The IT team of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority has gaining international ISO 20000 certification, making it the first Abu Dhabi government entity to achieve this world-class standard for a work-specific information technology system across all its divisions and departments.

The nine-month project, which encompassed 78 IT applications, was delivered on time, on plan and on budget and certification was granted after an independent audit by Lloyds Registrars.

The achievement recognises new authority-wide advancements including a dedicated service desk system, along with improvements to incident management and IT service continuity (disaster recovery).

"This is a major step forward in our continuing campaign to deliver service excellence both within and outside the authority across every area in which we operate," said Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA. "It also lives up to the responsibility entrusted to us by our certification of high assessment in this year's Abu Dhabi Award for Excellence in Government Performance." ADTA received the 2009 certification for the small-to-medium-sized government enterprise.

The ISO 20000 certification covers the complete range of the authority's IT services, and uniquely has been implemented across all its seven divisions and 22 departments. "This was a project of great complexity made possible by superior and fully committed team work," said Dr. Fawaz Abu Sitta, IT Manager, ADTA. "The certification recognises our ability to equip all within the authority with advanced IT tools and services needed to deliver superior stakeholder services."