The Telecommunications & Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), through its "TDRA Youth Council," organized the "Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development" forum in celebration of International Youth Day.
The event was attended by representatives from various youth councils, including those from the Community Development Authority (CDA), Dubai Municipality, Islamic Affairs & Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) in Dubai, Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), RAK Educational Zone, and the Prime Minister's Office (represented by the ZGB program team). This forum aligns with the UAE government's vision for the Year of Sustainability 2024 under the theme "Plan to Action."
His Excellency Engineer Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, TDRA's Director-General, delivered the opening speech and recognized the continuous support given by the selected leaders to the youth. He mentioned that the TDRA is keen to ensure that their ideas and initiatives become the essence of the UAE’s sustainable future as part of the country's national vision: We the UAE 2031.
Representatives from various youth councils
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Linking Digitization with Sustainability
H.E. Al Mesmar, 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.”
H.E. Al Mesmar, 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) program 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, [the] 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."
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TDRA Empowerment Camps
Speaking at the forum, Eng. Mohammed Bushlaibi, Chairman of Youth Council and Manager of Information Security Services at TDRA, expounded on the TDRA's strategy, which encompasses empowering the youth in the digital sphere and equipping them with the skills needed to tackle challenges of the future and contribute to building a sustainable, intelligent community through several internal and external initiatives.
This includes the TDRA Virtual Camp, which was launched a few days ago. This year's camp will focus on the skills and techniques required for sustainability, game development, programming, and ChatGPT.
The forum also featured a youth-led debate, which discussed the most visible initiatives of the Federal Youth Authority (FYA) in an effort to refine the discourse skills of the youth, enhance their ability to persuade, and expose them to research and studies that could further support their views. The debate revolved around key government trends in the UAE today, namely the ZGB program for government service development.
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