Dubai: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has established 15 new committees to study economic cooperation in the Middle East, and to fund infrastructure projects, bringing the total number to 38.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai opened the meeting, which also saw the presence of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. The conference was attended by more than 700 futurists and hundreds of other delegates.
“Advanced technologies and sciences are shaping the future. In the UAE, we are keen to harness advanced technologies to enhance the progress of humanity,” Shaikh Mohammad was quoted as saying by Dubai Media Office while touring the Transformation Maps Platform on the sidelines of the third Annual Meeting of the WEF Global Future Councils.
Tech spend
“The future belongs to those who can imagine it, shape it and implement it. In today’s world, governments cannot create the future singularly; it is important to involve everyone from the private sector to youth, international partners and others in creating policies,” Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, told delegates.
Al Gergawi said quoting studies that $73 trillion will be spent on development of technology in the next 10 years or so and governments need to get prepared to reap the benefits.
“The collective mind provided by technology is much smarter than the individual mind. The wisdom of the crowd is a common saying; however, this saying is multiplied a thousand times when talking about and using technology,” Al Gergawi said. About $4 trillion — which is the budget of any rich country in the world — gets wasted in unwanted legislations, he added. The UAE has set-up the world’s first legislative lab for future technology.
The future should be participatory in nature, and the government should not monopolise and work with others and co-design the future, “We should move from individual to collective effort which is supported by technology,” he added.
Khalfan Juma Belhoul, chief executive officer at The Dubai Future Foundation, said they would take the recommendation of the council and they will implement projects and issue regulations after fruitful discussions. “The biggest challenge will be to translate ideas and challenges into reality because we are taking decisions from decision makers all around the world. Among the steps taken the UAE fourth industrial revolution are the accelerator programme, the future museum and the Dubai future foundation. This reflects that the UAE leadership is aware how to prepare for the future,” Belhoul told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
