As part of the Sharjah Programme to Improve Customer Experience, the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of Sharjah, through its Government Development Department, organised a workshop titled “Designing and Developing Case Referral Procedures between Government Entities.” The event brought together heads and directors from various Sharjah government departments to enhance internal procedures and establish a unified system for managing and referring social cases. The aim was to ensure seamless coordination and swift, accurate responses between entities by enabling direct integration and complementarity of roles.
Part of wider programme to enhance government services
The workshop is part of a series organised under the "Sharjah Programme to Improve Customer Experience," which seeks to develop government services across all entities. The initiative focuses on simplifying procedures and delivering efficient, user-friendly services to improve overall quality of life in the emirate.
Two-week event with wide participation
The two-week workshop saw participation from nine government bodies, including the Sharjah Social Services Department, the Judiciary Department (Family Reform Centre), Sharjah Police General Command, Districts Affairs Department, Housing Department, Human Resources Department, Sharjah Digital Office, Family Development Administration, and Sharjah Charity Association. More than 30 government employees took part.
The sessions focused on analysing current procedures, identifying user challenges, studying beneficiary groups, and reviewing the real-life service experience. Data was analysed to develop improvement scenarios based on benchmarking, leading to the creation of preliminary service prototypes.
Unified digital system proposed
The workshop addressed key service bottlenecks such as repeated submission of documents to multiple departments, delays in processing requests, and the lack of clear tracking mechanisms or timelines for inter-agency case handling.
A future vision for a unified digital system was presented, enabling the electronic transfer of social cases between relevant entities. This system is designed to improve integration and provide a seamless experience for users, allowing them to submit requests to the correct authority using an interactive tool based on a set of tailored guidance questions. This approach aims to reduce misreferrals, avoid duplicated case reviews, and enhance service efficiency and accessibility.
Digital tools for efficient service delivery
The proposed system would incorporate a suite of digital tools, including login via digital ID, smart search for entities and services, electronic referral submission with full documentation, inter-agency information requests, a dashboard for tracking and categorising referrals, and a portal displaying social data to support case assessment and decision-making.
Closing session attended by senior officials
The final day of the workshop, held at the Sharjah Archaeology Museum, was attended by key officials including His Excellency Ahmed Ibrahim Al Mail, Head of the Social Services Department; His Excellency Judge Saeed Abdullah Al Kalbani, Head of the Family Court; His Excellency Ahmed Hamad Al Suwaidi, Assistant Secretary-General of the Executive Council; His Excellency Dr Abdullah Suleiman Al Kabouri, Director of the Districts Affairs Department; His Excellency Eng. Lamia Obaid Al Shamsi, Director of Sharjah Digital Office; His Excellency Majid Hamad Al Marri, Director of the Human Resources Department; His Excellency Eng. Salem Hamid Al Abdouli, Director of the Housing Department; and senior managers and officials from Sharjah Police, Family Development Administration, and Sharjah Charity International.
