Case Study : Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority

Business Needs
The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) monitors safety and quality of all raw and processed food that is imported, displayed for sale, and served for human consumption within Abu Dhabi. The Authority conducts inspections of food outlets such as hotels, restaurants, and shops, and provides consultancy services for food outlet staff and citizens to raise awareness about food safety.

In 2007, ADFCA identified several key issues that prevented it from achieving the required standards of collaboration with customers and citizens:

• Manual processes—food outlet representatives requesting ADFCA certification had to visit the authority’s office in person to apply.
• An ineffective Web site—the HTML-based Web site only supported static Web pages and it was difficult to publish new information because publishers required technical skills.
• Slow complaint resolution process—except for food poisoning issues, citizens had to submit complaints against food outlets by e-mail or telephone, but it took up to 24 hours to appoint appropriate staff to respond because e-mail messages were sorted manually. There was also no system to track the progress of the inspection schedule required for complaint resolution.

In 2008, ADFCA undertook a major IT restructuring project to address these three areas, particularly by developing a reliable two-way communication channel between the organisation and businesses and citizens and eliminating manual processes so that employees could improve productivity.

Our Approach
ADFCA ultimately chose to implement a communication and collaboration infrastructure based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007. The Authority used the existing Enterprise Agreement for low-cost volume software licensing between Abu-Dhabi Systems and Information Committee and Microsoft, and started developing the solution in January 2008. A key role was played by Injazat Data Systems, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that has provided IT support to ADFCA since 2005. Main components of the system are:

• • Internet Web site. Based on Office SharePoint Server 2007, it supports both Arabic and English channels. The ADFCA Communication and Information department uses a document workflow to publish corporate information and food safety advice for the public. It also provides electronic forms for citizens to log complaints.
• E-services. Customers who register on the Web site receive a username and password to access e-services and apply for certifications such as for food export fitness and food quality and safety testing. They can pay and track the status of the request online. They also receive text messages on their mobile phones each time the service status changes. They only have to visit the ADFCA office in person to collect the final certificate.
• Intranet. Also based on Office SharePoint Server 2007, the intranet is specially designed for the ADFCA staff to provide a common repository to store documents. The workflows automatically escalate the certification requests and log complaints to appropriate staff. Employees can access the portal remotely and start working as soon as they receive the job request. The Active Directory® service provides users with a single sign-on authentication to also access business applications used by the human resources and finance departments.

The Results
The Injazat-assisted, Microsoft-powered system went live in August 2008, making ADFCA the first Abu Dhabi government agency to implement a comprehensive intranet and Internet solution with e-services based on the latest version of Office SharePoint Server. It has introduced a completely new work culture that enhanced productivity by 80 per cent.

• ADFCA achieved 100 per cent user acceptance in the testing phase involving more than 50 employees.
• Staff increased productivity by 80 per cent due to automated workflows and remote access to applications.
• Complaints resolution process now starts instantly, compared to 24 hours before.
• ADFCA expects to serve a greater number of customers than it could previously, because online service delivery has eliminated most manual processes.
• The new Internet site helps the authority collaborate not only with Abu Dhabi citizens, but also with the international scientific community.
• The site has also enhanced the organisation’s image. By tracking complaints, citizens can be sure that issues are being resolved and businesses can apply for certification online.
• Internal management has improved due to complaints workflow and other automated processes.
• Document-publishing processes are now faster and editors do not require technical skills to post articles.
• Intranet features such as My Site—customised Web Pages for individuals—help employees quickly and easily access job-role related information such as salary, holidays, and hours worked.
• Due to the high scalability of the solution, ADFCA plans to start the next phase of the project to add more e-services, integrate it with systems used by other government agencies, and introduce business intelligence tools for senior managers to generate corporate reports.

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