Award given for developing Guidelines for Social Media Usage in UAE Government Entities

Emirates eGovernment won the 2011 ‘Social Media Initiative of the Year’ award. The award was presented at the Government Social Media Conference, held on June 7 and 8, 2011 at Al Murooj Rotana in Dubai.

Expressing his pleasure, H. E. Salem Khamis Al Shair Al Suwaidi, Director General, Emirates eGovernment said, “This is really a matter of honour and pride for Emirates eGovernment and the UAE. The award encourages us to continue our efforts in building a first-rate and sustainable eGovernment system in the UAE. We hope our initiatives take the services of the UAE Government to new levels of excellence.”

Emirates eGovernment won the award for developing Guidelines for Social Media Usage in the United Arab Emirates Government Entities, which was launched in March this year. The document provides the UAE Government entities with policy guidelines on how to use social media tools in responsible, safe and effective manners to communicate with their clients and public and engage them in designing and delivering government programmes and services.

The guidelines document was prepared in partnership with and extensive support from Dubai School of Government and in collaboration with the UAE Government entities. Senior Advisors at Information Technology research firm Gartner Inc. and United Nations eGovernment Programme also offered their assistance and recommendations in preparing this document.

Salem Al Housani, Deputy Director, Emirates eGovernment delivered the keynote speech at the conference on invitation by The Business Council and Ibrahim El Badawi, Strategic Planning Specialist, Emirates eGovernment gave a presentation on the Social Media Guidelines.   

The conference is hosting talks by experts on topics relating to the role of social media in governments, ways to utilise these tools to communicate with the public, importance of maintaining digital identity and strategic planning for maintaining social media accounts.

Delegates at the conference comprise social media experts from the Arab and rest of the world including representatives from the UAE Government entities, Dubai School of Government and Google Inc.

Emirates eGovernment works in line with the strategy of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and is responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of the eGovernment strategy on the federal level, ensuring robust shared infrastructure for federal government entities, and enhanced government services.