ensure their development and achievement of best results.

Commenting on the new system, H.E. Majed Al Mesmar, TRA Deputy Director General for the Telecommunication Sector, said: “Innovation is an element of the UAE vision 2021 pillars that fall under “United in knowledge”, which seeks to achieve diversified and flexible knowledge-based economy powered by skilled Emiratis and strengthened by world-class talent to ensure long-term prosperity for the UAE. The UAE Government, under the directives of our wise leadership, has given innovation a high priority, being the true drive of nations. Hence, TRA has launched several initiatives and projects aimed at stimulating innovation among TRA employees in particular, and its customers in general, based on its responsibility for one of the most important sectors in the era of the industrial revolution. Among these initiatives is the innovation system that we launched today, which will work to enhance the culture of innovation in TRA by adopting creative ideas and developing them according to deliberate mechanisms to transform them into tangible projects that contribute to supporting the innovation process in the country.”

The new system will open the door wide for the creators from TRA employees to present their innovative ideas, reflecting the innovation policies in the UAE, which aim to transform the concept of innovation into an effective and lasting institutional work culture in the UAE government. It also aims to enhance the innovative capabilities of the Emirati human resources, and produce results that stimulate economic activity and enhance the global competitiveness of the UAE. The system was specially designed to support the creators to develop their ideas through the brainstorming workshops and the virtual innovation laboratory, where each idea will be subject to an organized process consisting of six stages, to ensure that this idea is given care, development and attention.

The innovation system launched by TRA sorts creative ideas presented by users according to specific areas that serve TRAs’ work and strategies. These areas are capabilities, corporate communication and organization, operations systems, sustainable financial system, innovation, human resource management, resource security and the environment, and the general direction of the sector.

The innovation process in the system takes six main steps, starting from presenting the idea, analyzing, developing it to converting it into a project and a success story. The system simplifies the process of presenting and controlling ideas, while providing a standard mechanism for evaluating ideas.

The ideas presented goes through virtual innovation laboratories, which constitute a space for collaboration among employees in the field of innovation, in order to think, discuss, develop ideas, identify challenges and push innovations forward. These labs include innovation teams that work according to the labs agenda, which determines the start and end of each activity. The system also includes criteria for evaluating ideas and determining the degree of their importance, where specialized experts evaluate ideas, study their feasibility and contribution to TRA goals, so that the best ideas are converted into projects and consequently, into success stories.

The system also includes an innovation handbook that forms a complete reference for practicing innovation, and provides useful information for all users about the process of innovation, evaluation and implementation. The handbook consists of several chapters, and each chapter consists of a number of topics.

TRA organizes a number of innovation events throughout the year such as the Summer Innovation Camp. It is also keen to enhance cooperation and coordination with all government and private entities in the field of innovation to support the UAE achievements in various fields, especially in the ICT sector.