Institute For The Future

Government Service of the Future? Visions from Dubai

The United Arab Emirates have been one of the most aggressive nations on Earth in implementing tech-driven, customer-driven government services. So, when visions of tech-driven, customer-driven services are exhibited on its soils, one must pay close attention. This is a place where today’s fictions become tomorrow’s reality with almost magical efficiency. 

The Museum of Future Government Services launches this week at the UAE’s second-ever Government Summit. The 6 exhibits being shown at the Museum are bold, and somewhat sobering, visions of how services ranging from border control to health care to education could be delivered in the future. Reflecting the UAE’s penchant for showmanship, these displays are full of flashy and splashy technologies that could certainly transform the nature of service itself and fundamentally change the relationship between citizens and their governments. Those questions lie below the surface of the sizzle, but immersing participants in these visions should force them to confront their assumptions about what is to come, and what they want to come. 

Early on in the process, IFTF worked with representative from the UAE Prime Minister’s Office to identify a series of key drivers and trends affecting the future of government service. We presented these trends during a weeklong workshop in Dubai with an incredible group of researchers and designers, who analyzed and helped make sense of these shifts for the UAE’s future. We then generated dozens of original exhibit concepts and potential experiences. Our colleagues at Tellart and Fabrica, working with the PMO, have done a remarkable job in translating concepts, developing elements, and ultimately executing the exhibits.

With official proposals to provide services and deliveries with drones, the future of government service is already very near in Dubai. No doubt, however, the Museum experience will be a highlight for participants at the Government Summit, and will provoke thought and (very likely) action, from their leaders and civic officials in the UAE.