SAP, Expo 2020 Dubai Launch Education Webinars
A number of challenges and opportunities have emerged for university students and graduates as a result of the COVID pandemic – a subject that was top of the agenda in the virtual event "Building the Ideal Skill Set for the 21st Century: How Students Can Prepare for the Modern Workplace", which kicked off the Expo 2020 Dubai’s Education Programme Webinar Series.
Held in collaboration with University Alliances (SAP), Expo’s Official Innovative Enterprise Software Partner, it highlighted how the pandemic has led to job-search challenges for university students and graduates, but has catalyzed innovation and technological advancement.
Indeed, the UAE is a rare global bright spot: many UAE employers are expecting the market to rally, with up to 14 percent growth in the university graduate labor market in 2021, according to a recent report by the Institute of Student Employers. Many recruitment tools have already been moved online.
"Interdisciplinary collaboration and life-long learning in an increasingly digital work environment is the exciting future of work the next generation of talents shall be prepared for by universities and companies," said Katharina Schäfer, Global Head of University Alliances, SAP.
By supporting digital skills development for students and recent graduates, the SAP University Alliances Programme enables faculty and teachers at educational institutions and partners around the world to educate young talents and help them to launch their careers in the SAP ecosystem.
The Expo Education Programme provides a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience to UAE and international university students, and international high school students through specially curated tours during Expo. Its Partner Webinar Series provides a platform for the next World Expo’s official partners – representing an elite range of leading local and global organisations – to support the nation’s youth through highly interactive virtual sessions.
"The pandemic has created unique challenges and left people unsure how to best plan for the future, with university students and fresh graduates from the class of 2020 among the most adversely impacted and unsure of the skills they would need to succeed in a future workplace," said Kailash Nagdev, Vice President, Sales & Analytics, Expo 2020 Dubai.
"We are all responsible for building societal resilience by implementing fair, inclusive recovery measures that leave no one behind. The Expo Education Programme is enabling students to connect with experts, explore career paths and discover how, collaboratively, we can build solutions for a brighter future."
Education experts have also cautioned that among the more prominent risks of recruitment during the pandemic is that organizations could increase gender and inter-generational inequalities.
"The language around the COVID-19 pandemic often revolves around loss, devastation and catastrophic effects on the global economy," said Dr. Fida Afiouni, Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at the Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut. "But I’m not concerned about our future because of my trust in our youth. It is through their adaptability, resilience, hard work, persistence, and inclusive values that we can bounce back, and shift towards countless possibilities. Education today is important, and change is the end result of all true learning."
Additional speakers during the education webinar included Haifa Al Kaylani, Founder and Chair, Arab International Women’s Forum; Wadia Ait Hamza, Head of the Global Shapers Community, World Economic Forum; Wissam Kadi, Global Initiatives Director, SAP Next-Gen and SAP UAE; Fatima Alloghani, Head of Expo Academy and Emiratization, Expo 2020 Dubai.
During Tolerance and Inclusivity Week held in November 2020 – the fourth in a series of thematic weeks hosted by Expo 2020 – Deirdre O’Reilly, Senior Director, Expo 2020 Dubai at SAP UAE; and Vidya Gugnani, Director, SAP Co-Innovation Lab in the UAE, presented PODium, an innovative technology platform that enables people of determination to effectively navigate Expo 2020 Dubai.
PODium is being developed in co-operation with the SAP Co-Innovation Lab in the UAE for Expo 2020 Dubai, alongside SAP technology partners HERE Technologies and Extentia Information Technology. PODium focuses on providing a unique, tailored experience, centering on navigational and assistance challenges on-site at Expo 2020 for People of Determination. SAP has also selected PODium for its internal SAP One Billion Lives social entrepreneurship initiative.
During Expo 2020 Dubai’s Knowledge and Learning Week, Thomas Benaroya, Winnovate Innovation Programme Lead, SAP, will present the Winnovate initiative.
Winnovate, powered by SAP, is an innovation coaching and workshop facilitator that supports individuals and organisations to build and foster innovation capabilities through transformational training programmes. Winnovate helps organisations to experience, learn and apply cutting-edge innovation methodologies, such as design thinking and business modeling, fueled by powerful change techniques, including positive psychology and creative team coaching.
