Module III of the UAE-Harvard Program for Public Sector Innovation starts 13 December

The UAE program, "Creating A High Performance Government: Public Sector Innovation," provides executive training for senior government officials with the aim of enhancing their leadership and management skills.

Commenting on the event, the UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Khalfan Bin Kharbash, said: " We trust that this program will serve, through its emphasis on global case studies analysis, as a useful tool for all attendees on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our public sector. The program very clearly reflects the UAE's commitment to investing in its key resources - human capital - in order to drive greater efficiency within government operations."

The program will be delivered by distinguished faculty members and will expose senior government officials to new trends in public sector management and high performance government. Specific sessions will focus on a range of topics including vision and strategy, innovations in empowered participatory governance, negotiation analysis, the relation between markets and policies, policy considerations in government's innovation and trends in accountability and the regulation of non-profit decision making processes. Of particular relevance to the UAE will be the exposure to private-public partnerships and the need to innovate the public administration to be more effective and efficient. At the luncheon session on Tuesday, attendees will participate in a discussion about current development in the gulf region.

Attendees in the program include senior officials comprising sheikhs, ministers, undersecretaries, central bank senior officials and members of UAE University and the Zayed University. Renowned experts and thinkers of the field will conduct the course including Professor Gowher Rizvi: Director of the Institute of Government Innovation, Iris Bohnet: Associate Professor of Public Policy and Faculty of the Kennedy School's Women and Public Policy Program, John White: Lecturer in Public Policy and Chair of the Kennedy School Middle East Initiative, and Peter Zimmerman: Senior Associate Dean for Program Development and Executive Education and Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy.

The program will run from the 13-17 and will be followed by a graduation and alumni celebration. On the 16th evening, UAE University will witness the formal launching of the Harvard-UAE club chaired by H.E. Dr. Kharbash and aimed at providing a forum for the exchange of views between the UAE-Harvard graduates and Harvard's knowledge community.

The course is the third module of four that are scheduled to be completed in 2004. The first module was conducted in July 2002 and second course took place in May 2003 at Harvard University and was attended by 21 senior officials representing various UAE ministries in addition to UAE University and the Zayed University. The final module will be held at Boston sometime in March 2004.