Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday attended the graduation ceremony of a new batch of participants in the Executive Education Programme for Government Communication Experts.

Shaikh Mohammad stressed that “our aim is to develop government communication in the UAE to help achieve our goals, enhance national identity and meet the needs of the people of our beloved country.”

“Communication is a pivotal tool for the success and development of governments. We strive to progress and advance to better serve our people,” he added.

The graduation ceremony was attended by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance; Lt General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The programme is an initiative of the UAE Government Communication Office that offers specialised training in partnership with American University of Sharjah. It enables building up capabilities in government communications for Emirati professionals.

The programme includes workshops, site visits, specialised guest speakers and hands-on communication training to widen the graduates’ perspective about government communication and its latest trends world wide. Graduates obtain a valuable academic and professional diploma upon the completion of the programme.

Future foresight

The UAE follows a strategy that ensures all sectors are ready for the future, as it aims to qualify a generation of specialists in the fields of future foresight and drawing future scenarios to achieve the Government’s vision, Shaikh Mohammed said during the graduation ceremony of 120 government employees who successfully completed the Future Foresight Training Programme.

The programme focuses on training the participants on skills of analysing future options, scenario planning and future foresting tools in line with Future Foresight Strategy, highlighting the vital sectors in the UAE.

“We are aware that the global wave of change posed by modern technology, advanced science and economic volatility poses major challenges to the world. Hence, the importance of anticipating future challenges and turning them into opportunities is the best way to tackle them,” Shaikh Mohammad added.

The ceremony was attended by Lt General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

UAE’s Future Foresight Strategy aims at seizing opportunities and anticipating challenges in all of the lively sectors of the UAE, and analysing them and setting long-term proactive plans on all levels to make future quality achievements, in order to serve the interests of the country.

The strategy involves building future models for the health, educational, developmental and environmental sectors, the harmonisation of the current governmental policies, in addition to building national capacities in the field of future foresight, establishing international partnerships and launching research reports on the future of the various sectors in the country.

The Future Foresight Programme is conducted in collaboration with the University of Oxford.