Led by thought leaders and digital communication specialists, the two-day 11th annual International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), which began in Expo Centre Sharjah today (Wednesday), is staging an exciting workshop series to challenge media students, communication specialists, and representatives of several government agencies, to explore new innovations and possibilities in the sector.
Leading one of the workshops was Dr. Mona Magdy, Associate Professor in the faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, and certified trainer from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK. Dr. Magdy’s workshop, “Effective Government Communication in the Digital Age” explored how social media has become a key point of interest for the youth.
Due to significant changes in a post-Covid world, governments have been forced to transform traditional services into virtual and digital practices. One of the biggest challenges of digital transformation in governments, Dr. Magdy remarked, was “fear of automation and digitalisation of services. Many people are too reluctant to learn and adapt, and AI is seen as a negative force, ready to take over and erase human workforce, when in reality, it can help workers, journalists and digital media specialists adopt systematic and structured practices that are otherwise likely missing from their work.”
The workshop trained participants on how to create digital content by integrating Artificial Intelligence into their communication strategies.
Abanoub Mansour of Sky News Arabia, held the day’s second workshop ‘Creating Digital Content…to and from the Phone’, alongside his colleague Iman Al-Khatib revealing that producing content over the phone should focus on producing the type of content that defines your niche and inspires effective change in your target audience.
During a third workshop on Day 1 titled ‘The First Micro Professional Diploma in Artificial Intelligence Media’, presenter Eng. Fadi Rida remarked that the future belongs to the press that employs artificial intelligence techniques in the production of its content. The participants were trained on how to use a variety of AI applications available on the internet to drive successful digital content strategies.
The workshops at IGCF 2022 aim to provide its participants with the skills and expertise needed to develop and evaluate government performance in the digital era. In an age where digital transformation is not just crucial, but also inevitable, it’s important to evaluate the strategies governments are implementing as well as their impact on today’s citizens.
