The Emirates Centre for Government Knowledge, ECGK, the management consulting arm of the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, MBRSG, has recently launched its ‘Ask an Expert’ initiative with the aim of creating a valuable source of applied public management knowledge on the internet.

Available on the professional social networking site LinkedIn, the platform has been set up to provide expert advisory opinion and facilitate the discussion of questions posed by the public about a variety of public management issues.

Live every Thursday for two hours from 12:00-14:00, the initiative provides an opportunity for experts and the public to find solutions to current and future public management and governance challenges and to raise various questions through the ECGK’s profile on LinkedIn. The questions will be answered by a team of more than 70 resident and non-resident consultants from various disciplines from the ECGK.

Dr. Ali bin Sabaa Al-Marri, Executive President of MBRSG, affirmed that the school devotes its capabilities to engage students, specialists and members of the public who are interested in interacting and debating various issues related to management, administration and policy.

“The Ask an Expert initiative reflects the continuous efforts of MBRSG to establish a learning approach based on spreading knowledge to the widest range using modern technology, especially in light of the current situation that requires us to reach out to scientific and academic societies and leaders in the government and private sectors,” Al-Marri noted.

“The platform,” he added, “enables us to strengthen our role in improving government performance in various fields in order to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and to continue to work efficiently and effectively.”

The Ask an Expert initiative targets leaders and decision-makers in the federal and local governments in the UAE, the GCC, and the region as a whole. It also aims to be highly relevant to those who seek to understand and learn about the UAE’s best practices, those who are interested in the public management, students conducting research as part of their graduate studies.

“Ask an Expert is an innovative initiative that uses modern communication technology to create a change in the methodology of distance learning and consulting. It employs LinkedIn’s flexible tools in disseminating knowledge and exchanging knowledge, expertise, insights and solutions on various management-related topics,” said Sarah Talib, Director of the ECGK.

“The initiative represents a sustainable reference for various public management specialisations. Ask an Expert enables its live discussions and content to be available to everyone and can be referred to at any time. This allows students, specialists and those interested in developing their respective fields of public management,to make the most of them, as a reliable and sustainable reference,” Talib added.

The inaugural discussion on human resources management attracted over 2,000 followers on ECGK’s profile and received more than 100 questions, which were answered by the consultants at the centre.

Topics to be covered by the Ask an Expert initiative in the coming weeks will include strategy and organisational performance, innovation management and knowledge management.