Sky News Arabia announced the launch of an all new interactive virtual eventseries titled “Trend Watch” that aims to further strengthen its position as leading and progressive news organization across traditional and digital platforms.The interactive virtual sessions will provideaudiences with holistic analysis of important events from various viewpoints and discuss their impact on the region and beyond.

Broadcasted live on Sky News Arabia’s Facebook page and moderated by one of the organization’s leading presenters, the virtual series will serve as a platformtoinitiate dialogueand will host prominent figures from across the region. “Trend Watch” speakers will discuss subjects that are dominating regional news agendas and give audiences the opportunity to express their views around the topic in handandask questions during the Facebook live sessions.

Youssef Tsouri, Head of News at Sky News Arabia, said,“The launch of Trend Watch is part of our commitment to continually identify newwaystoconnect with our audiences and offer an in-depth examination of critical events shaping the Arab and international arenas.This will also contribute to enhancing Sky News Arabia’s digital transformation ambitions and demonstrate its leadership in being at the forefront of the media sector in the Arab world.”

Wissam Ayoub, Director of Operations at Sky News Arabia added, “Trend Watchis the latest innovation introduced by Sky News Arabia that utilizes modern technologies to offer audiencesa new interactive experience and enable them to share their opinions and be part of an in-depth conversation around important subjects with a group of experts.”

The first panel session looked at the highlights of 2020and discussed the impact these events will have on the Arab world in 2021.

Trend Watch guests included:

• Mohamed Abou El-Enein, Egyptian House of Representatives Member and Chairman of Cleopatra Group.
• Fares Akkad, Director of Media Partnerships Growth Markets (APAC, LATAM, MEA and Turkey) at Facebook and Instagram.
• Dr. Yahya Makki, Headof the Respiratory and Cancerous Viruses Department at the French Medical Institute in Lyon and a former consultant at the World Health Organization.

During the virtual event, Mohamed Abou El Enein spoke about the economic and social impact of the pandemic on the regionand provided advice to youth and entrepreneurs on how to transform current challenges into opportunities and emphasized the importance of accelerating innovation. On the other hand, Fares Akkad spoke about the critical role of digital and social platforms in delivering accurate news to audience andhow social platforms partnered with credible news brands to ensure content accuracy and avoid spreading fake news. Akkad also highlighted the role social platforms played during the recent US Elections and current home schooling as well as the changing media consumption trends witnessed in the MENA region.

From his part, Health expert Dr. Yahia Makkitalkedabout how the medical sectoris coping with the Pandemic and his views around an anticipatedrise in new infections in many parts of the world. He also spoke about addressing people’s fear from taking a vaccine once available and how ready are governments to deal with a potential COVID-19 third wave anticipated by many experts to happen in April 2021.