Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid honours winners of the GovTech Prize and Global Best M-Gov Award

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honoured the winners of the GovTech Prize and the Global Best M-Gov Award at the Government Services Forum, held as part of the World Governments Summit (WGS) in Dubai. 

During the ceremony, His Highness recognised Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Development with the ‘Best Use of AI in Government Services’ award for its AI-powered infrastructure permit platform that secured it the GovTech Prize.

The platform leverages generative and agent AI applications to expedite government approval procedures for federal-level infrastructure projects and transform legal texts into machine-readable logic, while maintaining human oversight of decisions. Key features also include full traceability to enhance transparency and minimise repeated requests, achieving a notable 90% reduction in transaction processing time and supporting the acceleration of energy and infrastructure projects.

Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid honoured Denmark’s National Digital Post project the ‘Best Simplification in Government Services’ award for its significant contributions to strengthening digital government infrastructure. The GovTech Prize runner-up, the platform facilitates secure, legally binding electronic communication between authorities, citizens, and businesses, achieving a 95% usage rate among adults. Mandatory access for citizens aged 15 and over resulted in a staggering 250 million messages in 2025, with customer satisfaction reaching 81% and satisfaction rates for firms reaching 60%.

His Highness honoured the ‘IremboGov’ team, Rwanda’s centralised digital platform for government services, with the ‘Best Government Service in the World’ award. The GovTech Prize second runner-up, the platform provides a central portal for accessing over 240 services. With e-wallet payment support and inclusive access for diverse segments of society, the platform handles nearly 500,000 requests each month, with approximately 80% of transactions completed online. It has saved over 1.5 billion working hours and significantly reduced service completion times, from five days to just two hours. The ‘IremboGov’ platform supports over 7,000 digital entrepreneurs, enhancing efficiency and productivity for government agencies.

Ingenious solutions
His Highness also honoured winners of the ‘Global Best M-Gov’ Award. The ‘Bakame AI’ team from Texas Christian University (TCU), USA, was awarded first place for developing an AI-powered solution that offers educational content to communities with limited smartphone access. Operating through interactive voice systems on existing mobile networks and toll-free numbers, this innovation eliminates the need for an internet connection and online access through toll-free numbers.

The ‘Your Voice’ app, developed by a team from Lao Hong University (LHU) in Vietnam, secured second place. The AI-powered app breaks down communication barriers by translating sign language into text and speech – and vice versa – in real time. Using advanced computer vision and 3D animated avatars, it enables seamless, interactive dialogue.

The ‘Spoon Share’ project developed by the Deogiri Institute of Engineering and Management Studies (DIEMS) in India secured third place. The application is designed to address food wastage in real time by connecting individuals and businesses with excess food to nearby communities in need, facilitating real-time food sharing.

Held in Dubai, the WGS 2026 brings together more than 60 heads of state and government, more than 500 ministers, and a distinguished assembly of 6,250 participants, including government leaders, experts, scientists, futurists, representatives from major international companies, entrepreneurs, and innovators.