Dubai Smart Government has become the first UAE Government body to found an official company page in Arabic on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network on the internet with more than 347 million members across the world. Ahmad bin Humaidan, Director General of the Dubai Smart Government, said, "This step is in support of the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to nurture a strong national identity and adapt our communications to embrace the national language of our country. As the first UAE Government authority to launch a LinkedIn company page in Arabic, we are proud to embrace our heritage and culture, which we feel is our responsibility as a representative of Dubai's smart future." Bin Humaidan added, "Despite the fact that Arabic is spoken by around half a billion people and is an official language of the United Nations, there is a lack of Arabic-language content available on the internet. As native speakers, we are all responsible for building up a strong presence of Arabic content online, and should take it upon ourselves to be responsible for developing more websites, platforms and pages that speak our language." Ali Matar, Head of LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Mena, said, "With LinkedIn now in Arabic, our 14 million members from the Mena region and the millions of Arabic speakers globally can grow their professional networks, access quality content, and pursue economic opportunity in the comfort of their own language. We are proud that the Dubai Smart Government chose to make this shift to Arabic on our platform, which will enable them to strengthen their talent sourcing from among our global database of members, and simultaneously position the Dubai Government as the regional pioneer in all things 'smart'." Dubai Smart Government's Arabic LinkedIn page will help to solidify communications between departments, companies, and individuals. Additionally, the page will serve as a solid resource for job seekers, while allowing Dubai Smart Government to access a wide base of Arabic-speaking professionals to fill role requirements. The LinkedIn company page will also list services that are provided by Dubai Smart Government, as well as detailing the work environment and providing a listing of available job opportunities. Arabic users will automatically login to the Arabic LinkedIn page, while English users can change their personal settings for English preference. Why UAE government wants its 90,000 employees to log on to LinkedIn The UAE government's Federal Authority for Human Resources (FAHR) has announced a partnership with LinkedIn, the professional network on the Internet. Under the scope of an MoU signed by the two entities, FAHR will work with LinkedIn to bring 90,000 federal government employees on the professional network and help them to create their online professional profiles. The government is aiming to use the insights that LinkedIn is able to provide about the skills and abilities of the employees in UAE government departments to build a unique Online Government Skills Bank. "This project will prove to be a vital source of reference and research for us, with LinkedIn's data insights acting as a compass on future trends within the labour market," said Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director-General of FAHR, who was speaking at the signing ceremony. "It will allow us to develop systemised programmes to account for skills trends, and to develop, either through education or training, those talents that are in deficit in our workforce. In addition, we also consider this project as a way to motivate our employees to improve their existing capabilities and gain more skills – particularly around leadership – to create a more diverse, highly-capable working community, while achieving each government entities' goals for their human resources," he added. "We consider this initiative to be a significant turning point in the UAE government's HR systems, leading to more creative and innovative ways of approaching work and life. We see this as a way to enhance the UAE's leadership position, by bolstering global competitiveness in the field of government and leadership efficiency. With its extensive experience and proven leadership in the field, LinkedIn is the ideal partner for this initiative," he noted. "The UAE government is leading the way in the region in adopting digital engagement models with their stakeholders. With the FAHR now bringing more than 90,000 UAE federal government employees online onto LinkedIn, we believe that our platform will drive relevance to the members in newer ways, and directly complement the efforts of the authority," said Ali Matar, Head of Talent Solutions, LinkedIn Mena. "We will also work closely with the authority to ensure that all the new members are empowered with the information they need to make the most of their LinkedIn presence," he said. "Since the recent launch of the Arabic version of LinkedIn, we have seen increased sign-up from the millions of Arabic-speaking professionals around the globe, and we believe it will open up important opportunities to connect to people, knowledge and jobs around the world," Matar added. Source: Emirates 24/7
