The forum hosted Osama Al Zu'bi, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Middle East & Africa, who spoke about the growing importance of innovation in stimulating growth and creating opportunities for both organizations and individuals, especially in light of the rapidly evolving technology, which affects in one way or another all sectors and fields, and creates tremendous opportunities for institutions capable of creativity and innovation, and keeping pace with the rapid global changes.

Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar:

The HR Club is a knowledge sharing platform supported by cooperation of local governments

In a statement on the side-lines of the forum, Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, said that the forum is taking place in the Emirate of Fujairah at the recommendation of the UAE Government meetings to expand the HR Club’s activities to cover all the emirates, in order to the benefit of HR professionals and those interested in the field.

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Awar praised the efforts of Fujairah Government Human Resources Department and its keenness to strengthen cooperation with the Authority towards successful implementation of human resources initiatives, which aim to empower the government's human capital, and improve the government work environment making  it attractive for talent.

He stressed the importance of putting forward the issue of institutional innovation to be discussed at the HR Club, in conjunction with celebrations of the UAE Innovation Month, which runs until the end of February, and in line with the directives of our wise leadership which believes in the importance of innovation in enhancing UAE’s leadership and competitiveness at all levels, and seeks to establish it as a culture and daily practice.

HE said: “The HR Club provides an important opportunity for cooperation among all concerned with human capital development and discussing topics related to the most important challenges facing institutions, authorities and governments in this area, as well as reviewing solutions to address such challenges, and keeping pace with the changes.

“The Club will hold its second meeting for 2019 next Thursday in Ajman, in cooperation with Ajman Government Human Resource Department, on tolerance, its concept, its role in human dignity and its relationship to happiness, in addition to the main features of the UAE Innovation Month plan 2019.”

Mohammed Khalifa Al-Zayoudi: "Cooperation between FAHR and the local human resources departments support efforts being made to develop human capital"

For his part, Mohammed Khalifa Al-Zayoudi, Director General of Fujairah Government Human Resources Department, praised the existing cooperation and strategic partnership between the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources and the local human resources departments in general and in particular. He said that the partnership has contributed in creating innovative human resources systems, legislation and initiatives, drawing on best international practices, most notably the project to establish a unified statistical database on human resources at the state level.

He stressed the importance of HR Club in creating constructive communication between HR professionals and those interested in the field across all sectors and industries, and its proactive role in presenting new issues and topics for discussion, keeping abreast of developments and highlighting the best practices and solutions related to human capital development.

Osama Al Zu'bi: artificial intelligence will eliminate 73 million jobs in the coming years

Osama Al Zu'bi, Chief Technology Officer, Cisco Middle East and Africa addressed the form saying that innovation has played a significant role in making huge and rapid changes our lives. He cited the four industrial revolutions as an example.

He said: "The first industrial revolution was based on water power and steam engines for the production of mechanics, while the second relied on electric power to create mass production. The third industrial revolution stated in early twentieth century, which saw the emergence of microelectronics, and the power of computers in manufacturing, leading to utilization of information technology to automate production. Currently the fourth industrial revolution has begun, based on the third, since the middle of last century, relying on modern technology and artificial intelligence techniques”.

He said modern technology - especially Internet and Internet of Things -  has become an integral part of our daily lives, with 3.6 billion people using the Internet around the world out of 7.6 billion people living on the planet. This figure is expected to rise to five billion users over the next five years.

"Artificial intelligence technology will have a huge and direct impact on global markets, which will lose 73 million jobs over the next few years," said Cisco's Chief Technology Officer, Middle East and Africa, adding that the global average age of companies has dropped dramatically over the years to 15 years, as a result of the inability of many of these institutions to innovate and keep abreast of the rapid changes and developments in the global markets.

He reviewed Cisco's experience in innovation based on creating a business environment conducive of generating new ideas, building diverse teams from the region and the world, giving them the opportunity to think creatively, and opening questions that would make a qualitative difference in the way they work and bring innovative ideas.

Al Zu'bi reviewed Cisco's experience in the region. Cisco Innovation and Experiment Centre has benn created as a comprehensive innovation centre integrating industry, education and government sectors, and an ideal platform for exploring what digital transformation can achieve in many sectors including retail, hospitality, healthcare and education, and financial services, with a plan to transform the centre into an incubator for emerging, small and medium enterprises.

Human Resource Club

The Human Resources Club launched in 2010 is one of the most important strategic initiatives of the Authority. It is an interactive platform and an intellectual and knowledge communication channel that brings together interested people, human resources specialists and experts under one roof to share ideas, experiences and solutions that could enhance the roles assigned to human resources departments and other institutional service bodies across different sectors in the country.

The HR Club offers its membership, which has grown to over 12 thousand, an ideal opportunity to learn about the best practices, experiences and success stories of many individuals and institutions, as well as meeting with specialists and practitioners in the field of institutional work.

The Authority is seeking to develop the Club and improve its vision and mission by working hard to expand to expand the base of its beneficiaries beyond human resource professionals, to include support services sectors, and all employees working for these sectors, such as personnel, finance, IT, procurement, etc

It should be noted that membership of the Club is open and free for all those interested in human resources and institutional support, etc. Application should be through website: www.fahr.gov.ae, and email:  HRClub@fahr.gov.ae