Are you safe in the digital age?

As part of Abu Dhabi University’s community engagement activities in Al Ain, a workshop titled “Are you Safe in the digital age? was organized by the Emirates Safer Internet Society, a non-profit NGO organization providing protection for children from the dangers of the Internet. 

The workshop, aiming to raise awareness of the safe use of the web, was delivered by Eng. Adel Alkaff Al Hashmi, Vice Chairman, Emirates Safer Internet Society in the presence of Dr. Hamad Odhabi, Director of Al Ain campus and was attended by students, faculty and staff.

Eng. Adel Alkaff Al Hashemi, Vice Chairman, Emirates Safer Internet Society, stated: “We are inspired by the vision ​​of the UAE founding father late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, which is putting people at the top of our priorities. We also follow the visions and directives of our wise leadership to build national capabilities, activate the educational role and develop social responsibility to provide a safer environment for the new generation when using the Internet. This can be achieved by collaborating with the stakeholders including the Ministry of Interior through the Khalifa Empowerment Initiative “Aqdar” and the Ministry of Education, to forecast the future and achieve sustainable development.

The workshop highlighted several important awareness areas included the risks of electronic games addiction, the health issues, psychological and behavioural damages, the right use of social media and UAE legislation.  Various case studies, illustrated by videos and research were presented and discussed. 

Eng. AlHashmi emphasized that UAE is one of the world’s leading countries in providing a safe environment for the family and enhancing awareness efforts and preventing the dangers of negative use of the Internet by children.

He highlighted the efforts of the Society to achieve its vision to become a sustainable global Center for Excellence in the field of immunizing children from the dangers of the Internet by launching a digital platform to spread security culture and strengthen family dialogue. This is possible through educational programs, projects and research on the protection of children on the Internet.

Participants were very engaged during the workshop as they appreciated the importance of awareness of the safe use of the web, and the necessity of increasing such workshops for school students, parents and academics. Abu Dhabi University’ thanked the Emirates Safer Internet Society for their awareness efforts and creating a secure digital environment for the Internet.