Future councils kick off with 'big moral questions'

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, witnessed yesterday the opening of the fourth session of the meetings of the Future World Councils.

In his opening speech, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Co-Chairman of the Future Councils of the World, affirmed that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has established a great passion for the future through the vision and directions of His Highness. To consolidate a government action approach and a community culture that adopts proactive thinking and strives to meet the challenges ahead.

Al-Gergawi asked what he called the great moral questions that must be answered by humanity in light of the great and rapid growth in technology, stressing the importance of wisdom in the use of this technology for the benefit of mankind.

Future Councils

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, witnessed the opening of the fourth session of the Future World Councils meetings organized by the UAE government in partnership with the World Economic Forum, with the participation of 700 supervisors, experts and officials from 70 countries. They meet in 41 councils focusing on the future of vital sectors, promoting a sustainable economy, and ensuring a better future for people.

Vision and directions

In his opening speech, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Co-Chairman of the Future Councils of the World, said that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has established a great passion for the future in all sectors. During His Highness's vision and orientations to consolidate a government action approach and a community culture that adopts proactive thinking, and strives to face the challenges ahead, and tomorrow's industry, today.

“We have a famous saying in our heritage that the key to knowledge and wisdom is the question,” he said. “In the next couple of days, we will have the largest gathering of big questions about the future of the world. We have 41 future councils and within each council there are dozens of questions that need answers that will help governments and international organizations. Globally active in understanding the future and responding to its challenges ».

Important questions

The Co-Chairs of the Global Future Councils pointed out that among the important questions that the councils seek to answer, are the form of future financial systems, the future of the digital economy, the global geopolitical future, the future of trade and investment, the future of work, education, transport and energy, among others.

He stressed that there are major ethical questions that must be answered by humanity in light of the great and rapid growth in technology, which must be accompanied by the growth in wisdom to use this technology for the benefit of mankind, pointing to three central questions of the present world, which answer is a basis for the future and support for global efforts To make it more stable and secure.

Rich and poor

The questions dealt with the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the gap between rich and poor communities, with more than 600 million people around the world still living before the first agricultural revolution, and more than a billion people still without electricity (a product of the Second Industrial Revolution). 1% of the world's population owns more than 50% of its wealth, and 50% of the world's less fortunate own less than 1% of its wealth.

“Today we know that two billion people are connected to the Internet and are benefiting from the information revolution, but what about four billion people who are offline? What will happen when half of the world is launched in the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and others, and the other half remains tens of light years away from other societies? ”

The level of confidence

Al-Gergawi said that the second question concerns the level of trust in companies, governments, the media, and other sectors.He said that advanced and sophisticated technology is a neutral science, but its incorrect use sometimes leads to many challenges, such as the credibility of news in the Internet, cybersecurity, and confidence in technology.

Relationship with governments

He pointed out that the third question relates to governments, and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and new technologies in bringing them closer to their people, and whether these techniques helped to better understand the needs of societies and meet their requirements, pointing out that the confidence in governments according to the «Edelman Index» only 47%, ie Half of the population does not trust their governments.

"Even rich countries with advanced technologies, the government also misses the development of ways to know the pulse of society," he said. "We have seen minor changes in some policies that have led to community explosions that governments did not expect. In the metro tariff ».

A march of cooperation

Al-Gergawi praised the distinguished work and cooperation between the UAE government and the World Economic Forum, which started more than 10 years ago, with the aim of exploring the future of the human world and adapting the outputs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to serve mankind. The fruits of cooperation.

He said: «We established with the Economic Forum a center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, to anticipate its challenges and try to develop global ethical frameworks for them, and to help governments understand their technologies and benefit from their tools, and last year we trained more than 10,000 government employees in many countries of the region and the world, on the basis of The new government administration, taking advantage of technologies to serve communities ».

Pressure threatening generations

World Economic Forum Chairman Bourget Brandi said climate change, polarization, trade wars, the impending economic recession and geopolitical tensions are putting pressure on societies and threatening the future of future generations, but hope for a more cohesive, peaceful and sustainable world still exists.

He added: “I say to the supervisors and experts of the world participating in today's meeting, and I am confident that your ideas will lay the foundation for an optimistic future vision, which will inspire us in our work towards a sustainable world that can be achieved from this meeting hosted by the UAE and reflects the progress achieved by the cooperation between the Forum and Dubai”. .

Working pillars

The President of the World Economic Forum pointed out that the recommendations to be made during the World Future Councils will form a fundamental pillar in the work of the World Economic Forum in such areas as cybersecurity, biodiversity, artificial intelligence, quantitative computing, education, labor, skills, mental health and cities, And urbanization, and geopolitical shifts.

The annual meetings of the World Future Councils, held at its fourth session this year under the theme: Partners for a Cohesive and Sustainable World, aim to facilitate dialogue on technology, trade governance, and stimulate the science of governments and international institutions towards achieving the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“We need to realize that we live in a globalized world, and that the challenges are the same, so all our actions and efforts must be based on that,” he said.

Journey to the future

Global Future Councils aim to examine the future of vital sectors, develop strategic insights that will enhance the world's efforts in the journey to the future, and discuss the themes of current and future challenges, and the best solutions to address them, and anticipates the expected transformations, and the most important opportunities that can be formed, and utilized in the design of future initiatives .

1%

Of the world's population owns more than 50% of its wealth .

4

Billions of people are offline.

47%

Percentage of confidence in governments according to the Edelman Index.