GCC Social Media Summit 2015 to discuss the use gamification and its applications to expand government-community engagement

Dubai, UAE – 13 July 2015: At this year’s GCC Government Social Media Summit (#GSMS15) held in Dubai from 16 – 17 September 2015, speakers from a number of government entities will describe how they are using social media to innovate government services. Representatives from Dubai Police and the City of Las Vegas are among the speakers who will provide insight on social media and gamification.

Gamification is the use of game design elements, but for use in a non-game context. This is achieved by utilising game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems. Colonel Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, General Director of the Smart Services Department at Dubai Police will be speaking on the GCC Government Social Media Brainstorm Session which will also include various case studies from across the GCC Government on September 16th, 2015.

The past few years have seen Dubai Police leading the implementation of cutting-edge video game technologies to develop electronic awareness games in an Emirati style for communicating awareness messages, strengthening national identity and instilling loyalty within the UAE. 

“Electronic games are considered one of the best ways and means to contribute in spreading awareness because of the widespread use of them on smart devices,” said Colonel Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi. “The profound impact of this kind of innovation is apparent by the number of game users, which, as it stands is more than 11 million.”

“At Dubai police we realised the importance to find an innovative method to enhance and support the traditional methods we employ to communicate with the community,” he added “Therefore we use Gamification into different areas such as virtual training and electronic awareness campaigns to  motivate people to carry out diverse activities that generally could not be too attractive.”

As well as gamification, Dubai Police are very active across all social media platforms. Social media allows for direct communications with the community in a way that bypasses the filtration and constraints imposed by traditional media.

Colonel Alrazooqi explained: “Social media helps the local community to communicate directly with the police. It provides a medium for people to ask questions and provide comments and as a result we are able to learn about issues with our products and services quicker than ever before.”

“Ultimately, by using social media we are able to engage citizens and enhance public services in the short and long-term. The GCC Social Media Summit is an excellent platform to be able to share knowledge and gain insight on how governments can use social media more effectively for innovative communication.”

Also speaking at the Summit, Don Jacobson, Information Technologies Business Partner, City of Las Vegas, will share a case study on how the City of Las Vegas has become the top digital city in the US. He will explain how Las Vegas has transformed key processes with widespread connectivity through gamification, mobile applications, open data initiatives and social media interactions.

“Overall the topic of Gamification is certainly an emerging one and will be the next big thing for governments in the GCC – said Anna Atabekian, project manager of the GCC Government Social Media Summit. “As the appetite for Social Media among GCC governments grows, the summit will continue to deliver the most cutting edge programme, topics, educational workshops and global case studies.”

The Summit is one of the most important, educational and business-driven social media platforms for the government sector offering insight into the effective use of social media to meet and excel communication objectives.

Professionals from across a range of sectors such as healthcare, defence, tourism, government, social business, education and foreign affairs will be in attendance.

This year’s Summit will be held in partnership with Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government a knowledge partner; TwoFour54 as training partner; Future for Advanced Research and Studies, exhibitor; Smart Dubai, LinkedIn, Ministry of Defence, MEPRA as key contributors; Exantium as  Programme Advisor and Four Communications Group as the PR and communications partner.