Sharjah24: Media and communication students from across the UAE universities will pitch youthful and innovative project ideas, conveying ways they believe government communication can be advanced at a first-ever competition being organised by the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), whose 11th annual edition will be taking place in Expo Centre Sharjah on September 28 - 29.
The competition, designed to discover exceptional talents in the field capable of building successful careers in government communication, is part of the pre-forum activities being held on September 26 - 27, and will be staged at the University Challenge Hall. The top three winners of the competition will receive the coveted Sharjah Government Communication Award (SGCA) honour in the “best university initiative to qualify future employees in government communication” category on the final day of IGCF 2022.
Also part of the events and activities in this hall are four exciting panel discussions that will cover a variety of topics including skill sets required for the digital age, the role of social media platforms in the communication ecosystem, the future of media faculties, the impact of communication on educational outcomes, and more.
Practical training, advanced technology, right skills and social media to shape future government communication professionals
On day one of the forum, Prince Saad bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, Dean of the College of Media and Communication, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, KSA; Dr. Heba Al Samri, former Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Al Nahda University, Egypt; and Dr. Tahseen Mansour, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Yarmouk University, Jordan, will lead a session titled ‘The future of media faculties and impact of means of communication on educational outcomes’.
Along with moderator Dr. Aisha Al Busmait, Director of Government Communications at the Federal Transport Authority - Land & Maritime, the panellists will discuss the importance of advancing the curricula across communication departments, highlighting the importance of practical training opportunities to build successful careers in the field.
On September 28, a talk titled ‘Digital communication and prospects for institutional cooperation’ organised by the Arab Administrative Development Organization’, will explore the most effective ways to advance communication tools and highlight best practices in institutional cooperation and networking with different stakeholders to ease access to beneficiaries and achieve public satisfaction.
Moderated by Dr. Rania Abd Razek, Head of General Secretariat, the Arab Network for Communication and Public Relations, the session will host Dr. Nasser Al Hatlan Al Qahtani, General Director of Arab Organization for Administrative Development; Sultan Al Bazie, CEO of the Theatre and Performing Arts Authority and Chairman of the Arab Association for Social Responsibility; and Christophe Ginisty, International Public Relations expert and crisis management specialist.
University students will deliberate during a session titled ‘Future view of the role of social media platforms in employing the skills of media students’, how the means of communication have contributed to increasing their media awareness and honed their skills, deepening their ideas in various aspects, and their role in promoting themselves through the digital platforms to accelerate their journey towards securing jobs in the future.
In a session titled ‘The Requirements of the Media Employment Market and the Concept of Inclusive Media’, panellists including Wedad Bu Hamid, Director of Government Communication Department, Dubai Health Authority; Mona Khalil, Director of Government Communication Department, Ministry of Community Development; Naglaa Doukhi, Director of Government Communication Department - Nationality and Residence; and Major Dr. Reem Sabah, Deputy Director of the security media department, Ministry of Interior, will highlight how government communication cadres must have multiple skills to be comprehensively able to move from performing the tasks of gathering, transmitting and editing news to analysing and presenting them in attractive forms and templates.
The session will be moderated by Prof Ghalia Al-Ahbabi, Director of Government Communication Department, UAE University.
IGCF 2022 is organised by the International Government Communication Centre (IGCC), an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), and will feature 7 main discussion sessions, ten inspiring speeches, six workshops, 13 interactive platforms and 40 side activities. The forum’s programme will be led by 160 senior public officials, thought leaders and experts who will highlight the role of government communication in overcoming local and global governance challenges, and social and economic crises while highlighting opportunities arising from them.
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