Public sector innovation in the United Arab Emirates: how innovation occurs and what outcomes it delivers

The role of governments in enhancing and fostering innovation has been widely studied in recent decades. A less explored research area is the study and analysis of innovation within the public sector, or how governments innovate. To date, research on public sector innovation has mainly concentrated on the “Western World”. This is the first quantitative study performed in the “Arab World”, more particularly, in the United Arab Emirates. The governmental system in this country differs widely, as it is an absolute executive monarchy combined with strong tribal cultures, and a different economic structure, based mainly on fossil fuel economies, with exceptionally low levels of taxation. This dissertation collected its own data through a survey launched in the UAE public sector, and uses this data to provide analysis from two angles: knowledge of innovation outcomes and knowledge of collaborative innovation. The first aim provides a new layer of analysis through examining the relationship between the different characteristics, activities, and processes that are correlated with innovation outcomes. The second aim expands understanding of collaborative innovation in the public sector, mainly through analysing the motivations driving managers to source ideas from outside their organizations.