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From top left clockwise: Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Lech Walesa, Tanmay Bakshi and Sean Spicer will be among the star speakers at the seventh International Government Communication Forum. Image Credit: Supplied

Sharjah: Government leaders and private sector specialists are gathering on Wednesday for the seventh International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) at Expo Centre Sharjah.

The opening ceremony will be attended by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

Organised by the International Government Communication Centre (IGCC), the two-day forum is being held under the theme ‘Digital Millennium … Where To?’. It will host more than 2,500 regional and international participants, representing both government and private sectors, discussing the rapidly transforming role of both public and private entities in the new digital age.

Over 40 speakers from 16 countries will be participating in 11 discussion panels addressing diverse themes like ‘Digital Diplomacy in Government Communication’, ‘Media Charisma’, ‘New Media in Serving Humanitarian Issues’, and ‘The Future of Communication’.

The forum’s programme will showcase the best practices and pioneering expertise in this field. It comprises training workshops conducted by a host of global organisations’ representatives and several media and technology companies.

Speakers include Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius; Lech Walesa, former president of Poland; Noora Mohammad Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development; Sean Spicer, former White House press secretary, among others.

Other speakers are Sir Timothy John Berners Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and president of the Open Data Institute; Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia; and Tanmay Bakshi, said to be the youngest Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert in the world and member of IBM’s AI Team in Canada.