This time last year, the Global Alliance released the Global Capabilities Framework for Public Relations and Communication Management, the fruit of a two-year research project led by the University of Huddersfield (UK).

This research asked practitioners, educators and employers in eight countries across six continents what they thought public relations is capable of, and how it can best fulfill its potential.  The combined outcome, the Global Capability Framework (GCF), can be used by communicators to both assess their own capability and potential, and set their own goals for their own development. The GCF should be also used by employers to understand how to improve their team’s strengths through training. Third, educators should look to the GCF as a basis for their curriculum’s development.

What matters most to me is the country frameworks, specifically tailored to large markets where there’s a substantial communications function. There are country frameworks for Australia, Argentina, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

To date, there’s not been a country framework for anywhere in the Middle East, but this will change. Zayed University’s College of Communication and Media Sciences is undertaking an initiative, in partnership with the University of Huddersfield (UK), to build a capability framework for communicators and students in the UAE.

For the first time, we will have a practical aid that will help individuals, teams, employers and educators understand what are the key skills that we must focus on to both grow as a profession, and become more influential with our stakeholders. A UAE framework will reflect the cultural and regional variations in public relations as it is practiced in the UAE, and it’ll act as a guide for our future development. It will help us understand where we must improve as a nation if we’re going to become a global leader in communications.

I’m excited about a UAE framework, in terms of what is means for communicators, employers and educators in the country. I’m also excited about how this country framework can become the first of many national frameworks across the wider Middle East. We’re still in our infancy as a function, and we have much more to achieve. National capability frameworks will help us become better communicators in a shorter space of time. Thank you in advance for everyone who will take part in this ambitious project, especially Zayed University’s CCMS.