14 July 2019
Greek Campus
Closing Remarks by U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Dorothy Shea at the Social Media Days Summit
Mesa’ al-kheir! Good afternoon. It’s been an honor for all of us at U.S. Embassy Cairo to be a part of this great event, the Middle East and North Africa’s largest social media forum. Thank you to Oventure for organizing such an outstanding event, and to the Greek Campus for hosting us.
I understand that you’ve been talking about the potential of social media from the outset of this forum. Judging by the sizeable attendance at all of the technical talks and panel discussions led by experts from the Middle East and around the world, I think, collectively, we have gained a solid grasp of that potential. And I hope that individually, you have found insights into how you can each offer meaningful contributions to the online space.
And it’s not just about better selfies, right? I’m talking about how we can better connect people, share ideas, to help improve our societies. Our world has undergone dramatic shifts due to technological changes – all magnified by social media: Entire economies have grown out of technologies that simply didn’t exist 10 years ago and innovation has become the engine of economic growth. And when we have economic security, we have security for our families and our communities, and the strong foundation for necessary to pursue our highest potential.
