Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development tackles issues affecting Arab human capital

Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development (MBRCLD) has announced that it held a new session of the Dubai Policy Watch last Thursday (June 11, 2009), where it launched the "Arab Human Capital Challenge – The Voice of CEOs," a report detailing the challenges facing Arab human capital from the perspective of CEOs of both the public and private sectors. The Arab Human Capital Challenge – The Voice of CEOs report has been developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in cooperation with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).Adel Al Shared, Executive Chairman of MBRCLD said: "This new session of Dubai Policy Watch gathered representatives from both the public and private sectors who have extensive experience in HR management. We had also prepared very exciting and interesting discussion points, which made this a highly informative and enlightening activity for the participants."The exclusive event was attended by more than 100 participants from the Government Leaders level and Young Leaders level of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development (MBRPLD) as well as alumni of MBRPLD. Sultan Lootah, Vice President, Employment & Entrepreneurship, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, and Anne Simons, Director and Head, Research & Survey Unit, PWC Middle East Intelligence, likewise were present to discuss pertinent details about the newly launched report.Aside from the guests who discussed the report, there was also a panel discussion featuring Eng. Salah Al Afaliq, Managing Director and CEO of National Tri-Generation CHP; Dr. Sulaiman Al Hattlan, CEO of Arab Strategy Forum and Ghaith H. Fariz, Director, Arab Knowledge Report, UNDP and Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. Aside from the presentations and discussions, participants also had a chance to interact more intimately with the speakers during the Q&A session and a networking session.Dubai Policy Watch forum is a periodic activity that facilitates discussions on various challenges and opportunities faced by incumbent and future leaders and proponents of sustainable development.MBRCLD has been established in line with the vision and directions of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; who has underscored the critical importance of a highly competent national professional workforce to ensure the country’s global sustainability.

Dubai eGovernment Hosts Session For 3rd Emirati-American Young Leaders Cultural Exchange Program

Dubai eGovernment (DeG) recently hosted a special session as part of the 3rd Emirati-American Young Leaders Cultural Exchange Program at its headquarters in the Ruler’s Court in Dubai. The event was attended by DeG Director-General H.E. Ahmed Bin Humaidan and DeG CEO Thani Abdulla Al Zaffin.

During the session, Bin Humaidan discussed Dubai’s pioneering experience in digital transformation, outlining DeG’s strategies for enhancing the performance and efficiency of eServices and its methodologies for restructuring and automating government transactions, thereby upgrading its public services.

Bin Humaidan said: “Based on our belief in the role of technology in easing the lives of people, we were keen on developing more than 2,000 online services with the aim of upgrading Dubai’s government services in terms of speed and quality of performance. From this perspective, we affirm our constant endeavour to be closely familiarized with our customers’ viewpoints, develop our services and adopt means of modern technology in line with their requirements and in support of the eTransformation process in the emirate. We hope that the outline we have offered to our American guests will help give them a general idea about the development of eServices in the UAE.”

The meeting discussed the numerous achievements of the UAE in general and Dubai in particular, specially in fostering economic openness to the global markets as well as adopting the best and latest practices and concepts that support the economic growth in the UAE, including those related to governance and transparency. The session also threw light on the role of online services in facilitating and upgrading government transactions and procedures to live up to the highest criteria of quality and excellence. The meeting also featured a presentation about the eServices provided by DeG to the different sections of the society, be they nationals, residents, visitors and businesses, as well as the core services oriented to the government departments.

Meanwhile, Thani Abdulla Al Zaffin said: “Dubai eGovernment is at the forefront of the emirate’s efforts to establish an integrated knowledge-based economy by upgrading the standard of online services. We are confident that meetings such as these will support our future aspirations for building a generation capable of leading the UAE to new levels of growth and development and consequently carrying on the process of development and excellence.”

Dubai eGovernment’s comprehensive web portal, www.dubai.ae, provides citizens, residents, visitors and businesses access to electronic services which include payment of municipality fees and RTA fines, visa application for relatives, health card renewal, and company registration, among others.

Dubai School Of Government Hosts Young Achievers From US And UAE

The Dubai School of Government, a research and teaching institution focusing on public policy in the Arab world, today announced it hosted 18 American and 10 Emirati students under the Emirati-American Young Leaders Cultural Exchange programme.

Sponsored by the Emirates Foundation, the programme has historically attracted high achievers who have gone on to occupy prominent positions; Jon Favreau, the current chief speech writer for the US President Barack Obama was a previous participant in the programme, which currently includes a number of Truman Scholars from the United States.

During their visit to DSG, the group and their Emirati hosts met with Dr. Tarik Yousef, Dean of the Dubai School of Government, and other faculty members to exchange ideas and experiences.

Highlighting the pioneering role of the Dubai School of Government, Dr. Yousef outlined the School’s contribution to shaping the Emirate’s governance agenda. He noted that the School is attracting scholars and researchers from across the world in its endeavour to create intellectual capital, the mainstay of any knowledge-based economy.
 

Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre For Leadership Development Tackles Public Administration And Fiscal Accountability

Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development (MBRCLD), has announced that it has recently launched new modules – "Public Finance and Budgeting" and "Managing the Public Sector" – for the Young Leaders Program. The new modules’ inaugural three-day session covered key topics such as management of public sector organisations including non-profit groups, and basic principles and logic of government fiscal activities and government budgets.The "Managing the Public Sector" module introduces specific concepts and tools in public administration such as human and financial resource management, while students also learned how to apply and critique various mechanisms to improve public sector performance, including those arising from the "New Public Management" school of thought. The "Public Finance and Budgeting" module aims to familiarise students with analytical approaches to resource allocation and decision evaluations in the private sector, covering major topics such as rationale for the public sector, options for financing government expenditure, taxation policy, expenditure policy, fiscal decentralization, privatisation, the role of cost recovery and user charges, budgeting systems and techniques and capital budgeting.Adel Al Shared, Executive Chairman of MBRCLD said: “Management skills and fiscal responsibility are important areas that must be developed and sharpened so program participants can be effective in their roles as future leaders of Dubai and the UAE. Public administration has its own nuances and it is the goal of ’Managing the Public Sector’ module to provide the Young Leaders participants with essential skills and knowledge in this critical area of leadership. The program participants are likewise expected to be competent in resource management, an important aspect of leadership that is being comprehensively covered by the ’Public Finance and Budgeting’ module."Mohammed Hassan Abdullah, Chief Traffic Prosecutor, Dubai Public Prosecution, participant of Young Leaders Program said: "The new modules will perfectly complement our continuing efforts to understand the important concepts and ideas behind being a successful government leader and fiscal administrator. These are certainly critical areas that we must be able to fully comprehend and articulate to improve our overall leadership skills, particularly in the field of public governance."MBRPLD is one of the leadership programs of MBRCLD which has been established in line with the vision and directions of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; who has underscored the critical importance of a highly competent national professional workforce to ensure the country’s global sustainability.The applications for the programs under Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for Leadership Development were submitted through MBRPLD’s website (www.mbrpld.ae). Further details of the programs and the evaluation process are also available on the website.