The Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity 2025 chart the future paths of technological development and its impact on the global scene

DUBAI, 15th October, 2020 (WAM) – The UAE government and the World Economic Forum launched the activities of the Global Future Councils and Cybersecurity 2025, in the presence of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairwoman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Co-Chair of the Global Future Councils, member of the World Economic Forum Leadership Council.
The launch of the councils’ work was attended by His Excellency Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future, His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and His Excellency Maryam bint Ahmed Al Hammadi, Minister of State and Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, with wide participation of officials in the UAE government and more than 700 experts and specialists from members of the future councils.
His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi stressed the focus of the UAE leadership in its future directions on enhancing the readiness and flexibility of vital sectors, and its adoption of developing international cooperation frameworks through open dialogue platforms that provide space for a joint movement with diverse visions and more multiple and comprehensive.
His Excellency said that the experience of the Global Future Councils, organized by the UAE government in partnership with the World Economic Forum, represents a practical translation of the shared visions between the two sides, and reflects a high awareness in the UAE that creating the future is the most important axis on the agenda of governments, organizations and societies, and the main driver of any development trend in all sectors.
The co-chair of the Global Future Councils added that the councils have established their leadership as a global platform for designing, developing and producing knowledge, future thinking and innovative solutions to challenges, and have strengthened their role as a laboratory for building new trends and sharing them with the world, through the outputs of their work, which have become the most important element in shaping the agenda of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
For her part, Her Excellency Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi, in a keynote speech at the opening of the work of the Global Future Councils, stressed that the UAE government, under the guidance and vision of its wise leadership, has realized the fact that the future cannot be designed in isolation from the youth, as understanding the mentality of the new generations and involving them in decision-making has become an urgent necessity to achieve global leadership and excellence.
She said: We live in the middle of a historic decade in which the pace of pivotal changes accelerates, dual crises overlap, and we face unprecedented questions. With the accelerating pace of transformations, we are witnessing today a crisis of confidence at the global level, as global confidence in institutions has decreased in the economies of developed countries to 49%, which confirms the need to reconsider global development models.
She pointed out that the second transformation is the rise and acceleration of the new digital wave, as the latest studies indicate that 70% of the new value added during the next decade is based on business models produced by digital technology.

She said: Artificial intelligence has become a stimulating development force that can add up to $7 trillion to the global GDP by 2030, but it requires human-centered design, global ethical standards and governance, and new skills for society to achieve its optimal role.
Her Excellency stressed that with the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence, there is an escalation in cyber tensions, as the global cost of cyber threats is expected to reach approximately $20 trillion annually by 2030, which confirms that flexibility, trust, and secure digital infrastructure have become among the basic pillars of the future of prosperity.
She pointed out that the third transformation is redefining flexibility, in light of the speed of changes that exceed the capabilities of current systems and models to respond and interact, stressing that the world must deal with crises in a different way, in which flexibility represents an element in building new opportunities enhanced by artificial intelligence and data, and through which flexibility is redefined from a new perspective as a proactive and renewed work method.

For his part, Borg Brende, President and CEO of the World Economic Forum, highlighted the technological progress the world is witnessing, which is accompanied by complexities in the current global scene that cast a shadow over this progress.
He said: The world is living in a state of uncertainty, resulting from geopolitical fragmentation, high expectations, and rapid technological changes, which are radically reshaping the features of the world, which is reflected in the current growth rates and unequal opportunities, despite the global economy’s demonstrated exceptional ability to withstand,” calling on governments to rearrange their priorities.
He stressed that artificial intelligence holds promising opportunities to drive economic growth and deal with challenges in the health sector, considering emerging technologies a major driver of development in the future, and that these opportunities come in light of an unprecedented state of global tensions and cyber threats, which requires accelerating the pace of cooperation and collective work to overcome crises before they worsen.
Brende revealed that the next annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos will be held under the slogan “The Spirit of Dialogue,” stressing that the global future councils will contribute to laying the intellectual foundations for that spirit,” stressing that Dubai and the UAE are the best place to achieve this goal, because of the values ​​and principles they embody that push toward joint dialogue, innovation, and a global vision.

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