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Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, today said that customer satisfaction is not enough and that their overall happiness is one of the goals of the government.

He said this should also be a goal of the private sector and the whole of society.

"Achieving welfare and happiness for nationals and expatriates is what drives our national agendas for all sectors," Sheikh Mohammed said at a meeting during which he approved the results of the Happiness Meter, an initiative he had launched a year ago.

Eighty-nine per cent of the public were satisfied with government services in Dubai, according to the meter which polled more than two million customers at 28 government departments.

The meeting was held at the Executive Office in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Chair of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and Chairman of the Executive Office of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and other officials.

He instructed the local government departments to introduce the Happiness Meter in the private sector organisations.

Sheikh Mohammed also honoured Dubai Customs, which emerged the best government department in terms of customer happiness.

He noted that customers of the Roads and Transport Authority accounted for the majority of those polled.

The initiative was designed to instantly measure the level of satisfaction of the public about government service provided at 328 locations in 38 departments using networked electronic devices.

The Happiness Meter also sends daily reports to decision makers to enable them in monitoring government services that people are most satisfied with, and identifying the geographical areas where these services are being provided.

Other departments honoured today included the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai Courts and Dubai Police.

Data is being analysed to know why 10am every Tuesday was the happiest hour for the public.

Meanwhile, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed also endorsed Dubai's Happiness Agenda which includes 82 projects,16 main programmes and four strategic plans: Explore, Change, Educate and Measure.

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority was signed in as the first partner of Happiness Agenda.