His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the New Media Academy to prepare a future workforce capable of leading the rapidly growing field of digital marketing.

Through digital masterclasses, the New Media Academy will provide a broad range of career-oriented educational programs to nurture social media content creators and develop them into innovative resources in digital marketing and social media.

The academy aims to improve the youth's career prospects and enable them to lead as digital citizens in the new economy.


The custom-designed curriculum, developed by renowned experts in social media and digital marketing, will be delivered by a handful of internationally acclaimed specialists including Duke University's Matt Bailey, among the world's most sought-after internet marketing experts; Juan Pablo Sanchez, Masterclass Educator at top 10 digital programs; and Caleb Gardner, the former US President Barack Obama's lead digital strategist.

Instructors also include representatives of the four new media giants Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn.

Announcing the launch on his Twitter account, Sheikh Mohammed said, "Today, we launched the New Media Academy to nurture a new generation of digital experts. Our goal is to equip youth to lead the rapidly growing social media landscape." He added, "The academy will train media professionals in the public and private sector and develop social media content creators. The new media provides job opportunities and supports the development process."

Two Programs

The New Media Academy will commence on July 7, 2020 with interactive online masterclasses in digital marketing, social media and content creation open to full-time employees and international students.

The academy will offer the Impact Digital Creator Program aims to train 20 social media content creators per cohort and develop them into a life of full-time content creation. The 2-month program, spread over a wider 3-year Talent Development strategy, will provide customised curriculum for students to carefully follow up their progress, develop life-long digital skills and enable them to create innovative and meaningful online content.


The Social Media Management Development program, to be launched on August 2, 2020, aims to upgrade digital skills of 100 full-time media professionals in both the public and private sector, per cohort, to enable them to thrive in the new digital media landscape.

The academy's cutting-edge curriculum is designed to foster the development of both hard and soft skills to enable students to lead a successful career in digital marketing.

Upon completion, graduates will be capable of delivering social media communication strategies, creating content for distribution across various digital media platforms, designing engaging interactive products for contemporary devices, and evaluating performance of digital marketing campaigns.

They will receive an internationally accredited certificate issued in the UAE upon completion of the program.

Further innovative and modern programs will be added to the academy in the future, to empower media professionals in government agencies and private institutions, who are interested in developing their expertise in digital content creation.

Interested participants can pre-register for both programs on www.newmediaacademy.ae.

Social Media Content Creators

The New Media Academy aims to nurture a generation of professional and responsible social media content creators capable of producing meaningful content and promoting positive humanitarian and social initiatives that benefit the world.

The academy's programs seek to improve digital skills of online influencers and content creators, empowering them to create innovative content that maximise presence in the global digital landscape. The academy also aims to train media professionals in public and private institutions to excel in their careers and drive the new economy.

Post Covid-19 Strategy

The launch of the New Media Academy follows the increasing reliance on digital platforms amid the Covid-19 crisis that saw a growth of time spent online. Acknowledging the importance of creating credible content in the rapidly growing digital landscape and social media platforms, the academy prepares students to meet the requirements of digital fields that will create millions of job opportunities around the world and introduce a new economic sector. It aims to empower young people with essential skills for the new labor market and the future digital economy.

The launch also coincides with the UAE's post Covid-19 strategies through nurturing a new generation of digital experts and implementing economic diversification strategies for the post-oil era.

Online Learning

The programs offer students a customised curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and project-based assignments.

Interactive classes, presented in online masterclasses format, promote "open learning" techniques that will empower students to combine theoretical study with practical application. With the support of the world's top digital marketing specialists, students will create, post and analyse online content in real-time after each course.

Graduates will be equipped with up-to-date skills and expertise by the end of the program that will improve their career prospects in the challenging post Covid-19 era.

World Renowned Experts

Programs were created by internationally acclaimed digital experts to provide the most recent digital media practices. Courses will be developed and developed by world renowned Educators including Duke University's Matt Bailey, among the world's most sought-after internet marketing experts; Juan Pablo Sanchez, a masterclass educator at one of the top 10 ranked digital programs; and Greg Jarboe, award-winning educator and YouTube Guru.

The New Media Academy is also working with experts including Caleb Gardner, lead digital strategist of former US President Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Neil Patel, named among the top 10 online marketing experts by Forbes and a top web influencer by the Wall Street Journal; and Tim Ash, one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under 35 by the United Nations.

Creators of the New Media Academy's curriculum include Justin Odisho, a major YouTuber and podcaster with some of the top video editing instructions online; Jacob Riglin, a popular global photographer and Peter Mckinnon, YouTube star and online instructor of photography, cinematography and editing.

190 hours of learning

Participants must complete 190 hours of learning to graduate from the programs that will cover the five modules of digital media strategy, content creation to maximize digital presence, content distribution to strengthen engagement, audience engagement, and analytics.

The student journey will consist of 110 hours of classroom instruction, 30 hours of e-learning, 15 hours of expert talks and 35 hours of projects.

The New Media Academy programs are designed to cover three courses on digital media strategy, three courses on development of skills to maximise digital presence, one course on achieving maximum impact and engagement, three courses on optimising digital content and campaigns and one course on analytics to drive business decisions.

Three Needs

The New Media Academy has been established to address three key needs of talent development, capacity building and future readiness in the region.

The academy aims to respond to an increasingly digital market environment by developing talents to take on roles with a digital focus and also reskilling traditional media roles, to have a digital orientation.

To tackle capacity building, the academy's programs aim to meet the accelerating pace at which consumers are moving online due to the Covid-19 crisis. In the coming phase, companies are expected to move even larger portions of their media budgets into digital advertising, with many of them in need of digital marketing experts to help them navigate the unique demands of marketing and advertising online. Should the job growth trajectory be accurate, there could be as many as 150,000+ new jobs in Digital Marketing by the year 2024 worldwide.

Recognising the need for future readiness, the academy seeks to encourage youth to invest time and money to develop direct/digital skills, data skills, management skills and strategy or planning. It aims to apply ad hoc methods such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), boot camps, and specialised blended learning academies that have attracted rising public interest and contributed to sharply reducing time needed to acquire some skills that previously required classic, degree-oriented programs. Part-time education programs or nondegree certificate courses also allow for broader access than classic fulltime programs, especially for the education of adults.

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