National Media Council Launches the ‘Media Lab’

The National Media Council (NMC), the regulatory body for the UAE’s dynamic media sector, has announced the launch of the ‘Media Lab.’ Established to unify the efforts of media laboratories across the country, the facility forms part of the council’s strategic role in upgrading national media systems and is a tangible result of the UAE Government Annual Meetings that took place in September 2017.

As an incubator for developing media skills in the UAE, NMC’s Media Lab supports talent across media fields and disciplines. It has been set up to provide individuals with theoretical and practical expertise, thereby qualifying them to participate in the labor market and to cope with the rapid developments witnessed by the media sector at the local and international levels. In its scope and ambition, the Media Lab serves the national agendas of Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071.

Located at the heart of the twofour54 media zone in Abu Dhabi, NMC’s Media Lab targets three categories of promising young media talent; writers, filmmakers and games producers. NMC is to hold brainstorming sessions related to the three categories, with the activities attended and led by members of the Youth Media Council to discuss the needs of each group and to develop training programs commensurate with their requirements. 

"NMC’s Media Lab is an embodiment of the leadership's vision of involving youth in all fields of the development process and is the latest in a series of initiatives the council has launched to provide platforms that support young people. The lab will enable young talent to contribute to the development of the local media sector, cope with advancements in the global media industry and spread the message of the UAE based on the values ​​of moderation and tolerance. The launch of the Media Lab Initiative is a tangible outcome of the UAE Government Annual Meetings, which were held in September last year," said H.E. Mansour Ibrahim Al Mansoori, Director General of NMC.

"The aim of this initiative is to unite the efforts of the country's media labs and to enable them to promote the young media talent categories of promising writers, filmmakers and game producers. This will contribute to the council's efforts in developing the legislative and regulatory environment of the media sector, which has resulted in the issuance of a set of regulations, such as the Media Content System, the Media Licensing System, the Age Classification System and the Electronic Media Regulations,” he added.

The Media Lab is to hold three specialised workshops; the first on filmmaking, in cooperation with the Dubai Film and TV Commission, Faris Film and Al Futtaim Group; the second on the games industry and its development, in cooperation with the Media Zone Authority - Abu Dhabi twofour54, Red, SONY, UbiSoft; and the third on UAE publishers, in association with the Emirates Publishers Association.

The media initiatives discussed at the UAE Government Annual Meetings aim to develop local media work and build future media generations. They provide mechanisms to monitor and evaluate contemporary media content, locally, regionally and globally, among the wide spread of digital media platforms.