Make tech work for you, not dominate you: IGCF
With the rapid developments in technology and its steadily expanding influence in almost every aspect of human life, the 11th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) held an interactive workshop titled ‘Brave Conversations’ to highlight the growing impact of technology on people’s lives.
Under the patronage of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, on Wednesday opened the 2022 edition of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), at the Expo CentreSharjah in the presence of Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Council.
Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence along with a number of sheikhs and dignitaries atended the opening of the two-day event.
Running under the theme, ‘Challenges and solutions’, the IGCF’S 11th edition will zoom in on the impact of government communication on its recipients and discuss ways to create a shared
By focusing on how people interact with technology and teaching them to be mindful about the way they use it is important to determine the place of technology in one’s life: Experts
collaborative future. The event is organised by the International Government Communication Centre (IGCC), an initiative of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB)
Sheikhsul tan bin ahmed inspected on wednesday the participating pavilions and the accompanying activities at the 11th IGCF.
Sheikh Sultan toured the corridors of the forum, organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau at Expo Centre Sharjah under the theme “Challenges and Solutions,” and was briefed on the accompanying activities and various workshops that correspond to the forum’s themes and serve different groups and provide the most prominent experiences and models for effective government communication to face challenges.
Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed also toured the pavilions of sponsors, partners and a number of media agencies, where he learnt about the various workshops, seminars, lectures, plaforms and modern methods used to support government communication.
Through a series of workshops held on the opening day, ‘Brave Conversations’ explored how people should live with technology and how to make it work for them instead of allowing technology to dominate lives.
“A lot of people feel that technology is just something we use mindlessly,” said Leanne Fry, Chief Innovation Officer, AUSTRAC, and co-creator of ‘Brave Conversations’.
“By focusing on how people interact with it and teaching them to be mindful about the way they use it is important to determine the place of technology in one’s life.”
People with technological and non-tech backgrounds were brought together at the IGCF workshop to create a plaform for open conversations on the impact of technology.
Anni Rowland-campbell, co-creator of the workshop and Director of Intersticia, told participants, “It is not the developers of technology who decide on the impact of what they are creating; it is felt by the users and the people on the street.”
Through interactive exercises, participants were made beter aware of how to take control of technology and use it in accordance with their needs and to their benefit and advantage.
As part of the workshop series, participants also atended the session titled ‘Future World Challenges’ that showcased the challenges of navigating potential future scenarios via technology. During the session, Professor Dame Wendy Hall, who chairs the Artificial Intelligence Council in the UK, shared her valuable insights on the World Wide Web and the internet.
“Our goal is to make people more aware of technology and the impact it has had on them,” Rowland-campbell explained. “We want to empower them and make them feel that just because a particular app or plaform is widely used or popular, it does not mean that you have to feel compelled to be on it. There are other beter ways of doing things.”
“The realisation of what participants can do to change their growing dependence on technology has empowered them to make behavioural shits in their daily habits and talk about what they can change, and how they can influence the world,” Fry further explained.