The National Archives briefed universities and secondary school students in “Education Interface" on the themes of the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2020 and its participation terms.

The National Archives invites Participants in “Education Interface" to participate in the Congress.

The National Archives participated in the 6th edition of the "Education Interface" exhibition, which brings together a large number of secondary schools and 50 government and private universities from Europe, America and the Middle East in order to promote the National Archives' hosting of the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2020. The Congress will be held in Abu Dhabi (16-20 November 2020) under the theme of "Empowering Knowledge Societies", to show students how to participate in the Congress events and papers after the deadline for receiving papers has been extended to 29 February. 

The National Archives stand interacted with other student and academic stands and gave students a clear and detailed explanation about the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2020 which will witness the participation of thousands of Archivists from around the world. It invites them to participate in the student workshops and professional vocational discussions organized by the Congress. Furthermore, the stand has urged university students in scientific majors relevant to the congress topics and  themes to participate with their papers. Special focus was given to archiving and documentation, IT and social studies and sciences students. The National Archives provided participants with a clear explanation of the Congress topics and themes, first of which is the artificial intelligence in support of archival efforts to facilitate historical manuscripts search process, and swift management of big amount of digital images, records and various multimedia. The second topic is: Sustainable knowledge as the foundation for sustainable development. It is essential for archives and libraries to keep abreast of latest trends, expectations, techniques and policies for building, preserving, and using documentary heritage and making it accessible. The third topic is confronting challenges in preserving archives through social media and countering piracy, the formal use of electronic systems in line with United Nations objective to provide accurate and reliable records as basis for planning, implementation and assessment.

It is noteworthy that the two-day exhibition, which was held at the Emirates Palace, has attracted thousands of students whom the National Archives provided with introductory brochures on the International Council on Archives. 

The participation of a number of embassies in the exhibition - such as the embassies of the US, Canada, Egypt and Jordan - contributed to spreading awareness about the ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2020, which is considered an important global event to be hosted by Abu Dhabi. It is important that all members of the society become aware of this event and know they can participate in it.