Human endeavour and innovation can be seen all around us. Their benefits can be felt in our everyday lives, from the miracles of modern medicine to advanced technology.
Global awards like the Nobel Prize are instrumental in marking these achievements. Their role in highlighting advances in science and the humanities, and inspiring further progress in these areas, is invaluable. As The National wrote in an editorial last month: “by drawing our gaze to solutions rather than problems, they give a sense that no issue is so thorny that it cannot be resolved”.
That sense of finding answers to global problems, as well as building a better future, has been on full display in Dubai in recent days. A major gathering of more than 150 leading scientists at Sunday’s World Laureates Summit helped set the stage for the World Governments Summit, which starts in the UAE today.
Recipients of the Nobel Prize, Turing Award and Wolf Prize, among others, met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai – a significant coming together of scientific talent and decision makers.
With the World Governments Summit expected to attract 40 heads of state and government, 500 ministers and more than 150 government delegations, many scientists and researchers are aware of the golden opportunity for persuasion and engagement that the three-day event represents. Prof Roger Kornberg, president of the World Laureates Association and a recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, told The National last month that the gathering in Dubai was important because scientists would be able to speak directly to policymakers.
“It has often been possible for scientists in small numbers to communicate, to advise and to discuss with members of government,” said Prof Kornberg. “But it has never been possible for the world of science … to bring a message to those who the progress of science and, thus of the world, depend.”
That message comes at a time of great change in how leading countries choose to fund vital scientific work. In the US, clear fault lines have emerged between the White House and academia, leading to thousands of research grants being frozen or terminated. At the same time, China has increased its research and development (R&D) spending, outstripping that of many OECD countries. Last September, China also entered the UN’s list of top 10 innovative nations, taking the place of Germany, Europe’s largest economy.
Given that many of the topics being discussed in Dubai this week, including biotechnology, health and AI, are ones in which science has a central role to play, it is important to note that the summit’s effects will be felt long after the event is over. The World Laureates Summit will release a white paper, Vision 2050 for a Scientific Civilisation, that organisers say “outlines a framework for a scientific civilisation that can be continuously examined, debated and validated by the global community”. Prof Kornberg has also said the World Laureates Association plans to open a new base in the UAE.
The changing funding patterns and political priorities that are influencing how scientists work and interact with government make events such as this week’s summits in Dubai more consequential than ever. Having a fixture that brings together decision makers and experts – global in scope but rooted in a country like the UAE where science and technology are indispensable part4s of its national journey – makes these gatherings command attention.
