Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Abundance 360 Summit (A360), which is being held for the first time in Dubai under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dubai Future Foundation, highlighted during its first day the latest global industry trends and challenges that are presented by the evolvement of technology.

Delegates representing top financial institutions, unicorn tech companies, representatives of some of the region’s most renowned family offices and senior management of Fortune 500 companies have gathered for this highly-curated 2-day C-level program, reflecting a collective commitment to transforming their organizations into exponential, abundance-minded enterprises.

Technology and the future

In a session with Dr. Peter Diamandis, futurist, speaker and author, HE Dr. Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills, highlighted the UAE government's focus on deploying future technology to develop key sectors in the country and prepare a generation capable of keeping abreast to these rapid technological changes.

“The UAE government has made it a priority to address how to best develop human resources to meet the demands of the future. To this end, we have studied, benchmarked, researched and sought expert opinions to better understand how the future will be shaped and how we can be proactive in future-proofing our human capital, regardless of changes in the job market. We found the answer to be advanced skills. The development of advanced skills is one of the main pillars in the UAE to unlock the opportunities that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing forward. In order for the current and forthcoming generations to succeed and stay relevant in the workforce, they need to develop multiple sets of skills, which we have defined across three categories; core literacies, competencies and character qualities. As we move forward, there will be more emphasis on such skills. Together with specialised domain knowledge, they will allow our asset – human capital – to always be future fit, regardless of any changes in the job market,” said HE Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills.

“An ideal vision of education is where a person can acquire deep knowledge around which advanced skills are developed. Advanced skills can’t be developed in a vacuum, they require an anchor around which they can be mastered. That anchor is knowledge. We need people to approach knowledge, education, and skills constantly throughout their lives. The role of technology is growing in education given the recent trends globally. Added to this, the lifestyle of millennials is creating pressure on systems to adopt technology as a key tool in providing education, with the result that education and professional and real-life experiences go hand-in-hand, irrespective of a person’s stage in life,” he added.

Leading positive change and future foresight

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA said: “At Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), we are working in line with the ambitious vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai an inspirational model for the world with its unique and innovative experiences in driving change and anticipating the future. Our sponsorship of the Abundance 360 Summit, which is being held for the first time in the region, is due to its importance as an international event that attracts a wide range of global businesses and technology professionals to showcase the latest technology experiences around the world, with an emphasis on the role of technology in developing vital sectors in the cities of the future.” 

HE Khalfan Balhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, highlighted in an opening speech at the summit the importance of launching “Abundance 360” in Dubai as it sheds light on the global opportunities out there and strategies to employ them in serving humanity, while engaging UAE governmental and private entities, and startups.

 “The UAE has always been a beacon in attracting innovative minds from all over the globe, and working with them to serve humanity in facing the challenges of the future by providing the ideal environment to nurture these ideas and concepts,” he added. 

Key to Success

It was then the turn of Peter Diamandis to shed light on the issue of exponential and abundance thinking. Using real world examples such as the rise of Amazon as compared to the dramatic fall of retail giants such as Sears and Blockbuster, he charted out the mindset changed needed to succeed in today’s world.

“Your mission as a CEO or entrepreneur today is to figure out how to digitize, dematerialize, demonetize and democratize your products and services. The time is now to stop being local and linear thinkers in a global and exponential world and embrace these emerging technologies,” he said.

“Technology is the force that turns scarcity into abundance, be it capital, time, energy, intelligence, communications, resources or longevity,” he added reiterating his highly publicized mantra 100 is the new 60.

Global Knowledge and industry experts

A fireside discussion on educating leaders for exponential growth between 3-D entrepreneur Avi Reichental, expert in designing virtual worlds Philip Rosedale, sci-fi author Ramez Naam and CEO of Singularity University Rob Nail took place during the morning session.

“From AI to 3-d printing, augmented manufacturing to robotics and virtual reality, these speakers are the best in the business and the insight and expertise they bring to the table is truly invaluable. It is sessions like this one along with the people and purpose that set A360 apart. These speakers have turned their success into global significance and if you want to know how to do the same, then this is the place to be,” added Aman Merchant, chief disruptor at d’labs, the strategic partner for A360 Dubai.

Impact of Technology on key sectors

The afternoon sessions included a spirited and enlightening debate on Transportation, Trade & Logistics between Dr. Diamandis, Ramez Naam and Avi Reichental, where they explored how technologies like energy storage, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics and the blockchain will transform how we move people and products around the world.

Health and Longevity was the last topic to be tackled on the day, with surgeon and bio-scientist Dr. Robert Hariri, founder of Cellularity and Human Longevity’s Chief of Radiogenomics Dr. David Karow sharing their thoughts with Dr. Diamandis on the impact of extending the healthy human lifespan. 

Positive outlook to the future

“A gathering of the world’s greatest thinkers, a showcasing of the most relevant emerging tech, a celebration of major advancements in healthcare…A360 is a celebration of the now and the future, which is truly better than we think,” concluded Dr. Diamandis.

-Ends-

About Abundance 360 Dubai

Abundance 360 (A360) is the executive mastermind group created and curated by Peter H. Diamandis. The program focuses on the most exciting exponential technologies which are going from ‘deceptive’ to ‘disruptive’ over the next two to three years. Topics at A360 have ranged from artificial intelligence to robotics, synthetic biology, human longevity, and blockchain. Diamandis’ coaching and world-class speakers focus on how these emerging technologies will impact business, life, and society in the near-term. The A360 Summit is unique in that Dr. Diamandis has made a 25-year commitment to run A360, through 2038. 

The Abundance 360  (A360) Dubai Summit, being held for the first time in the region in association with Singularity University (SU), will take place on March 26-27, 2019 under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, with the Dubai Future Foundation as the hosting partner. A mix of 360 regional C-level executives, in addition to a specially invited group of senior officials from different government departments from the UAE, will be in attendance. 

With a high-powered group of SU faculty and unicorn CEOs addressing the audience, the high-profile event will showcase the most exciting developments in disruptive technology expected over the next three to five years, helping private and public sector leaders forecast the future, transform their organizations and disrupt their industries.

© Press Release 2019

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