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· H.E. Tony Abbott, Former Australian Prime Minister, will be attending the Summit as guest of honour, in addition to leading a panel discussion
· The Summit brings together prominent ministers, executives, and intellectuals to discuss ways to boost the production and dissemination of knowledge
Dubai – Influential knowledge experts and renowned personalities from all around the world will be converging in Dubai to take part in the third annual Knowledge Summit, organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) – member of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives – on December 5-7, 2016, at the Grand Hyatt Dubai hotel.
Bearing the theme “Knowledge… Present and Future”, the three-day Summit is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The Summit brings together prominent ministers, executives, and intellectuals to discuss ways to boost the production and dissemination of knowledge.
Attending as the Summit’s guest of honour, His Excellency Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will also be participating in a panel discussion. What is more, Sophie de Caen, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director for Arab States at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will also be at the event this year to speak about the role of knowledge in the Program’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, said: “We have carefully put together a list of the most prominent and influential figures and stakeholders in the knowledge industry to speak at the Knowledge Summit 2016, tackling a host of pertinent future-focused topics. The Summit provides a platform for these experts to exchange expertise with each other, as well as with all the Summit’s attendees, in order to formulate recommendations and mechanisms to build knowledge economies and propose solutions for the challenges that may inhibit that process.”
The third annual Knowledge Summit brings together a number of high-ranking experts such as Philip Tetlock, Researcher and Futurist at the University of Pennsylvania, who will discuss the methodologies and tools of future foresight – citing examples of governments who have succeeded in that regard – while Thomas Frey, Executive Director and Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute, explores the question of what’s hidden and what’s still to come for future technologies.
Also speaking at the Summit in 2016, Vivek Wadhwa, Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, will elaborate on the foundations of smart cities and their contribution to the knowledge economy, while Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies discusses future cities, touching upon his areas of expertise in smart mobility, including self-driving cars and Hyperloop trains.
Elsewhere, Daniel Kraft, Physician-Scientist, Inventor, Entrepreneur and Innovator of MarrowMinor, will delineate emerging technologies in genetics, robotics, and nanotechnology, and their uses in the medical sector. Meanwhile, Hugh Herr, Director of the Biomechatronics Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, examines the impact of technological development on medical sector.
In addition to that, the Knowledge Summit 2016 will feature Brandon Stanton, American Bestselling Author, Photographer, and Blogger, who will delve into the topic of the media of the future, comparing and contrasting traditional and social media and exploring the dynamic between them. This while Tony Wagner, Expert in Residence at Harvard University’s Innovation Lab, underlines the role of innovation in education.
Prasad Ram, Founder and CEO of Gooru, will moderate a session about technology in education, where Jason Silva, Television Personality, Filmmaker, and Public Speaker, highlights the most prominent and notable trends in future technologies, and Katsuhisa Sajisaka, Director, International Affairs Division, at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan , tackles educational subjects proposing ways for school curricula to keep pace with future advancements.
The 2016 instalment of the Summit will also feature Mike Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman at Telkom Caribe, who will speak about the concept of future foresight and how to employ it, while British Author Ann Morgan examines how future foresight can contribute to instilling tolerance and cultural and intellectual openness in societies. Morgan brings great insight to the Summit having read a book from every country in the world. In addition to that, renowned TV Reporter Riz Khan is also slated to speak at the Knowledge Summit 2016.
The annual Knowledge Summit includes the announcement of the results of the Arab Reading Index, as well as announcing the winners of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award, which honours individuals who’ve made outstanding contributions to the dissemination and production of knowledge around the world. A spectrum of events and workshops will also be organised on the sidelines of the summit, in addition to a number of specialised workshops.
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© Press Release 2016
