The National Archives and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi virtual graduation ceremony for the fourth batch of Graduates of the Archives and Records Management Professional Certificate 

The National Archives, in cooperation with its strategic partner, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, organized a virtual ceremony to honor the fourth batch of the Archives and Records Management professional certificate graduates. His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Mohammed Alraisi, Director General of the National Archives, opened the ceremony and praised this professional certificate program that has proven very successful and effective, with the graduation of the fourth batch of graduates, stressing that its success is indicated through its graduates gained experience which is in turn reflected in their respective fields of work in the UAE official and Government entities’ archives.

H.E. added: We highly appreciate our fruitful and constructive cooperation with the established Sorbonne University, whether in this professional certificate program, or the Bachelor of Records Management and Archival Sciences, or the Master’s degree in Records management and Archival studies program that will be launched at the beginning of the next academic year, stressing the importance of their mutual scientific, professional and academic integration in terms of developing archival sciences and records management specialized studies and research, and educating generations to understand and value the importance of archives and their role as the memory of the nation, and the sound base for decision-making in any professional field.

In his speech, His Excellency also explained the national role which the National Archives plays in organizing the archives of more than 300 UAE government institutions, and announced the UAE Council of Ministers approved merge between the National Library and the National Archives in the UAE to meet the various knowledge needs. He stressed the importance of using data science and artificial intelligence to develop documentation and archiving processes. He emphasized the significance of the fourth batch, as distinct from previous ones, since it witnessed the Covid-19 challenge and the global measures adopted to counter and contain it, at which stage the University students and staff-members demonstrated their full commitment to overcome this challenge and displayed strict adherence to all necessary preventative and precautionary measures. His Excellency congratulated all the graduates, and encouraged them to apply and employ their gained experience from this program to advance the archives and archival business in their respective workplaces, prove their distinction and excellence.  I would also like to extend special thanks to both the Sorbonne University and the National Archives liaison team in charge of coordination for this professional certificate program, along with all experts and teachers who have spared no effort to support it.

Professor Silvia Serrano, Executive Director of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, said: Today, we are reaping the fruits of the successful cooperation between the National Archives of the UAE and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and we are fully confident that this cooperation will produce generations of qualified experts. We have recently launched a bachelor's program in Records management and archival sciences, and we seek to launch a Master's degree program at the beginning of the next academic year, and to accomplish many research projects in this field Which will, in turn, contribute to developing qualified cadres in charge of archiving process in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East.

The graduation ceremony included a detailed presentation on the fourth batch of this professional certificate presented by Mr. Hamad Al-Mutairi, Director of the Archives Department, in which he explained that the fourth batch graduates are professional Archivists employed respectively in the: National Archives, Armed Forces, Ministry of Defense, Insurance Authority, and Department of Culture and Tourism. This program began on January 10, 2021, and indicated that the National Archives took great interest in this professional certificate, and provided full support in the Archives and Records Management field, through the following modules:

General Introduction to Documentation and Archiving, Archival Legislation and Archiving Standards, Current and semi-current Archives management, Scientific Processing of Archives, Archival and Conservation buildings, and Electronic Archives management.

The presentation included the total number of graduates of all previous batches, and their respective institutions which enrolled them for this program.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Professor Silvia Serrano, Executive Director of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Mr. Hamad Al-Mutairi, Director of the Archives Department of the National Archives, Mr. Yann Rodier, Head of the History Department at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and a number of the program experts and officials, in addition to the participants and alumni graduates of this batch.