Government service: not such an oxymoron at TECOM
Courtney C. Radsch (Dubai, UAE) - TECOM, the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone authority, is the
government agency of Dubai responsible for the so-called "free zones"
like Media City, Internet City, Knowledge Village etc. (although
funnily enough it does not have a working website!).
I had to go to the office for an employment issue and was so astonished
by the efficiency, helpfulness and overall competency of a government
department that I felt compelled to write a post. Although the office
looks like the DMV of something (that is, the Department of Motor
Vehicles in the US), down to the rows of windows with glowing red
numbers above calling the herds to the appropriate window. People
milled around as they waited their turn. But unlike going to the DMV,
one of the more painful experiences in life, I actually enjoyed going
to this government department! What?! First of all, the wait was super
short despite all the people. Probably because the workers are
competent (sorry, no offense to the competent DMV peeps out there). So
anyway, we get our ticket and shortly thereafter are called to the
appropriate window where I explained that I wanted to lodge a
complaint. I began in Arabic out of respect for the fact that I was
speaking to an Emirati, but he actually spoke English (again, how many
times have you been unable to communicate with someone at the DMV). He
told me I needed a copy of my passport, labor contract and a form in
order to file the complaint. So I left thinking I'd have to go find an
internet cafe with a printer or a Kinkos or something, when lo and
behold, there was a deck of computers with free printing! What?!
So I got on an filed out the form, printed it out and was going to go
home to get a copy of my contract etc. I figured there was no way
I could log onto my email, I mean, they already let me fill out my form
online and print it. But in fact, I was able to access my email, get
all the documents I needed printed out (for free!!) and file the
complaint the same day. In fact, within 1 hour of finding out where and
what TECOM was I had completed my task. And when I call to follow up I
get a real person who has my point of contact call me back. And he
remembers my name and my case. I wish the US government and its
employees would take a page from TECOM's playbook. When everything else
in life is turning sour and stressful, it's nice to find a ray of light
in an experience one would ordinarily dread. Now TECOM just needs to
get it's website activated!
