Dubai government employees are training to become experts in social media. At least 100 government employees - made up of staff from departments including Dubai Culture and Dubai Police - are taking part in a six-week virtual course organised by the city's New Media Academy. The aim of the scheme is to create experts to help lead the new digital economy and involves employees from 60 different sectors. “[The] New Media Academy is committed to supporting individuals and organisations in the region with their digital transformation goals,” said Rashid Al Awadhi, chief executive of the academy. “We aim to serve as a source of unity and encouragement, in the development of the digital economy in the Arab world. “Having 60 government institutions join this very important programme, is a powerful show of solidarity towards our common goal.” The academy aims to help train the Arab youth in the region on the latest digital trends and the programme will focus on a number of key areas such as content creation, audience engagement and analytics. The curriculum has been developed by experts in social media and digital marketing, and will take place in virtual classrooms. The course started this week and participants said they were looking forward to it. “The academy will provide me with a variety of programmes and courses related to my specialty,” said Alia bin Fares, social media specialist at Dubai Police. “It will enable me to implement modern knowledge and tools in my work and assist in contributing to social media platforms.”
