Innovation, happiness among featured topics at World Government Summit in Dubai

More than 4,000 personalities from 139 countries will take part in the summit, which will feature 150 speakers across 114 sessions.

DUBAI // Innovation, climate change, happiness and education are some of the topics being discussed during the three-day World Government Summit (WGS) starting on Sunday at Madinat Jumeirah.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid will lead a question-and-answer session on the revival of development in the Arab World.

The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, who will take questions through social media, will share his leadership experience and present his views on the Arab region, its present state, future and potential for development.

Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe and Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, are also scheduled to speak.

Shawn Achor, founder of GoodThink Inc, will address happiness and the need for governments to engage with citizens on social media to promote personal and social well-being.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and World Government Summit chairman, said the UAE believed that the tools to build the future were within its reach. Making the best use of these tools would create a future that was suitable for the UAE and other countries.

“The path is clear for a better, more stable and prosperous future. The greatest doorway to this path is cooperation between governments of the world and their organisations and entities, based on knowledge, innovation and science, which will lead to developing solutions for imminent challenges, such as environmental sustainability, food security, social development and developing countries.”

According to Mr Achor, an expert on the connection between happiness and success with 12 years of research experience at Harvard University, a growing trend towards automation and expanding social media interaction may not always result in social improvement, especially as person-to-person interaction wanes.

Dr Scott Barry Kaufman, scientific director of the Philadelphia-based Imagination Institute, will argue that the global education system needs urgent and major reform.

In his talk Can Our Education Destroy Talent? on Sunday, Dr Kaufman will say that the prevailing education system uses outdated methods of testing and grading intelligence and aptitude.

Meanwhile, Parag Khanna, managing partner at Hybrid Reality and a senior fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, will address the topic of liquid borders. He will also address the importance of governments in developing policies that maintain economic growth and protect individual sovereignty

The summit will be streamed live on the internet, a first for an event of this size in the UAE.

More than 4,000 personalities from 139 countries will take part with 150 featured speakers across 114 sessions.

Speakers at the summit include Helen Clark. director of the United Nations Development Programme, Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO, and Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Inc.

From the UAE, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Minister of Interior, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, will also address the crowd. Princess Haya bint Al-Hussein of Jordan will also speak to attendees to address the future of humanitarian aid.

“Given the importance of the topics that the summit’s sessions will discuss, the management deemed it necessary to engage wider social segments in the global dialogue seeking solutions to pressing humanitarian issues,” said Omar Sultan Al Ulama, WGS Organisation director. “The decision to live stream WGS events aligns with the summit’s drive towards satisfying the immense global interest in following big events online in real time.

“The initiative has received an enthusiastic response across widespread social media platforms that support live streaming – including YouTube, Periscope, Instagram and Facebook.”

Under the theme Shaping Future Governments, the summit will look at global challenges and ways of dealing with them. Participants will include decision makers from government, the private and public sectors, entrepreneurs, academics, university students, scientists and innovators.

For live updates from the event, people can follow the WGS social media platforms and website. Hashtag: #WorldGovSummit; Twitter: @WorldGovSummit; Instagram: @WorldGovSummit; Facebook: World Government Summit; YouTube: World Government Summit; worldgovernmentsummit.org.