The Elite Program, a specialised program initiated by the Executive Office of Dubai and managed by Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development (MBRPLD), that has been established to identify and prepare promising young UAE nationals to be future leaders capable of managing the strategic initiatives of the local and federal governments, has recently announced that it will organise a ceremony to honour the participants of the program.
Serving as a culmination of a project presentation activity wherein participants were encouraged to work as a group for crisis management and future planning, the ceremony recognises the participants' efforts for researching and working on the different projects during their affiliation with the Elite Program from May to October, 2008. The participants were divided into teams with each group required to submit a different project of strategic importance and from local and international perspectives. The project presentations have helped strengthen the participants' confidence in their own capabilities by giving them the chance to experience various kinds of crisis, prepare for such eventuality, and deal with it based on the Dubai Strategic Plan. The activity also allowed participants to utilise the various techniques and skills they have acquired in the program.
Adel Al Shared, CEO of the Elite Program and CEO of MBRPLD said: “This experience promotes and tests a successful leader's character and integrity, especially the ability to deal with different kinds of situations and crisis. Through these projects, we aim to enhance the ability of the participants to work as a group and explore the strong points of each individual, which will be utilised for the success of their respective projects. This approach will enrich the participants from both a practical and theoretical perspective. We are looking forward to reviewing the work of the participants, as their projects could be used to develop new policies in Dubai.”
For his part, Ahmad Bin Bayat, Secretary General of the Dubai Executive Council said: “Perhaps the most important aspect of these projects is that they are based on our vision for Dubai and the realities of the economy from a global perspective. We also tried to identify the possible consequences in the event of a crisis; the participants tried to deal with them and used all their acquired expertise to resolve them in accordance with the Dubai Strategic Plan. In fact, the projects presented proved that the participants have acquired a significant understanding of the Dubai Strategic Plan and its vision, from which all the project researches were based.”
The 35 participants of the Elite Program were divided into five groups of seven members each with each group assigned a specific topic to work on. The projects were “Innovation and Creativity”, “National Identity”, “the role of the UAE women”, “The Economic Growth and Viability” and “Dubai Sustainable Development”. The winning projects were selected based on several criteria such as the quality of the solutions and analysis provided by each group, and the facts that were given.
The winning project focused on the topic “How to develop and increase creativity, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking in Dubai in order to meet the challenges of the future and sustain Dubai’s economic growth and viability.” The runner-up prize went to the project with the topic “How to maintain and leverage Dubai’s traditional culture and values and maintain its national identity in the context of a growing, developing and modernising economy and an increasingly diverse international population.” The ceremony also featured the new version of the Elite Program, which will be launched shortly.
The Elite Program targets talented young professionals in the 21-25 age bracket who have a bachelor's degree from a recognised university, proven academic excellence, strong leadership potential, working knowledge in both Arabic and English, basic computer skills, and a genuine dedication and commitment to the region's human and socioeconomic progress.
