The end of week one

It is difficult to believe we have been here for one week.  (I’m still adapting to Thursday being the end of the work week.)  We have had our challenges with our assignments, but we have all made progress. 

Our offices at our sponsors have different hours.  The hotel has kindly allowed us to take over some tables at the Chill Out Café so we can continue working while not onsite.

                                                 



 Guilia and Robert working on e-literacy for youth.

                                     


Sunil, Ryutaro, Rosa, Yves, and Angela planning for e-literacy marketing campaigns

                                    



 Asuka, Karthik, and Seongsoo creating survey questions 

Team 3 had a chance to meet with the e-Government again to hear about marketing plans.  We also met with the leader of the Research and Development program to discuss our survey needs.  We ended the day by going to the Sharjah Mall to do some research and test some of our ideas.  (Truly, it was for research purposes only!)

#ibmcsc  #uae

Moving forward

Subteam 3 has had a whirlwind of activities around our project within the last two days.  (We are working with the University of Sharjah students to determine how to build an awareness campaign promoting e-Government services.)  

On Monday, we visited the Sharjah Department of Information and e-Government offices and had the opportunity to understand their vision for the future.  We then had the pleasure of meeting our sponsors at the University of Sharjah and had a quick tour of the campus, including our office space.

We finalized our focus group questions on Tuesday and revised our strategy.  We met with the Student Union Leader to discuss how best to connect with 200 students.  Our workday ended with a visit to IBM, Dubai.

 

Today, we met with 50 students in the Medical College.  Although the University of Sharjah has separate male and female campuses, the medical campus does not separate the classes.  (We did notice the females sit on one side of the room and the men on the other side.)

As most students entered the classroom, there was a look of confusion on their faces when they saw us in front of the room.  Most of the students turned around and went back into the hallway!  After introductions and program orientation, theses undergraduates were most interested in providing feedback and shaping the e-services program.  I look forward to working with the next sets of students to hear their opinions and recommendations.

#ibmcsc  #uae

Introductions and first impressions

On Sunday, we held our first face-to-face meeting with our client and sponsors – the

·         Department of Information and e-Government, Government of Sharjah;

·         University of Sharjah; and the

·         Supreme Council for Family Affairs,Sharjah.

Each subteam previewed work plans and discussed the approach we would take to meet our goals.  From the feedback, there appears to be agreement with our plans. 

Tomorrow, we visit the e-Government offices and will have more opportunity to ask in-depth questions about their initiatives.  We will also visit with our sponsors for tours and to see our work spaces. 

#ibmcsc  #uae