The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA) has concluded a four-day training course organized by the UAE mGovernment’s Center of Digital Innovation (CoDI), under the theme of “Native Development for iOS and Android Platforms”. The training, held at TRA headquarter, witnessed the participation of about 40 students and faculty members of the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, Abu Dhabi University, Al Hosn University and Ajman University.

"This training courses reflect CoDI role aiming at enhancing creativity and innovation and spreading the culture of smart cities and smart government in the country. These courses highlight the importance of collaborative work as a team of different governmental, private, and academic entities for achieving the national goals in achieving Customers’ Happiness.” said H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, UAE TRA Director General.

“We at TRA and at CoDI will do all what it takes to complete the mGOV transformation in line with the vision of our leadership. Our main goal will be always to achieve the national vision aimed at strengthening the country's position to become one of top countries in the world by 2021. The training also comes in light of the increasing smart phone penetration rates in the country and the arising need to enhance the capabilities of national cadres and empower them to develop innovative applications and programs created by national talent to meet the local demand for this software.” H.E added.

Eng. Majid Al Madhloum, Centre of Digital Innovations Program Director said: “The training sessions included a number of workshops and talks that contribute to enhancing the participants' understanding of basic skills needed to develop applications for iOS and Android platforms including the Swift programming language with Apple’s software development kit as well as Java with Android frameworks and other key programs needed by developers. The training also addressed a number of topics related to the development of integrated software such as X-Code and Android Studio, in addition to reviewing other basic concepts and frameworks essential for programs and networking developing skills.”

The training program aimed to improve participants' skills and their ability to develop applications using MVC/MVP design paradigms. Moreover, the course aimed to enhance the participants’ knowledge and understanding of layout techniques for multiple phone screen sizes as well as building their capabilities to interact with on-screen elements and develop application using inbuilt features such as audio and networking.

During the first day of the course, topics discussed included design patterns, interfaces, model-View-Controller and Model-View-Presenter. Training focused on interacting with Foundation and Protocols and other programs essential for developing mobile applications.

On the second day, the participants received training on basic iOS frameworks including working with audio frameworks and utilizing networking services, Java Programming and Android Infrastructure, and Android libraries, in addition to many other electronic applications.

This course was carefully designed for both beginner and experienced programmers who are familiar with OS X El Capitan.

The m-Government’s Center of Digital Innovation’s (CoDI) is an integrated platform that supports innovation and research efforts in topics related to training and mGovernment services, quality assurance, and advisory services, in order to promote and spread knowledge and refine skills and encourage public participation and engage both public and private sectors in the initiatives and projects of the mGovernment. The center is one of the most important strategic and efficient initiatives in the completion of the UAE mGovernment Transformation project.