The UAE government launched “Jahiz”, an upskilling initiative for the future of government talents, which was recently endorsed by the UAE Cabinet headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It aims to enhance the readiness of national cadres and talents in the federal government for the future, and empower them with the new skills required to design the future and benefit from its opportunities, through an integrated digital platform for future skills. The initiative supports the government’s readiness for the future, and raises the levels of participation of its cadres in implementing leadership visions by building a leading future government model in the world and enhance the performance, productivity, efficiency and future readiness of the UAE.
“Jahiz”, designed in partnership between the Government Development and the Future Office and The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR), is a new model for government work that focuses on enhancing the UAE Government future readiness by equipping the government talents with the best global future skills, in an initiative that includes all the Federal Government cadres. It also embodies the wise leadership’s vision to help all government employees keep pace with the rapidly changing world and understand the emerging trends that will greatly impact the process of shaping and creating the future.
“Jahiz” Digital Platform provides the Federal Government employees with 20 future skills that cover four main sets of skills that include 20 skills for the future to be completed within one year. The main skill set includes: Digital Skills, 10X Skills to enhance productivity and accelerate delivery, in addition to Data and Artificial Intelligence Skills, and the New Economy Skills.
The platform includes a digital wallet of future skills for each government employee, which represents an inclusive portfolio, linking the employee’s achievement in acquiring skills with job performance. In the platform, participants receive achievement badges upon completing the requirements of the future skills.
The platform includes 15 strategic partners of the top UAE government entities and international companies, who provide specialized, practical and flexible content through the smart platform of “Jahiz” initiative, thus enabling employees to acquire the most important future skills through two tracks dedicated to building future skills. The first focuses on the leadership level in government entities, while the second builds future skills for the government employees across the other job levels.
Ohood Al Roumi: A Digital Platform to upskill all government leadership
Her Excellency Ohood Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, Chairwoman of the Federal Authority for Government Human Recourses (FAHR), stated that “Jahiz” is an initiative aims to enhance government readiness for the future and empower government cadres in the UAE government work team with the most important skills for the future. It embodies the visions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may Allah protect him,” to enhance the readiness of the national cadres and provide them with future skills, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, “may Allah protect him,” that building the future starts now, and investing in our cadres is the best and most profitable investment for our future.
H.E. Al Roumi, the Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, stressed that the world is witnessing rapid changes and that the competitiveness of governments depends on empowering their cadres with future skills, and enhancing their understanding of new and emerging trends and sectors that impact the all areas of government action, which contributes to raising the level of readiness and reflects positively on the government performance, productivity and provision of the best services. She also noted that many of the world’s leading governments have recently adopted extensive and intensive programs to build the future skills for their government cadres and talents in order to maintain their competitiveness and ensure their readiness for the future.
She highlighted that “Jahiz” aims to complement the UAE government’s efforts to adopt new work methodologies by enabling the government talents to design and implement major transformational projects, upskilling them with the latest and best future skills, and scaling up their role in designing and creating the future. The initiative provides specialized, practical and flexible content, presented by distinguished national government leaders together with 15 leading national, international government and private entities, whose experiences and knowledge enrich the platform’s content.
Laila Al Suwaidi: “Jahiz” empowers government employees with future skills
Her Excellency Laila Obaid Al Suwaidi, Acting Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR), stated that “Jahiz” is a smart digital platform that provides government employees with agile upskilling opportunities and equips them with new future skills.
She added that the initiative is one of the government’s transformational projects led by FAHR, as a part of its efforts to embody the directives of the leadership to launch and implement major transformational projects aimed at achieving qualitative achievements within specific time frames, stressing that this project aims to build future skills for government cadres in 20 future skills within a year of its launch.
Al Suwaidi indicated that “Jahiz” is a new government model to enhance the future skills of government talents and ensure their readiness, by empowering the government human capital, providing it with knowledge, and enhancing its ability to innovate and to employ modern technology in a way that enhances the performance and competitiveness of the UAE government, and reflects positively on the society as a whole.
Four major sets of future skills
“Jahiz” advanced digital platform covers 4 main future skill sets that are to be implemented within a year. They include 20 sub-skills and more than 90 modules. The Digital Skills include: Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Programming, Web 3.0, Cyber Security and Metaverse. 10X Skills covers achievement acceleration, imagination and design, boosting productivity, effective communication, and growth mindset.
Data and AI Skills include Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Management and Analysis, and Data Visualization and Narration. New Economy Skills include Net-zero and Climate Change, Circular Economy and Sustainability, Digital Economy, and New Economy Models.
“Jahiz” digital platform also includes the Future Skills Wallet, which is a digital portfolio for each government employee in the UAE government, through which achievement badges are placed upon completing the requirements for future skills allocated to each of the four main skill sets. This portfolio is linked through the platform to the human resources information management system in the federal government “Bayanati” and the Performance Management System for Federal Government employees.
“Jahiz” provides federal government employees with specialized scientific and practical content in both Arabic and English to empower them with the future skills.
Partnerships for developing future skills
“Jahiz” initiative brings together 15 strategic partners including top UAE government entities and leading international companies in the private sector, who will provide, through its digital platform, distinct content that enables employees to acquire the most important future skills.
The list of the most prominent partners of the initiative from the government sector includes the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Office, the Cyber Security Council, and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
In terms of partnerships with the private and academic sectors, the list of partners includes (Palmwood, Dubai Blockchain Center, Technology Innovation Institute, Microsoft, Mindvalley, Skill-Lync, Chainalysis, Accenture, Clear & Conquer, Udacity, Everdome, and Majarra).
Source: Federal Authority for Government Human Resources