Law No. (14) of 2023 Concerning the Establishment of the Department of Government Enablement

Article 1 — In the implementation of the provisions of this Law, the following words and ¶

phrases shall have the meanings corresponding thereto, unless the context
requires otherwise:

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Emirate : Emirate of Abu Dhabi
Government : Government of Abu Dhabi
Executive
Council
: Executive Council of the Emirate
Department : Department of Government Enablement
Government
Enablement
Sector
: All areas related to human resources affairs, Emiratisation,
administrative development, governmental procurement
and auctions, digital affairs, customer experience, shared
services, and any other field specified by the Executive
Council.
Affiliated
Entities
: Entities, operating in the Government Enablement Sector,
which are affiliated to the Department and are subject to
its control and supervision.
Governmental
Entities
: the departments, public authorities and institutions,
agencies, centres, councils, funds and any other entity
affiliated to the Government.
Digital Affairs : Everything related to smart and digital transformation
in the Governmental Entities, including the protection
and management of Governmental Data, electronic
security, cybersecurity, information security, information
technology, business intelligence, artificial intelligence,
cloud systems, and the associated infrastructure, networks,
call centres, data, information systems management, and
systems related to connectivity between digital platforms.
Information
Systems
: An information programme or a group of information
programmes designed to create, process, manage,
store or exchange of information capable of executing
instructions or commands by means of information
technology, including applications or the like.
Governmental
Data
: An organised or unorganised group of data, facts,
concepts, instructions, or information that are collected,
produced, or maintained by Governmental Entities,
whatever their form or format.

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Shared
Services
Services that support the functions of Governmental
Entities, including human resources, financial affairs,
procurement, auctions, services related to digital affairs,
and services provided through shared and unified systems.

Article 2 — A Department called “Department of Government Enablement” shall be ¶

established under the provisions of this Law.
• The Department shall replace the Department of Government Support,
the Human Resources Authority of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi
School of Government andAbu Dhabi Digital Authority. All their assets,
rights, and obligations shall be transferred to it, and the Department shall
be its legal successor, and shall exercise all the competencies assigned to
those bodies in the applicable legislations.
• Employees of the entities referred to in the preceding paragraph shall
be transferred to the Department without prejudice to their financial and
retirement allocations in accordance with the legislations in force.

Article 3 — • The Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi shall be one of the Affiliated Entities, in ¶

addition to any other entity specified by the Executive Council.
• The Executive Council may transfer the affiliation of the Affiliated Entities
to any other entity.

Article 4 — The Department shall aim to develop the Government Enablement Sector, ¶

develop human capabilities, work to establish a culture of innovation,
cooperation and flexibility, and increase efficiency and effectiveness in
performing governmental work.

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Article 5 — The Department shall, in order to achieve its objectives, assume the following ¶

competencies:
1. Suggest the general policies and strategic plans of the Government
Enablement Sector in the Emirate, have them approved by the Executive
Council and supervise their implementation.
2. Regulate the Government Enablement Sector in all aspects by setting
the policies, standards, regulations, resolutions and circulars that
regulate the Sector.
3. Follow up on and measure the institutional performance of governmental
Entities within the areas of the Government Enablement Sector, to
ensure the extent of their compliance with the legislations in force in
this regard.
4. Develop, unify, operate and manage information technology platforms
and electronic systems related to the areas of the Government
Enablement Sector, in coordination with the relevant entities.
5. Lay down a unified operational model for the areas of the Government
Enablement Sector in Governmental Entities.
6. Conduct and support specialised research and studies on the affairs of
the Government Enablement Sector in coordination with the relevant
entities.
7. Strengthen the partnership with the private sector with the aim of
modernising the Government Enablement Sector and increasing
efficiency and effectiveness, in coordination with the relevant entities.
8. Represent the Emirate in conferences and forums related to the
Government Enablement Sector.
9. Oversee and observe all the Affiliated Entities, such as in terms of their
budget spending, the revenues achieved, their commitment to duties
and competencies and approval of their strategic and executive plans.
10. Propose the fees, tariffs and prices related to its competencies and
submit them for approval in accordance with the legislations in force.

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11. Submit periodic reports and analytical studies to Abu Dhabi Executive
Office concerning the Department’s competencies.

Article 6 — The Department shall assume, in the field of human resources affairs, the ¶

following competencies:
1. Lay down the rules and standards for strategic planning for human
resources and follow up on their application in Governmental Entities.
2. Support and develop human resources affairs in Governmental Entities.
3. Manage job opportunities in Governmental Entities and identify, manage,
develop and hire talents through the central information systems for
managing human resources data, in coordination with the relevant entities
and in accordance with the legislations in force.
4. Lay down a performance management and evaluation system for
employees of the Governmental Entities.
5. Lay down the rules and standards for the competences and skills that shall
be enjoyed by employees of the Governmental Entities at all job levels,
and measure the evaluation of those skills, competences and abilities
of employees in accordance with job requirements whenever the need
arises.
6. Develop, present and approve training, qualification and career
development programmes for employees of Governmental Entities, and
supervise their implementation.
7. Coordinate with Governmental Entities with respect to national employees
nominated for scholarships, evaluate the academic performance of
scholarship students, and study requests related to their academic affairs,
in accordance with the legislations in force.

Article 7 — The Department shall assume, in the field of Emiratisation affairs, the ¶

following competencies:
1. Lay down strategies, plans, policies and programmes for Emiratisation
in Governmental Entities and related indicators, and support their
implementation and supervision, in coordination with the relevant entities.

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2. Establish central information systems to manage workforce data, and
organise the collection and analysis of labour market data to serve the
purpose of directing employment programmes and manage appropriate
Emiratisation opportunities in Governmental Entities.
3. Establish an integrated system to manage the journey of job seekers,
including their registration, evaluation, development of skills and
competences, and forge partnerships with educational institutions to
ensure that education outcomes are directed to meet future needs in the
government.
4. Lay down and approve job replacement plans in Governmental Entities,
and supervise their implementation.

Article 8 — The Department shall assume, in the field of government procurement and ¶

auctions affairs, the following competencies:
1. Lay down regulations governing government procurement and auctions,
submit them to the Executive Council for approval, and supervise their
implementation.
2. Establish and develop central information systems to manage governmental
procurement and auctions, and build an integrated system that contributes
to achieving the requirements of sustainable development, protect the
environment, and support local content.

Article 9 — The Department shall assume, in the field of digital affairs, the following ¶

competencies:
1. Develop, organise, unify, manage and maintain information systems and
digital affairs shared by Governmental Entities.
2. Provide the necessary solutions to ensure the protection, integrity and
security of Governmental Data, Information Systems and digital assets of
Governmental Entities.
3. Approve requests for electronic connectivity between Governmental
Entities, as well as between them and other entities, in accordance with
the legislations in force.

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4. Manage and coordinate the sharing and exchange of Governmental Data,
and ensure standardisation in this field to enhance the collective benefit
for Governmental Entities.
5. Review and study initiatives, projects and programmes related to digital
affairs at Governmental Entities.

Article 10 — In the field of customer experience affairs with regard to governmental ¶

services - regardless of the entity providing them - whether it is a Governmental
Entity, company, or outsourced to the private sector, the Department shall
assume the following competencies:
1. Lay down a unified strategy for customer experience in the Emirate and
prepare the necessary programmes to support its implementation,
incentivisation and supervision.
2. Develop and update innovative plans, programmes and initiatives as well
as the standards of excellence of governmental services, in coordination
with the concerned entities, and supervise their implementation.
3. Create a database to specify, classify, and manage governmental services.
4. Develop a system for designing governmental services and customer
experiences and supervise its implementation.
5. Establish mechanisms to collect and analyse customer data, needs,
challenges and expectations in order to measure and follow up on the
performance of customer experience and those responsible for providing
services and supervising the development and follow-up on of plans to
improve customer experience.

Article 11 — With regard to the Abu Dhabi Unified Government Services Platform, the ¶

Department shall assume the following competencies:
1. Develop and unify systems and channels for providing governmental
services to customers, and manage and maintain them in coordination
with the relevant entities.
2. Lay down, implement and manage digital transformation programmes,
projects and initiatives for governmental services in coordination with
the relevant entities.

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Article 12 — The Department shall be responsible for designing, operating and managing ¶

the Shared Services system for all Governmental Entities, developing
an implementation plan and applying it according to the readiness of the
necessary infrastructure.

Article 13 — • The Department may delegate some of its competencies to any other ¶

Governmental Entity or outsource some of them to the private sector after
obtaining the approval of the Executive Council.
• The Executive Council may amend the competencies of the Department
as set forth in this Law or any other legislation by deletion, addition or
transfer.

Article 14 — The Executive Council shall have the right to exclude any Governmental ¶

Entity from being subject to all or some of the legislations of the Government
Enablement Sector.

Article 15 — All entities and public and private companies shall provide the Department ¶

with the documents and information required by it to assume or execute its
competencies.

Article 16 — The Affiliated Entities shall submit all their requests to the Department for ¶

approval before presenting them to the Executive Council.

Article 17 — By a resolution of the Chairman of the Department, the Department may be in ¶

charge of organising or providing all operational functions related to support
services, including human and financial resources affairs, procurement,
auctions, electronic systems and other functions and services related to the
corporate affairs of the Affiliated Entities.

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Article 18 — The Chairman of the Judicial Department- Abu Dhabi shall issue, in agreement ¶

with the Chairman of the Department, a resolution specifying the employees
of the Department who are granted law enforcement authority for crimes
that fall within their scope of competence and who have the right to inspect
and monitor entities, companies, persons and institutions operating in the
Government Enablement Sector, in order to verify the implementation of
the provisions of this Law and the regulations, resolutions and circulars
implementing it.

Article 19 — • Without prejudice to any more severe penalty stipulated in another law, ¶

whoever violates the provisions of this Law, its regulatory and executive
regulations and the rules, policies, resolutions and circulars issued in
implementation thereof shall be punished by an administrative fine not
exceeding AED (10,000,000) ten million.
• The Department shall collect the administrative fines and the Chairman of
Department shall, after obtaining the approval of the Executive Council,
issue a table specifying the violations and administrative fines prescribed
for each, without exceeding the fine limit set forth in this Article.
• The Chairman of the Department or his authorised representative may
offer reconciliation to the violator, provided that this is recorded in the
minutes of the proceedings. The violator who accepts reconciliation shall
pay a fine equivalent to (75%) of the total administrative fine specified for
the violation, within a period not exceeding sixty days from the date of
offering reconciliation to him.
• In all events, if the violator does not correct the effects of the violation
in a timely manner, the Department shall correct them at the violator's
expense.
• The regulatory and executive regulations of this Law shall specify the
reconciliation procedures stated above including their time limits.

Article 20 — • The Department may impose any of the following administrative sanctions: ¶

1. Notice.

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2. Warning.
3. Placing the entity under financial, administrative and technical supervision.
4. Temporary suspension of activity.
5. Cancellation or suspension of licence.
6. Permanent or temporary closure of the entity.
• Grievances may be filed against the administrative penalties before
the Department within sixty days from the date they are notified to the
grievant. Failure to decide upon the grievance within 90 days from the
date of its filing shall be regarded as rejection of the grievance.
• The regulatory and executive regulations of this Law shall specify the
procedures and rules of imposition of the above-mentioned administrative
sanctions.

Article 21 — • The Department shall be subject to the financial laws and regulations in ¶

force in the Emirate.
• The Department's employees shall be subject to the human resources
laws and regulations in force in the Emirate.
• The nationals among them shall be subject to the Law of Civil Retirement
Pensions and Benefits in the Emirate.

Article 22 — • The Chairman of Department shall, upon the approval of the Executive ¶

Council, issue the regulatory and executive regulations of this Law.
• The Chairman of the Department shall issue the policies, regulations,
resolutions and circulars necessary for the implementation of the
provisions of this Law.

Article 23 — • The regulations, systems, policies, resolutions and circulars applicable in ¶

the areas of the Government Enablement Sector shall remain applicable
in a manner that does not conflict with the provisions of this law until the
regulations, systems, policies, resolutions and circulars implementing its
provisions are issued whenever the need arises.
• The exceptions prescribed before the enforcement of the provisions of

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this Law for some Governmental Entities regarding exemption from being
subject to any of the legislations related to the Government Enablement
Sector shall remain applicable, unless the Executive Council decides
otherwise.

Article 24 — • Laws Nos. (7) of 2015, (15) of 2018, (16) of 2019, and (4) of 2020 referred ¶

to shall be repealed.
• Any text or provision contrary to the provisions of this Law, occurring in
the aforesaid Law No. (5) of 2021, shall be repealed.
• Any text or provision contrary to the provisions of this Law shall be
repealed.

Article 25 — This Law shall be effective from the date of its issuance and shall be published ¶

in the Official Gazette.
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Issued by us in Abu Dhabi
Date: 19 September 2023
Corresponding to: 4 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1445 Hijri

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United Arab Emirates
The Emirate Of Abu Dhabi
Issued By The Gereral Secretariat of The Executive Council
of The Emirate Of Abu Dhabi
Office of Legal Affairs
Abu Dhabi - P.O. Box: 19
Tel: +971 26688446 Fax: +971 26669981

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