9th IGCF to stress transparency, responsibility in communication

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, will witness the opening of the two-day International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) on Wednesday at Expo Centre Sharjah.

The forum aims to reinforce the growing importance of establishing responsible, transparent and innovation-driven communication channels between governments and citizens as a means to ensure a highly participatory governance and drive sustainable development. The 9th edition of IGCF brings global experiences and expertise on one platform to help professionals across public and private sectors understand how they can leverage the rapidly developing potential of the communications landscape to translate their vision and policies into effective day-to-day practice.   

The organisers, International Government Communication Centre (IGCC), a subsidiary of Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), have brought together 64 leading global thinkers, top government officials, media influencers and communications and technology experts from across 16 nations to lead a robust forum agenda, featuring 57 diversified events and discussions.

The 15 main sessions, 10 keynote speeches, 9 workshops, 3 brainstorming sessions and 20 specialised forums, which will be delivered at IGCF 2020, are based on four key pillars or themes: Embedding a culture of engagement in government; Technology as a community enabler; Communication through culture; and Holistic well-being. Ahead of the region’s leading event dedicated to the development of government communication, senior UAE officials and international participants have talked about the importance of the two-day event and their expectations of it.

Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman, Sharjah Media Council (SMC), said: “Every edition of the IGCF is a step forward in building an advanced government communication system that supports the aspirations of our peoples, strengthens their relationship with government organisations, and is attuned to the needs and demands of the Arab culture. By maximising efforts to make the forum a successful event every year, Sharjah has strengthened its role in launching and facilitating key development initiatives to achieve progress and prosperity and has cemented its position as a regional leader in government communication.”

“The forum translates the vision and directives of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, to raise  awareness of individuals and organisations and provide them with the right tools to express their opinions at an international level and reflect the strengths of Arab culture in the best possible way,” he added.  

Sheikh Fahim Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Executive Chairman of the Department of Government Relations (DGR), Sharjah, remarked: “Government communication defines the core of our work at DGR. Our primary mission is to communicate — with the public and with entities and organisations worldwide — to discuss collaboration in the economic, cultural, scientific, social and other fields, in the best interest of all parties. We have learnt from our extensive experience that communication including language, messaging, the use of various tools and methods to underline the commonality of interests between nations is crucial; an approach perfectly aligned with the goals of the forum.”

 “Through our participation, we will showcase our wealth of experience and achievements in this field and learn from other organisations. We believe that communication is an ever-evolving process, and we need to continually keep ‎abreast ‎of ‎the latest trends and best practices in this industry to achieve maximum efficiency,” he added.  

Tariq Saeed Allay, Director of Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB), said that IGCF is the realisation of Sharjah’s vision to create a platform where global stakeholders and government communication experts can discuss current and future challenges and explore ways to overcome them.

He noted that the forum is committed to continue developing its existing activities and introduce new initiatives, which will help SGMB realise its ultimate goal, that is, enable government departments to communicate effectively with the public and serve them with the highest standards of professionalism and transparency.  

“Based on the directives of His Highness Ruler of Sharjah, IGCF has brought global expertise and insights in the communication field to Sharjah, which has served to advance this sector at local, regional and international levels.”

Juan Santos, former President of the Republic of Colombia and Nobel Peace Prize winner, noted: “I am going to talk about the importance of dialogue to sustain peace between people and cultures who think differently or have different values. In today’s polarised world, we need to recover the value of arguments over emotions and to realise that we all live in one common house. I hope that this Forum will contribute to the understanding of the different challenges that we face today because only by understanding the challenges, can we overcome them.”

WAM