The College of Information Technology at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) held its first Ph.D defense by an Emirati student recently. Ms. Kanna Al Falahi defended her dissertation on the 21^st of May, 2014. She prepared the dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Yacine Atif, Associate Professor of Information Technology. Ms. Al Falahi is the first Emirati to defend her Ph.D dissertation successfully at UAEU. Her research analyzed online social networks and she made an original contribution in terms of developing ‘web recommender systems’ and ‘social influence maximization’ in web-based social networks. She has previously published on this theme in journals and presented at conferences. She enrolled in the Ph.D program’s original student intake in January 2010 and was supported throughout with a scholarship from UAEU.

In her dissertation she dealt with the factors influencing the reach of online social media networks. She investigated theoretical and practical foundations in order to detect communities and to propagate influence in contemporary social networks. This leads to developing smart marketing models. In such a social ecosystem individual decisions to purchase a product or adopt an idea are influenced by recommendations from communities of friends or acquaintances. Ms. Al Falahi proposed dynamic models to automate community detection and maximize its impact by identifying the most influential users within online communities. Her research used contemporary online social networks such as Twitter and Facebook for context. That said, as an experimental platform, the Flickr social network was used to test and validate the results. The practical implications of the model proposed can result in more effective marketing campaigns via social media and thus reduce marketing costs.

Such influence in UAE society is driven by individuals who exhibit positive behavior such as stopping smoking, or engaging in physical exercise and healthier living. Such social influence can have a highly persuasive role to play. Today's social networks are very powerful in diffusing such influences and Ms. Al Falahi’s dissertation displayed both theoretical formulations and experimental validation. She showed how this process could be optimized with a minimum number of initial users. Similarly, such processes are important marketing tools as businesses are realizing that social network platforms can raise more awareness of products and services than traditional television advertising. Ms. Al Falahi’s dissertation demonstrated an original approach to optimizing marketing influence while reducing costs.

In his remarks, Professor Boumediene Belkhouche, Acting Dean of the College of Information Technology, praised the high quality of Ms. Al Falahi’s research and its relevance to UAE society. Her insights into how online social networks function will surely contribute towards the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE.