Dubai, UAE, 16 February 2014: Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation, and President of Zayed University, was joined by Osman Sultan, CEO, du, to launch the new du Multimedia Lab for students of Zayed University's College of Communication and Media Sciences, during a ceremony held at the University's Abu Dhabi campus. The partnership with Zayed University to launch the second Multimedia Lab, after launching the first lab in zayed University's Dubai campus in 2012, comes as part of du's commitment to enhancing education in the UAE, a pillar of the company's sustainability strategy.

In attendance were HE Ali Rashid Al Ketbi, Assistant Secretary General, Public Administration Directorate, Chairman Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council; and HE Mubarak Saeed Al Shamsi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Centre for Education and Vocational Training, Members of Zayed University's Council, and Dr. Marilyn Roberts, Dean, College of Communication and Media Sciences, Zayed University.  They were joined by several senior representatives from du, including Fahad Al Hassawi, Chief Commercial Officer, Ibrahim Nassir, Chief Human Capital & Administration Officer and Hala Badri Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications.

In this occasion HE Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al Qasimi said: "The partnership between Zayed University and DU demonstrates how together we are strengthening the multimedia and technological skills of students to enter the UAE's dynamic media sectors".

"The next generations of our graduates will directly benefit from this partnership" she added.

The launch of the Abu Dhabi campus Multimedia Lab follows the earlier opening of the same facility at Zayed University in Dubai. Through their partnership, du has helped Zayed University to digitise and enhance technical support for its College of Communication and Media Sciences, with the creation of a lab equipped with the state-of the art technical infrastructure and required software for the benefit of the University students and faculty.

The lab is spread over 150m2, with 2 'live' TV sets - a news-desk and interview set, and a special 'UAE heritage set' with Emirati style furnishings which can be used for TV series or documentary style productions. The laboratory also features a separate audio recording room, kitted out with the latest audio and mixing technology and two 50 inch control screens. Further, all of the equipment is HD compatible, in line with the advancements in the video production industry.

Since the opening of the lab in the Dubai campus, the du Multimedia Lab has greatly enhanced the students' learning environment with more students now choosing the Film and Video Communications specialisation than ever before, according to University faculty.

Osman Sultan, CEO, du, said: "Today's students will go on to be the leaders of tomorrow's Smart UAE. By empowering Zayed University's students with the provision of a state-of-the-art Multimedia Lab, we are providing them with the tools required to build the UAE leadership's vision of a knowledge-based, Smart economy. Education is the keystone of such development, and we are committed to supporting the future generation of UAE leaders in ways that will allow them to fulfil the ambitions of the UAE to become a world-leading Smart City entity."

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About du
We opened for business in 2007. We offer mobile and fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services to individuals, homes and businesses. We also provide carrier services for businesses and satellite up/downlink services for TV broadcasters. As a rapidly-growing enterprise, we have a team of experts working to enhance and expand our bouquet of service offerings. Our people come from over 60 countries - we mirror the rich cultural diversity of our nation, while being able to serve our customers in a variety of languages.

We remain committed to providing fulfilling opportunities for quality talent in a cosmopolitan working environment. By the end of Q1 2014, more than 7.5 million individual customers and over 80,000 businesses have chosen to use our services. In 2013 we were awarded the Dubai Chamber CSR Label for the second year in recognition of our continuing commitment to CSR best practice and the Small Energy Award - Golden Category at Emirates Energy Award for our LEED platinum-certified Fujairah retail shop. We were also awarded with the Premier Plan Best Business Service commsMEA awards in 2013 and the award Best Cloud Provider for Datamena at Telecom Review Industry Awards.

du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 20.08 percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining stake by public shareholders. du is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and trades under the name 'du'.

For further information, please contact:
Maryam Al Balooshi
PR Lead(Corporate)
Brand & Communications
du
Mobile: +971 55 953 0523
Email: maryam.albalooshi@du.ae

Reka Sepsy
LeoComm PR
Tel: +971 4 367 6154 
Mobile: +971 55 220 68 20
Fax: +971 4 367 2615
Email: reka.sepsy@leocommpr.com 

© Press Release 2015