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The Telecommunications & Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), represented by TDRA Youth Council, organised the “Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development” forum in conjunction with International Youth Day, marked on 12 August every year.
This is within the framework of supporting and realising the visions laid out by the UAE government to achieve the banner of the Year of Sustainability 2024 “Plan to Action”, adopted by the UAE government.
The Forum opened with a speech delivered by TDRA’s Director-General Engineer Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, in which he noted the continuous support given by the wise leadership to youth, and its keenness to ensure that their ideas and initiatives become the essence of UAE’s sustainable future as part of the country’s national vision “We the UAE 2031”.
He said: “The intelligent linkage between digitization and sustainability in the theme of International Youth Day 2024 reminds me of the historical trajectory of the experience of governmental action in the UAE, where the directives of our wise leadership have always indicated that youth are the ones who create sustainability, through their willingness to change and courage to delve into all that is new, let alone their openness to knowledge and ability to look ahead.”
He. added, “We are the first government to eliminate the barrier between customers and government employees, and in the year 2001 we were the first government in the region to launch an eService called e-Dirham (by the Ministry of Finance). In 2013, we were the first to implement smart government (or mobile government), and today we are at the forefront of governments striving to eliminate bureaucracy through our Zero Government Bureaucracy (ZGB) programme that aims to cancel out 2,000 government measures during the current year 2024.
What these milestones have in common is rejuvenation, in order to sustain the impetus of progress and entrepreneurship. Across all these milestones, youth have had the most influential mark. Where we are today is nothing but a continuation of this approach set by our wise leadership formerly and presently; the approach of agility, dynamism and constant revisiting in order to overcome bureaucracy and achieve sustainable leadership”.
Speaking at the Forum, Eng. Mohammed Bushlaibi, Chairman of Youth Council and Manager of Information Security Services at TDRA, talked about TDRA’s strategy and empowering youth in the digital sphere and equipping them with the skills to tackle challenges of the future and contribute to building a sustainable, intelligent community through several internal and external initiatives, such as the TDRA Virtual Camp, which was launched a few days back. This year’s Camp focuses on skills and techniques of sustainability, game development, programming, and ChatGPT.
The Forum also featured a youth-led debate about the most visible initiatives of the Federal Youth Authority (FYA), aiming to refine the skills of younger people in dialogue, enhance their ability to persuade, and get them acquainted with research and studies that would further support their views. The debate revolved around key government trends in the UAE today, namely the ZGB programme for government service development.
The event was attended by representatives of youth councils from the Community Development Authority (CDA), Dubai Municipality, Islamic Affairs & Charitable Activities Department in Dubai (IACAD), Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE), RAK Educational Zone, and the Prime Minister’s Office (represented by the ZGB programme team).