Dubai: Insured individuals, pensioners, and representatives from the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) have discussed challenges in updating data for pensioners and beneficiaries without disruption or errors, stressing the need to continue investing in proactive digital services.
The discussion was held in the meeting, titled “Innovation Lab,” which was held at the Ministry of Possibilities to mark UAE Innovation Month 2023, where GPSSA attendees explored proactive digital services that are currently catered to serve pensioners over the age of 60, as well as widowers and unmarried women.
The current process benefits 29,762 out of 45,900 pensioners and beneficiaries. The rest of the 15,000 customers are instead directly contacted, which is a huge challenge since some customers are unreachable and others do not cooperate.
The necessity of coming up with more innovative solutions was discussed during the “Innovation Lab” meeting, with an emphasis on ensuring pension disbursements to individuals whose contact details are not available continue and that reliance on solely direct communication is not enough, highlighting the fact that an alternative communication method with stakeholders needs to be introduced.
In addition, participants at the meeting made suggestions that can help to unify proactive digital services and link electronic processes on a larger scale among various government agencies.
Furthermore, the initiative correlates with the UAE’s 2031 forward-thinking ecosystem pillar to improve the government’s performance and the UAE’s infrastructure and its development by making use of the latest technological methods, including the development of digital infrastructure.
Other ideas discussed include linking with the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, coordinating awareness programs with HR departments in government authorities, offering insurance and pension awareness workshops for those who are about to retire in cooperation with the education-related authorities, and creating a new means of communication to get youth and other entities more involved.
According to the meeting, increasing customer happiness and satisfaction, reducing pension disbursement errors due to customers not updating their data, improving the GPSSA’s overall performance through clear service indicators, and raising the overall level of pension and social security awareness are at the top of the to-do list.