Agenda - 2016

Education shapes the quality of human resources and is a key driver in fuelling national competencies. The knowledge and skills of a country’s motivated workforce can go a long way in strengthening its development operations. Besides, in today’s context of creating a ‘knowledge economy’, the development of the education sector gains added importance.

Opening Ceremony: Under the patronage and in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah

Extremism poses a grave threat to humanity’s future and security with scenes of murder, persecution and destruction of human accomplishments weighing heavily on human relations.

A special session titled “The Woman Citizen”, by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of Nama Women Advancement Establishment . Her Highness will address with a keynote important subjects that relate to The Woman Citizen and introduce the session.

Natural and humanitarian disasters often take us by surprise. Everything is lost within a short period of time. During such disasters, the element of surprise is coupled with the lack of time for meaningful interventions. Government communication units face the critical challenge of communicating to the public the material and moral damage caused. The response of government communications in such situations determines their efficacy, credibility, usefulness and ability to influence the public.

The session focuses on the significant role of government communication in supporting, developing and making government policies. The session panel will discuss how government communication could be an important and vital source in policymaking when it provides reading and analysis of public opinion. The panel will also draw attention to the role of government communication in public readiness and awareness of government policies and their impact and benefits at both individual and societal levels.

Programme

Governments around the world are working hard to preserve its traditions and social structure while adopting a modern and cosmopolitan worldwide. Modernity does not dilute the cultural identity of the country or vice versa. The government’s concern for the institution of family is evident in the support it provides women, the way it empowers its youth and safeguards the family unit.

By Ron Korver, Head of the Service for Science and Economy at the Press Unit of the European Parliament

In today’s complex media environment, it is no longer enough to talk at your stakeholders. Through the ‘luxleaks’ tax scandal case study, the workshop will explore how the EU Parliament engaged with stakeholders varying from investigative journalists, politicians, multinational companies, transparency advocates, ‘ordinary citizens’, experts, accountants, lobbyists and whistle-blowers to shape a media campaign for fairer and more transparent corporate taxation in Europe.

By John Ware, Investigative TV reporter

From Watergate to banking scandals, investigative journalism has often played an essential role in helping society and even governments overcome illicit and dangerous activities. Thanks to investigative journalism, governments have been able to address malpractice in the private sector, uncover and prosecute criminals, and counter threats. Investigative journalists are typically motivated by public concerns and can sometimes complement the work of the authorities by investigating stories that may not be accessible to them.

Through its programmes and initiatives, UNAOC acts as a premier global platform for intercultural dialogue and the promotion of inclusiveness and diversity. It develops its actions at both governmental and civil society levels to overcome prejudice, misperceptions and polarization and to counter forces that fuel polarization and extremism.

Trainer: Thair Soukar, Head of Digital Strategy, Sky News Arabia

This interactive lecture sets out some of the key steps to forming the right strategy for the use of social media in your business. It also sheds light on how to optimise your performance on social media through an actionable strategy using storytelling, engaging content generation and social media smart monitoring.

More than three billion people today connect to the Internet globally, and almost 68% of them are active on social networks, representing 28% of the world population. In the United States alone, almost three-quarters of adults use social networking sites, and more than half of Facebook and Twitter users get their news through those sites.

With the number of users constantly growing, social networks have become a target for the spread of hate speech and extremist propaganda. Never before in history have people been able to propagate incendiary speech in such effective way. As history has shown, rhetorical excesses can give rise to a climate of prejudice, discrimination and violence, and creative measures are needed to counter hate speech globally.

Trainer: Thair Soukar, Head of Digital Strategy, Sky News Arabia

As more organisations and governments integrate social media into their public relation and communication plans, emphasis needs to be on creating an effective social media strategy. Without a successful strategy, they will undoubtedly fail to address the people and tech-savvy generations.