• Strategic partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and Rubu' Qarn Foundation for Creating Leaders and Innovators.
  • Media… a partner for development and sustainability.
  • The future of the Arabic language amidst globalisation.
  • UAE Government's Cybersecurity Council… safeguarding data and information.

Sharjah: The International Government Communication Forum (2023) welcomes professionals and entities dealing with sustainability and climate, cybersecurity, Arabic language and media to gain valuable insights from leading experts in these fields, get up to speed on current trends and future challenges, and more, at the two-day forum taking place on September 13-14, in Expo Centre Sharjah, under the theme 'Today's Resources... Tomorrow's Wealth'. Participants can register through the official website link: www.igcc.ae.

The forum has designed four exclusive seminars, which will host 19 specialised discussions, speeches and workshops on the topics. The organiser of IGCF 2023, Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), has partnered with leading local and international partners to host these special events.  

Partnerships to advance sustainability, entrepreneurship and communication

Highlighting pressing environmental issues, particularly climate change, which has emerged as a pressing concern for global governments, the 2-day forum will address these challenges and propose innovative solutions for sustainability.

An Inspiring Talk titled “Food security… A successful story from the UAE to the world” organised by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment will recount the national strategy for food sustainability and key practices implemented in the country, along with collaboration efforts to achieve food security.

The forum will host another discussion titled “A Balanced Today.. for a Greener Tomorrow”, discussing the interplay between the energy, mining, and heavy industries sectors on one hand, and sustainability issues and achieving environmental balance on the other. In addition to a speech titled “Immersive Media as a Communication Tool to Engage Youth on Climate Issues” that will tackle on how new technology can engage youth on climate issues?.

Furthermore, SGMB will host an event titled “Government Communication Project in the Emirate of Sharjah... The Reality, Practices, Challenges, Future Prospects” to analyse the current state of government communication in the emirate, and offer new scientific and knowledge-based perspectives.

IGCF 2023 has partnered with Sharjah’s Rubu' Qarn Foundation for Creating Future Leaders and Innovators to host a Youth session for Sharjah Children and Youth Parliament Council Members titled “Sustainability (Natural Resources and Environment)”, which aims to bring forth proposals designed by the younger generations, which will support the sustainability and climate change agenda at the COP28 conference, scheduled to take place in the UAE in November this year.

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Foundation (Ruwwad) will host a talk titled “Government support impact on Small and Medium Enterprises,” focusing on crucial aspects of establishing and managing SMEs.

Media for sustainability

As part of the activities of the World Media Summit, IGCF 2023 is organising five panel discussions - three in the lead up to the forum including “The role of media in highlighting issues of sustainability,” which explores the role of specialised media in popularising and amplifying sustainability issues; “Media coverage of climate change: Global models,” which will deliberate the coverage of climate change topics by global media outlets; and “Coverage of the environment in the media: A historical overview,” which is focused on the tools and media strategies used to cover environmental issues throughout history.

On the first day of IGCF 2023, a panel discussion titled “Green economy concepts in media content: Between objectivity and polemic,” will explore the concepts of green economy and ways that social media influencers address them.

On the second day of the forum, a panel discussion titled “Media & food security: Opportunities and challenges” will tackle food security issues from international media’s perspective, while highlighting opportunities to bring attention to food security matters and how to address the challenges associated with them.

Protecting the future of the Arabic language

In collaboration with Alef Education and the Arabic Language Youth Council, IGCF 2023 will organise an Arabic language seminar as part of the forum's commitment to enhancing governments' focus on Arabic as it is vital to and is inextricably linked with the identity of Arab and Islamic societies, representing their culture and beliefs.

On Day 2, the forum will witness three specialised sessions, namely, “Arabic language measurement and evaluation, teaching and learning Arabic in the digital age,” and “Dad speaks in the way of youth.”

Role of government communication in cybersecurity

With the growing role of information and data as valuable assets in the modern era, the UAE Government's Cybersecurity Council is organising the Cyber security seminar featuring five lectures. The lecture on “Footprint and digital citizenship” will address the concept of digital identity and citizenship, highlighting their significance in this era, while “Social engineering - How to protect ourselves from it” will highlight the most dangerous methods scammers use to breach data security.

The lecture on “Governance and cyber resilience” will explore the importance of data governance and cybersecurity resilience. The lecture on “Internet of Things and cyber crisis management” will deliberate upon ways to activate partnerships between governmental entities, communication departments and media to enhance communication with the public, building trust in institutions and their data. The final lecture, “The future of Artificial Intelligence and cyber security,” will examine the impact of AI on jobs and explore how to strategically leverage it to support society's development, sustainability and stability.

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About IGCF 2023:

The International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) stands as a key global platform fostering dialogue and discourse among experts and specialists in government communication. In its 12th edition, the forum gathers distinguished speakers from diverse sectors to deliberate on matters vital to global societies and nations. This includes a spectrum of challenges spanning economics, environment, health, society, culture, and politics, while highlighting communication's pivotal role in addressing and tackling these issues. The forum's core objectives is to refine government communication paradigms, amplifying collaboration among stakeholders engaged in communication locally, regionally, and internationally.