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Administrative burden remains a persistent challenge for governments, affecting service delivery, institutional efficiency, business competitiveness, and the experience of people interacting with government. As governments continue to digitise services, the challenge is no longer simply to make existing procedures faster, but to question whether unnecessary procedures and requirements should exist in the first place.

The UAE’s Zero Bureaucracy Programme (ZB) represents a national approach to addressing this challenge by embedding administrative simplification as a government capability. The Programme focuses on eliminating unnecessary procedures and requirements, reducing service time, and improving government efficiency, while increasingly addressing digital bureaucracy, artificial intelligence, government integration, and community engagement.

This policy brief examines the evolution and implementation of the UAE model, its measurable outcomes, and the policy lessons it offers for governments seeking to reduce administrative burden and build more responsive, efficient, and user-centred public institutions.