835 government and private-sector employees graduated last year from the University of Dubai (UD) ës Center for Executive Development (CED) professional trainings, diplomas and programs. This comes in line with the CEDís vision and to upgrade the skills and knowledge necessary for career development and advancement and enable organizations to leverage the competitive advantage of their workforce. During the current academic year, the Center launched a number of special professional programs and diplomas including Happiness @ Work Professional Diploma, Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing, Mobile Applications, Professional Diploma in Human Resource Management (HRM), Certificate in Management Accounting, Certificate in Creativity and Innovation and many others. These programs are tailored to meet the unique needs of individual clients. The center also offers Customized Programs, Online Training Programs and Innovative Workshops delivered by a team of highly-experienced training facilitators with a perfect blend of teaching, training and coaching skills. Dr. Eesa Al Bastaki, UD President, says that the center is working on developing human potentials and providing the workforce with international learning opportunities in cooperation with government and private centers in the UAE.† ìOur CED is recognized for its modern training initiatives that are compatible with the UAEís vision and mission.î He added that ìover the past 13 years, CED has contributed to the training of more than 6,000 employees and professionals through their strong connections with business organizations in the UAE in specific and the GCC in general.î Dr. Al Bastaki also underlined the fact that innovation and creativity are the key elements of constituting CEDís training programs, some of which are being offered for the first time in the country such as the Happiness @ Work Diploma. Dr. Vidya NandaGopal, Director of CED, says that the center is dedicated to being the best in the field of training in the UAE as it has been able to attract many ministries, government entities and private companies in the region. ìRecently, we signed a training contract with Sharjah and we are expanding our services to benefit trainees around the UAE.î She added that the trainings would cover substantial fields and areas including human resources, business management, leadership, strategy, procurement and electronic marketing. She also noted that CitiGroup, which has been providing continuous support to the Center’s programs since its inception, is focused on training women citizens to become “businesswomen” and leaders through advanced workshops.