Quarterly Newsletter | December 2012 New Board of Trustees Pledges to Advance Creation of Knowledge, Best Practices and the Empowerment of Future Leaders The First BoT meeting Reflecting the confidence of the Government of Dubai in the role IN THIS ISSUE and mission of the Dubai School of Government and its keenness 1 DSG’s New Board of Trustees to support the school’s performance and success, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and 2 Fikr Government Conference Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued law 3 for 2012 3 Social Media and Entrepreurship appointing a new board of trustees for DSG. 4 GCC Social Media Conference His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Mak- 5 DEWA’s Exec ED Contract toum, Crown Prince of Dubai earlier issued Executive Council Res- olution No. (22) appointing a new board of trustees for DSG for a 6 Ask the Fellow: Aisha Al Shamsi three year term. The new board of trustees will continue to be 7 Ziegler speaks on FDI chaired by His Excellency Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister 8 Sheikh Zayed Housing Program of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs. Members of the new board of trustees include Her 9 Gender Program Hosts Soha Ellaithy Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade, His 10 Government Summit Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy; His Excellency Humaid Mohammed Al Qutami, Minister of Education; 11 DOF Course completed His Excellency Tariq Hilal Lootah, DSG’s Executive President, His 12 Islamic Affairs Graduation Excellency Ahmad Bin Byat, CEO of Dubai Holding; His Excellency 13 Forthcoming Publications Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General of Abu Dhabi Edu- cation Council, His Excellency Ali Rashid Al Ketbi, Chairman of Abu 14 Upcoming Events Dhabi Tawteen Council and Her Excellency Amal Mohammed bin DSGNEWS 1 Adi, Director General, Dubai Government Human Resource His Excellency Dr. Gargash added: “Our meeting was very Department, and from the private sector, His Excellency positive, and our commitment to the development of this Abdullah Majid Al Ghurair Chairman and Managing Direc- school is as strong as ever. We are now ready to work to- tor of Abdulla and Hamad Al Ghurair Investment LLC, and wards streamlining various operations. For instance, we His Excellency Omar Abdullah Al Futtaim, Vice Chairman of will be placing extra emphasis on encouraging our staff Al Futtaim Group. to attend training courses. Furthermore, we will continue to implement the recommendations issued by the Dubai Commenting on the news, His Excellency Dr. Anwar Mo- Government regarding the preparation of the final stra- hamed Gargash, Chairman of the Board of Trustees said: tegic plan, as well as the recommendations raised by the “The board members plan to enhance the distinguished Ministry of Higher Education on the MPA program to al- role DSG plays as a model in the Arab world and share the low the school to resume recruiting students from the Emirati experience in governance in addition to best prac- UAE and abroad.” The board of trustees was also briefed tices with the region. We are confident in the new board’s on DSG’s activities and achievements as well as the finan- ability to represent the school in the best possible way, cial report of 2011-2012 and praised the efforts made to across local and international forums. The board is also keep on the path of success and financial stability of the set to play an active role in the development of plans and school. The Council also authorized the chairman to form projects that help achieve the objectives of the school in the new school board which will include the Executive line with the vision of its founders and the aspirations of President and the Dean in addition to a number of faculty our staff members.” members and senior management at DSG. The Future of Citizen-Government Relations Discussed at FIKR 11 H.H. Sheikh Mohammed with Prince Khalid Al Faisal during the opening ceremony Under the patronage and in the The conference was attended by a “FIKR11” in an Emirate that has lead presence of His Highness Sheikh large number of ministers, former the way towards eGovernment and Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ministers and dignitaries from Sau- made interaction between citizens Vice President and Prime Minister di Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and the and their government a smooth and of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and in United Arab Emirates. positive experience which is avail- the presence of His Royal Highness able for all Governments in order The Arab Thought Foundation Prince Khalid AlFaisal, Chairman, to take advantage of and to start to thanked the Emirate of Dubai for giv- Arab Thought Foundation, the an- build upon. nual “FIKR11” conference was held ing the organization the opportunity in Dubai, under the theme “Citizens to host its annual conference for the Fadi Salem, Director of the Govern- and Government: Future Vision,” third time. The Foundation went on ance and Innovation Program at the from 26 to 27 November. to stress the importance of holding Dubai School of Government rep- 2 DSGNEWS resented DSG in the session held the Arab World: The impact on soci- ers for the session were HE Samira under the title “Information and ety and the role of the government”. Ibrahim Bin Rajab, Minister of State Government Transparency: A New Fadi gave an overview of the results for Information in the Kingdom of Role for the Media.” The session un- of the Arab Social Media Report Bahrain; Dr. Sadek Hamammi, Assis- derlined the power of the media in (ASMR) and discussed the trends of tant Professor at the Faculty of Com- raising public awareness. and pre- usage of social media websites in munication, University of Sharjah sented a paper on “Social media in the Arab world. Other guest speak- DSG and SAP Examine Impact of Social Media on Entrepreneurship and Employment in the Arab World DSG’s Governance and Innovation Program released a landmark report that underscored the role played by social media in boosting skills, en- hancing employment prospects and supporting entrepreneurship across the Arab world. The survey, conducted in cooperation with SAP MENA, which examined the effectiveness of social media in pro- moting social advancement, job cre- ation and business growth across the Arab region, collated data from close to 5,000 respondents in Bahrain, Ku- wait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Lebanon, Oman, Egypt and Jordan. His Excellency Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Labor , during his opening Under the patronage of His Excel- speech lency Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, can have a dramatic impact on job per cent said it inspired innovation. UAE Minister of Labor, the results creation and employment oppor- Furthermore, 78 per cent felt that of the survey were announced in a tunities. Nearly 80 per cent of the policy forum held at DSG’s headquar- social media’s powerful connective respondents said that technology ters on October 3rd. In his opening credentials can markedly enhance could help provide access to critical remarks, HE Tariq Hilal Lootah, DSG’s trust levels among the workforce. job market data. In addition to 76 Executive President thanked HE Min- per cent respondents claiming that The report also hailed social media ister Ghobash for his attendance and it is beneficial in forming job-yielding as a critical tool for start-ups across welcomed official representatives partnerships and opportunities, 75 the Arab world, with 86 per cent from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Es- per cent saw it as a conduit for a new agreeing it contributed to business tablishment for Small and Medium ‘virtual job market’. Meanwhile, 71 success. Among the reasons cited Enterprises (SME) Development, The per cent claimed they would rely on were its multifaceted marketing po- Executive Council in Dubai, The Ex- social media to find their next job. tential (90 per cent), a capacity to ecutive Office, the Prime Minister’s tap into wider markets (86 per cent), Office; in addition to Sam Alkharrat, Social media’s influence in the work- substantial customer engagement Managing Director, SAP Middle East place was also seen as pervasive and options (85 per cent) and its over- and North Africa (MENA); and numer- positive. Here, 86 per cent noted it all potential to raise awareness and ous representatives from govern- increased intra-agency collabora- instill entrepreneurial mindsets (84 ment and private sector entities. tion, 85 per cent welcomed its ability per cent). The report revealed that social media to connect with customers and 85 DSGDSGNEWSNEWS 33 DSG’s report has highlighted that so- spite having few stable economies in up-skilling of talent, as well as SME cial media is viewed as a facilitator of the region today, the most active part creation and empowerment.” significant educational advantages. of the Arab population; the youth, is While 84 percent respondents said increasingly feeling empowered. Our In addition to providing unprec- students would benefit from utiliz- ongoing research over the past two edented insight into regional social ing social media in developing entre- years has shown that close to 50 mil- media trends, results from the DSG preneurial skills, 76 affirmed they use lion Arabs are actively connected to study will form a key part of an on- social media and ICT tools to acquire social media and primarily use the going feasibility study by SAP MENA such business abilities. platforms to change social and po- for creating a cutting-edge, project- litical realities in their countries. The enabling ICT platform to boost sus- The primary drawbacks and negative ground-breaking research offers in- tainable job creation across the re- connotations attributed to social me- sight into new horizons for economic gion.