UAE: Make yourself future ready at work with these 3 free digital courses from Dubai government

If you want to hone your skills for the future job market and enhance your resume, you can sign up for free digital courses from the Dubai government.

The courses are provided by the Dubai Future Academy, which was launched in 2017 under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as “the capacity building arm of the Dubai Future Foundation”. It is focused on creating learning opportunities and offering world-class education to help people become fast, agile, and sustainable.

There are three digital courses available to everyone, including those outside the UAE, that are focused on inculcating future-ready skills in you.

Here’s how you can take advantage of these three free courses.

What are the three digital courses?

Each course consists of at least four to five modules, which includes pre-recorded video lectures accompanied by a slide show. The courses can be taken in English or Arabic, and are open to students of all education levels. You can access the courses anytime and do not have to commit to any schedule, which will allow you to learn the material at your own pace.

Each course can take around one to two hours to complete, and in the end, you have to take an exam. If you score 90 per cent and above in the exam, you will receive a certificate accredited by the Dubai Future Academy.

These are the three courses offered:

1. Foundations of foresight

This course will introduce you to ‘future foresight’ or forecasting, which includes mapping out different possible scenarios for the future. As you take the course, you will find out how creating scenarios, or ‘scenario scanning’, helps comprehend the problems, challenges and opportunities of the future.

The course delves into the following concepts:
• Important foundations of future foresight.
• Its concepts and ethics.
• Its role in today’s world.
• How to explore future scenarios.
• The mechanisms for applying these principles of strategic thinking.

2. Foundations of emerging technologies

In this course, students will learn how to adapt and understand today’s emerging technology. The participants in this course will learn how to employ the following skills in their professional life:
• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented & Virtual Reality
• New Energy Technology
• Blockchain
• Big Data
• Gene Tech
• 3D Printing
• Internet of Things
• Robotics

3. Foundations of futures literacy

The third course explores the essential 21st-century skills, and teaches you how to acquire and apply them in your daily work life. The course provides you with an outline of the three main components of futures literacy comprising of cognitive, motivational and active skills.

The training will include how to develop the following skills for the future:
• Empathy Skills
• Observation Skills
• Communications Skills
• Creativity Skills
• Complexity Skills
• Planetary Skills
• Cognitive Capacity
• Motivational Capacity

How to sign up for these courses

Step 1: Create an account at the Dubai Future Academy

• Visit the official website - www.dubaifuture.ae/dfac-courses
• Click on any of the three courses you are interested in.
• Click the ‘Join Now’ button.
• Next, you will be asked to enter your email address and create a password.
• Enter the verification code sent to your email. Click ‘Next’ to continue.
• Click on ‘Go to my profile’.

Next, you will have to fill in the following details:
• Full name
• Add a profile photo
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Education level
• Mobile number

You will have the option to complete the rest of your profile, such as writing your bio or providing your LinkedIn account details. This is not compulsory and you can go ahead and access the courses.

Step 2: Access the courses

• Once your account with Dubai Future Academy is set up, go to the menu page, and click on ‘Courses’.
• Click on the course you want to enrol in again, and click on the ‘Go to my course’ button.

You can then start your course. All the courses have multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in between modules, to test your knowledge on the module you have completed. After completing a course, you can also take an exam. However, to get a certificate issued from Dubai Future Academy, you would need to score a minimum of 90 per cent.