889 participants attends SCAD's training institute courses in 2012

Training was also imparted to 128 UAE nationals, i.e. 83% of all the nationals employed with SCAD.

On the other hand 266 of the course participants belonged to a number of the Government entities that the STI collaborates with.

The STI organized 46 courses in 2012, of which 26 courses covered statistical areas, including statistics for non-statisticians (Arabic and English), Statistical Report Writing, Introduction to Official Statistics, Demography (beginner and intermediate levels), Collection of Statistical Data, Statistical Confidentiality, Processing of Survey Results and Labour Force Statistics.

According to the STI, the 'Statistics for Non-statisticians' course is at present reserved for the SCAD's employees, upon the full coverage of whom, the course will be offered to the staff of other Government entities.

The Institute's non-statistical courses during the period under review covered various behavioral and managerial themes, including creative thinking, effective communication, presentation skills, coaching and customer service.

HE Butti A. M. Al Qubaisi, Director General of SCAD reaffirmed the Centre's commitment to meeting the training needs of Abu Dhabi local government entities in various statistical disciplines in line with its annual training calendar.

SCAD seeks to promote cooperation with these government bodies through the provision of specialized statistical training programmes for their staff, and joint evaluation of the inputs and outputs of these courses, depending on the nature and requirements of their respective areas of work.

The STI noted, "The statistics for non-statisticians course is at present reserved for the SCAD's employees only, who will be covered by the end of the current year, where after the course will be offered to the staff of other Government entities during next year's training programme."

During 2012, the STI received visits by 250 students from five schools and 25 from one university. The Institute also arranged training slots for 20 work placements and 20 summer trainees. The STI plan for 2013 includes 84 training courses, 40 short seminars, 4 inductive training sessions and 30 knowledge sharing workshops.

According to SCAD, the STI offers courses in a wide range of topics including economic, demographic, social, agricultural, and environmental statistics, surveys, statistical research and general statistics, to meet the needs of Government agencies in various statistical disciplines and to cooperate with them in the evaluation of the inputs and outputs of the courses as per the specific requirements of the participants, in fulfillment of its mission to raise the efficiency of personnel working in the statistical units of these agencies.

SCAD maintains coordination with several internationally recognized universities and institutes in the field of statistics as strategic partners of the Institute in the delivery of high-quality courses in accordance with international standards.

In this regard the STI have partnered with GOPA a leading German development consulting firm and one of the strongest consulting groups in Europe, to provide Statistical Training Courses aligned with the requirements of the Statistic Centre -Abu Dhabi (SCAD) to deliver a well verse Statistical Training Courses for the SCAD Employees and other Government Entities to introduce, develop and enhance the knowledge for Statistics.

Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi called on all government entities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to take advantage of the training programmes organized by SCAD's Institute of Statistical Training, which are presented by highly competent experts in the various fields of applied statistics, including population censuses and various types of specialized field surveys.

The STI frequently invites expert trainers from prestigious institutions worldwide, so that the Institute's trainees can benefit from their high level of expertise and long experience in official statistics.

In the context of a lecture series in official statistics hosted by SCAD, the STI organized a lecture entitled: 'Statistical Bureaus: Aligning Outputs with Needs', presented by Dr. Heli Jeskanen-Sundström, Former Director General of Statistics Finland.

HE Butti Ahmed Al Qubaisi, Director General of Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi, pointed out, "The creation of the STI as a facility that caters to the preparation of statistical cadres and the upgrading of their performance is considered one of the fundamental requirements for building an advanced statistical system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi."

SCAD's Director General remarked, "Through the STI, the Centre seeks to build a base of competent human resources that would provide the statistical service required to meet the needs of various users in a timely manner. This can only be attained through a specialized training institute to prepare, implement and manage statistical training activities on a regular basis, in line with the objectives of the Centre and the statistical units of government and private agencies that produce or use statistical data in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The institute also and supports Emiratization in this strategic area with competent, adequately trained UAE nationals."