
The sixth edition of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF 2017) themed Societal Participation Comprehensive Development', held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, concluded yesterday (March 23) at Expo Centre Sharjah, with the issue of a set of recommendations aimed at activating community participation in the achievement of the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Convening more than 2,500 local, regional and international attendees, the Forum witnessed the participation of high-level officials from 16 countries and included five keynote speeches, seven main sessions, six parallel discussion sessions, five accompanying workshops and three interactive sessions. The list of participants included world statesmen, five UAE ministers, two Nobel Peace Prize laureates and representatives of international organisations and public and private-sector officials. Day one of IGCF 2017 saw the announcement of winners of the fourth Sharjah Government Communication Award.
His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Council, said: The end of each edition of IGCF marks a new beginning for the further advancement of government communication. Today, our efforts to develop a vital communication ecosystem are closer to accomplishment than ever before, due to the recommendations and insights of the international experts that we've hosted throughout this two-day Forum.
He added: We thank everyone who contributed to making IGCF's sixth edition a grand success, including sponsors, volunteers, and committee members who supported the Forum's work mechanisms and offered valuable assistance to the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB) in achieving the Forum's objective of realising Sharjah's vision for government communication.
Jawaher Al Naqbi, Manager of the International Government Communication Forum, unveiled the recommendations of IGCF's sixth edition.
The Forum recommended establishing scientific, cultural and spiritual centres for children and the youth to build responsible personalities who are committed to advancing their country's interests and social participation.
Secondly, it endorsed devising executive programmes to provide care for the elderly and ensure an environment that meets their needs.
A third recommendation was to enhance education, support scientific research programmes, and build capacities and skills that are vital to achieve the comprehensive development goals.
Fourthly, IGCF 2017 recommended the establishment of a joint Arab committee to support and launch initiatives that stimulate government communication programmes aiming to enhance the efforts of Arab countries towards sustainable development.
IGCF 2017 also called for active societal participation by families, schools, and media outlets in initiating progressive programmes to achieve the sustainable development of societies. In addition, the Forum called for the reinforcement of the media's role as a supporter of sustainable development programmes and human values. It encouraged the participation of people with disabilities in programmes and initiatives to achieve sustainable development in order to better integrate minority segments into mainstream society.
The Sharjah Children Shura Council session suggested embedding a smart alarm on the front doors of houses that would notify residents when exiting the premises about any electrical units that are still in use. Another recommendation of the dedicated session this year was to extend support to productive families in poorer countries, rather than offering direct financial assistance to the governments of these countries. Lastly, the children participating in IGCF 2017 proposed establishing a Children's Education Charity Fund to support the education of poor children across the world.
For its part, the interactive session for people with disabilities emphasised the need to teach sign language in schools to enable all individuals within a society to communicate with one another. It also recommended issuing the Emirates Code (UAE standard code for the comprehensive environment) for people, institutions and society.
Meanwhile, the Youth Council stressed the pressing need for government entities to familiarise themselves with the most common communication platforms and smart applications among the youth in order to converse better with them. In addition, it highlighted the significance of including community hours as part of regular working hours at government offices an initiative that will allow the youth to play their role in becoming change agents and delivering a positive impact in society.
The general recommendations of IGCF 2017 also included initiating conversation with government communication directorates at the level of the Arab region to form an Arab network of government communication based in Sharjah with representative offices across all member countries. Moreover, the Forum reiterated the importance of putting in place innovative and modern methods to survey Arab public opinion and public perception on government communication campaigns. The Forum articulated that in order for government communication campaigns to be more influential, they should enhance their presence across and utilisation of multiple social media platforms.
The Forum also called for launching a set of specialised training programmes for government communication professionals to equip them with the newest trends and tools in their field. It stressed the need to give them more flexibility in interacting with the public through social media platforms. Finally, several participating experts called for the launch of development circles to be held throughout the year to follow up on the public
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
NBCU brings together News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo for a 50+ camera live pr...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
02/07/2026
Thursday 2 July 2026
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen
Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...
02/07/2026
Summer is heating up - and GeForce NOW is taking players along for the ride.
Start the month with Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, bringing a galaxy fa...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...