SEWA Secures Prestigious Asian Power Award for Digital Excellence
The Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority has been recognised for the second consecutive year at the Asian Power Awards for its transformative digital services programme, which has fundamentally reimagined the customer experience across the emirate.
The Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA) has been honoured with the Digital Transformation Power Utility of the Year – UAE award at the Asian Power Awards 2026, a testament to its unwavering commitment to advancing digital services and enhancing customer engagement across the emirate. This distinction marks the second consecutive year that SEWA has received this prestigious recognition at the ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The authority’s digital transformation programme has achieved remarkable milestones, with more than 735,000 transactions completed through its smart services platform by August 2026. Digital transformation now accounts for approximately 95 percent of customer service management operations, whilst automation has reached nearly 90 percent across selected processes, demonstrating an exceptional commitment to operational excellence and customer convenience.
Dr Hussein Al Askari, Director-General of Customer Service at SEWA, emphasised that the achievement reflects the steadfast support of the authority’s senior management and the dedicated efforts of its teams in comprehensively redesigning customer journeys to ensure services are more accessible, expedient and adaptable. The authority’s strategic vision extends beyond the mere digitisation of traditional procedures, instead focusing on a complete reimagining of customer interactions in alignment with the UAE’s and Sharjah’s aspirations for digital governance, artificial intelligence integration, streamlined procedures and the elimination of unnecessary bureaucracy.
Among the most transformative outcomes, instalment applications that previously required up to 60 days for completion can now be processed in a single minute through an integrated digital system. Furthermore, seamless digital integration with relevant government entities has substantially diminished the necessity for customers to repeatedly furnish information and documentation already retained by those authorities.
The expansion of accessible digital channels has prevented more than 1.3 million in-person visits to service centres since August 2023, enabling SEWA to optimise its physical network from nine locations to five whilst maintaining comprehensive service accessibility. The authority continuously evaluates centre performance, customer demand patterns and channel utilisation to ensure operational decisions remain responsive to evolving customer preferences.
SEWA’s artificial intelligence powered virtual assistant, Naffaa, has demonstrated exceptional utility, recording more than 250,000 interactions and facilitating over 35,000 service requests whilst generating an approximately 30 percent reduction in contact centre demand. The assistant enables customers to communicate in their preferred language and provides preliminary case assessment before formal service requests are initiated.
Khaled Diab, Customer Service Management Operations Consultant at SEWA, articulated the authority’s philosophy of eliminating unnecessary procedures rather than perpetuating bureaucracy through digital channels. He affirmed SEWA’s commitment to expanding its deployment of artificial intelligence, sophisticated data analytics, smart metering technology and comprehensive automation to deliver increasingly proactive, efficient and sustainable services to the communities it serves.
This latest accolade complements SEWA’s impressive portfolio of regional, continental and international recognition accumulated over recent years for customer experience excellence, digital innovation, artificial intelligence advancement and transformative organisational achievement.
Source: WAM News Agency