How The UAE and Saudi Arabia Are Doing Great Things on Social Media

Two weeks ago I was in Dubai presenting a 6 hour workshop on the use of social media and mobile technology for emergency management, to the GCC healthcare sector. As all of my travels around the world, the experience was enlightening and inspiring.

Within my group, I had delegates from the Dubai Health Authority, Ministries of Health, the Autism Center and others. As my 6 hour workshop spanned over 2 days, I was originally asked to make the first day very basic and then to get into the fun stuff (for me at least!) on the second day. To my happy surprise, the delegates who attended my workshop were so social media savvy and advanced that after the first half of the first session, they voted to dive right into the fun stuff!

My pleasant surprise

I had the pleasure of spending 6 hours with a group of men and women from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia that are doing amazing things for their respective organizations on social media. Their initiatives, their eagerness to learn and their engagement with me throughout the workshop was a breath of fresh air. I have to say that, because of the middle eastern culture, I didn’t expect the level of engagement that I received, especially from the women, but I was wrong. These women were vocal, expressive, so intelligent and eager to make a difference within their organization – to make it stronger and to further open the lines of two-way communication between their organization and their audiences. These women were inspiring and I feel honored to have had the opportunity to spend 6 hours discussing this mutual passion we share with them!

The Middle East is doing great things on social media

Between the delegates that attended my workshop and the authoritative figures that sat on panels, I was absolutely impressed with the social media initiatives being taken in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. For example:

• Delegates from my workshop are creating open doors and lines of two-way communication to connect doctors with patients, and this is being done on social. They’re continually finding new ways to connect with their audiences and to improve their knowledge and expectations around health-related issues that concern them;

• The Dubai government has developed a 3 year plan to create what they call “Dubai Smart Government”. This stretches across so many things, but one interesting strategy in particular is that things like car accidents can be reported or “called in” via Facebook, rather than actually having to call it in and wait for the authorities to arrive.

In the coming weeks I’m hoping to have some of these fascinating professionals join me on The Crisis Intelligence Podcast to further discuss their social initiatives with us. I’ll keep you posted!

A wonderful over-all experience

So all in all, my experience in Dubai was amazing! It’s always a pleasure to meet smart, proactive people who are pushing envelopes and using technology to make their world a better and more open and connected place.

On a personal note, while in Dubai I also took the time (as I always do) to explore the desert (which was mesmerizingly beautiful), shop in the biggest mall in the world and experience a Thursday night (which is their Friday night) on the town with some fabulous ladies! I’ve included some fun pictures below 🙂

Me presenting to my fabulous workshop delegates.

360 degrees of pure desert horizon. A breath-taking experience!

I had to dip my toes in the Persian Gulf – and take a picture with the only 7 star hotel in the world, The Burj Al Arab.

Marhaba means “hello” in Arabic. I loved the title of the Hotel Al Qasr’s concierge reception. Talk about welcoming communication!

The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is definitely an impressive sight to see. (This was one of the views from my hotel room.)