PwC partners with World Government Summit on Best Minister award
PwC Middle East has signed a three-year agreement with the World Government Summit to consult on the technology and leadership forum’s annual Best Minister Award.
Due to be held in February in Dubai, the World Government Summit is one of the world’s premier gatherings of leading figures from the public and private sectors, brought together with prominent thought leaders and pioneers for dialogue on issues such as technology and innovation with the express aim of shaping future governments and helping to improve the lives of citizens worldwide.
Among a range of initiatives, the World Government Summit has since 2016 issued The Best Minister Award to recognise “exceptional efforts of government ministers at demonstrating excellence in the public sector, implementing successful initiatives and inspiring other government leaders and service providers to promote innovation within their service delivery domain to serve the needs of their citizens better.”
Despite heavy criticism from environmental groups in his native Australia, the inaugural award was given to former McKinsey employee and the then Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt (now serving as Health Minister for the Australian Liberal government), followed by Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Minister of Health of the Republic of Senegal, and last year Indonesia's celebrated Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati – as adjudged by EY.Taking over responsibility for the award will be the Middle East branch of PwC, following a three-year collaborative agreement signed with the World Government Summit to provide advisory and evaluation services to help determine the ultimate recipient among eight nominated candidates – drawing on the firm’s global network and extensive analytic expertise. Final selection is performed by an independent panel of judges.
“We take pride in our partnership with the World Government Summit to organise this award, which presents a unique opportunity to highlight innovation in the government sector and introduce outstanding government models,” said PwC senior partner Hani Ashkar. “Within the rapid transformations taking place around the world, the government sector must evolve in parallel and lead countries through the digital age, setting the standards for the future.”
EY meanwhile, which administered the previous awards, remains an official knowledge partner of the World Government Summit, together with PwC and its strategy arm Strategy&, fellow Big Four firm Deloitte, professional services giant Accenture, and global strategy & management leaders McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Oliver Wyman and A.T. Kearney – all of which are expected to release special reports in collaboration with the event.
At the signing ceremony, the World Government Summit’s Managing Director and UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olama highlighted the importance of expanding the summit's network of partners, adding; “The Best Minister Award sheds light on inspiring accomplishments and outstanding ministerial experiences… Our objective is to promote these experiences and benefit from them as an example for developing government sector and implementing initiatives that benefit the community.”