Max Hall, Public Engagement, Tel.: +41 (0)79 329 3500; Email: mhal@weforum.org
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 04 November 2019 – The fourth Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils starts today in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, bringing together nearly 700 leading experts from around the world to generate ideas and answers for solving the most critical challenges facing humanity today.
The recommendations of 38 distinct councils inform the Forum’s work on topics that range from cybersecurity, biodiversity, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, education and work to the state of the financial system, mental health, cities and urbanization, and geopolitics
Ideas generated at the meeting will be adopted and integrated into the programme of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters in January. Nearly 50 years after the Davos Manifesto outlined the principles of the stakeholder approach, this year’s Annual Meeting theme is Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World. It aims to give concrete meaning to “stakeholder capitalism”, help governments and international institutions make progress on the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and facilitate discussions on technology and trade governance.
Ideas from the Global Future Councils also inform the Forum’s work building platforms for public-private cooperation that integrate the efforts of businesses, governments and civil society to solve systemic global challenges.
“This is the world’s biggest brainstorm that lays the intellectual groundwork for the Annual Meeting in Davos. Climate change, trade wars and geopolitical polarization are straining societies and risk the prospects of future generations. But a cohesive and sustainable world is possible, and nearly 700 experts here in Dubai will bring with them their ideas on how to shape an optimistic vision for the future that inspires action today,” said Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum.
The meeting is hosted by the Government of the United Arab Emirates, which has focused on harnessing digital innovation and developed a national strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future of the United Arab Emirates, said: “Our capacity to grow our economies and solve some of our greatest challenges is increasingly driven by technological development and the capacity to innovate. Bringing together the most diverse and knowledgeable experts here in Dubai allows us to build a world that is more prosperous and inclusive than the one we live in today. The rapid growth of the knowledge economy brings with it a shared moral responsibility to ensure that its benefits improve the lives of all stakeholders around the world.
This year sees three Global Councils for the Fourth Industrial Revolution join the meeting: Artificial Intelligence; Blockchain; and The Internet of Things. Their role is to shape the governance of advanced technologies in the global public interest.
Findings from the network of Global Future Councils also inform the Forum’s Transformation Maps – a publicly available, free-to-use strategic intelligence and visualization tool designed to promote understanding and solutions for the world’s greatest challenges.