UAE Ministry of Finance implements robotic process automation

The UAE Ministry of Finance has completed phase two of embedding robotic process automation (RPA) into many of its internal processes leading to major improvements in productivity and efficiency.

The UAE Ministry of Finance now uses software applications to carry out automated tasks, for 1.8 million transactions with greater than 98 per cent accuracy, saving 39,000 working hours.

The Ministry is responsible for implementing all fiscal, monetary and industrial policies related to the UAE’s economic development. The more efficiently it can manage its internal processes, the better able it is to deliver the UAE’s national priorities.

Before 2020, the Ministry identified functions that could be improved with automation. These included accounts payable, payroll and pensions, financial accounting, IT processes, and web services and hardware monitoring. They were carried out manually and the demanding nature of the tasks led to employee errors and poor delivery.

The Ministry of Finance identified areas to deploy bots to maximum effect, design and test the bots, and then implement the new system. The Ministry worked closely with a partner to set up all the technology and by 2022, it had more than 50 bots working unattended.

To date, the Ministry of Finance has automated 63 processes and sub processes, reflecting in a 95 percent reduction in errors and a 65 percent reduction in average handling time.