du
United Arab Emirates, 2016, April 28
Throughout the year, du endeavors to encourage the youth, with a focus on young women, into information and communication technology related careers. Every year, the telco shows its support for Girls in ICT day, an initiative backed by all ITU Member States where it aims to create a global environment that empowers and encourages young women to consider careers in ICT. This year, as part of du's partnership with Zayed University (ZU) and the launch of the second du Multimedia Lab, du challenged ZU students to deliver a concept which would highlight this support in a creative and engaging manner, with the chance of seeing this campaign brought to life.
As part of the competition, the winning group of ZU students created a campaign consisting of a short video to highlight technology's substantial effect on every aspect of modern life. Their idea was adapted and fully used for du's campaign with due credit provided to the students - Hind Al Khameeri, Fatima Hamed Al Braik, Khulood Al Hashemi, Naema al shehhi and Mariam Al Zaabi.
The video features a group of young girls discussing what trends mean to them, how today's trends are predominantly technology related and how technology is enhancing the popularity of these trends.
"By empowering Zayed University students with the provision of a state-of-the-art Multimedia Lab, we are providing them with the tools required to build the UAE leadership's vision of a knowledge-based, smart society. We also provided students from Zayed University with the chance to work on projects for our planned campaigns so they could experience what the communications sector is really like, as part of our initiative to encourage them to consider a career in ICT," said Hala Badri, Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications, du.
Girls in ICT Day is an initiative by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The aim of the event is to create a global environment that encourages and empowers young women to consider further studies and careers in the rapidly expanding Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) industry. The initiative is committed to celebrating International Girls in ICT Day on the fourth Thursday of every April as established by the ITU membership.
"Working with the UAE youth constantly reinforces the wealth of potential for innovative ideas and creative execution we are lucky to have. Today's students will go on to be the leaders in business tomorrow and we are committed to supporting the future generation of UAE leaders in ways that will allow them to fulfill the ambitions of the UAE to become a world-leading Smart City destination. This is just another way we are showing our support in encouraging girls to pursue careers in ICT and change their mind-sets," concluded Badri.
