World’s largest gathering of futurists opens today

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

Under the patronage of  Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Future Forum kicks off on Tuesday, at the Museum of the Future, welcoming over 400 futurists from more than 45 global organizations.

Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation, said both Dubai and the UAE are a strategic hub for futurists and talents from all over the globe. Both the city and the nation remain globally attractive, pioneering destinations that empower individuals, communities, governments, and countries.

He said: “We have learned from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that the future can be imagined, designed and executed. The inaugural Dubai Future Forum aims to develop a new model of foresight to collectively design the future of societies, governments and economies.”

“The participating experts and futurists will develop future scenarios for the various economic vital sectors, define the world’s most critical changes, exchange knowledge and views as well as shed light on the most important transformative shifts in the upcoming decades,” added Al Gergawi.

“Over the course of two days, the Museum of the Future will welcome hundreds of the world’s most prominent figures to analyze, predict and design the best possible future. Thanks to the vision of our Leadership, Dubai is already one of the world’s most future-ready cities. The Dubai Future Forum is another major step in our mission to embrace the limitless potential of the future,” explained Al Gergawi.

Dubai Future Forum will tackle pressing topics such as the challenge of digital poverty and the widening digital skills gap. Experts will discuss the importance of foreseeing the future, understanding opportunities, accelerating transformations, and experiencing the future. Topics also include the impact of the space industry on designing the next century, and the diverse views on the possibility of living on other exoplanets. The sustainable energy and the ongoing energy transition will be on the agenda of the Forum’s speakers, who will also discuss the most existential risks facing humanity nowadays.

The potential to monetize our personal data and convert it into digital currency to pay for digital services is another topic experts will discuss, as well as the potential role individuals will play in the fast-emerging data ecosystem.

Other panels will focus on the ways governments can mitigate challenges through foresight, as well as identify and respond to a broad range of risks, challenges and opportunities.

Futurists will also explore if people really want to live forever, and other topics of increased human longevity as a result of the advances in life science, genetic engineering and revolutionary biotechnology breakthroughs.

Conversations will cover the future of regulations, delving into the thorny issue of self-regulation versus government supervision. Experts will also highlight successful ways governments can regulate future trends and technologies to safeguard societies and stimulate economic growth.

Professor Youngsook Park, Chair of UN Future Forum, will talk about her personal experience of living with artificial intelligence. She will discuss whether machines can be distinguishable from other electric devices in the future, and at which point machines can be considered sentient.

The Dubai Future Forum, organized by the Dubai Future Foundation, is hosted annually at the center of hope and innovation, the Museum of the Future. It underlines Dubai’s future agenda by providing networking and community building opportunities for global thought leaders to convene and design collaborative solutions for an inclusive, sustainable and optimistic future.

Commenting on this significant gathering, Amy Webb, Chief Executive Officer at the Future Today Institute said: “CEOs, government leaders, policymakers and central banks are grappling with immense volatility and critical uncertainties. Their decisions today will determine the long-term fate of human civilization. Strategic foresight has never been more urgent and more necessary. The world’s most eminent forecasters are gathering at the Dubai Future Forum to challenge leaders – and each other – to be more ambitious in meeting our emerging global challenges.”

She added: “Dubai has established itself as a global hub for foresight and future-thinking. I’m excited to open the first Dubai Future Forum with a keynote about the value of strategic foresight within business, government and society – and how the field itself must evolve.”