The Dubai World Model for Designing the Future believes in international partnerships

Yesterday, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, witnessed part of the work of the first day of the “Dubai Future Forum 2025”, the largest global gathering of experts and designers of the future and its institutions, which is organized by the Dubai Future Foundation at the Museum of the Future on November 18 and 19, in the presence of more than 2,500 participants from about 100 countries, and more than 200 speakers from Government officials, CEOs, academics, decision makers, thought leaders and future experts from the UAE and the world.

On this occasion, His Highness stressed that designing the future has become one of the most important strategic sectors at the core of the work of countries and governments, and a pillar of the work plans of companies and institutions in various fields, which requires enhancing integration between various future capabilities, experiences and specializations, to sustain growth and advance the march of human civilization in the right direction.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “The Dubai International Model for Designing the Future believes in international partnerships and cooperation with all those keen on the values ​​of positivity, proactiveness and readiness around the world, to imagine, design and implement the future that societies aspire to.”

His Highness added: “We launched the Dubai Future Forum in 2022 to be an annual global platform, bringing together the most important experts and institutions for designing the future in Dubai. It is an opportunity to define national and global priorities, study future opportunities, unite government and private efforts, develop appropriate services and solutions, and together shape the features of a better future for humanity.”

His Highness also stressed that Dubai will remain a global center for employing future opportunities and launching future programs and initiatives based on cooperation between experts, institutions and governments, and the determination of young people, future pioneers, innovators and those with creative ideas to develop the best solutions to future challenges by taking advantage of advanced technologies, and to achieve clear goals that put the needs of societies in the first place.

Dubai Future Foresight Awards

During the first day of the Dubai Future Forum 2025, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honored the winners of the first edition of the Dubai Future Foresight Awards, which aims to celebrate innovators, distinguished people, pioneers of foresight, future designers, those with future visions and creative ideas from around the world.

The awards include three main categories, including: the “Leadership in Foreseeing the Future” award for thought leaders and influencers who contribute to developing the foundations of foresight, its theories, tools and methodologies, the “Foreseeing the Future for Communities” award for individuals or institutions that have a real impact on people’s lives through foresighting the future, and the “Foreseeing the Future for the Environment” award to honor innovators in employing foresight tools to protect the environment and enhance its sustainability.

Leadership in anticipating the future

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honored the “Pacifica Futures” report team from the Republic of Fiji, on the importance of knowledge and experiences of indigenous peoples in the Pacific Islands to preserve their future and sustain their resources, winning first place in the “Leadership in Foreseeing the Future” category, and the United Nations Foresight Fellowship Program (UNICEF Innocenti) in Pakistan came in second place, and the “Sustainable Future” initiative in cooperation with Thomas Gauthier from France, on making foresight a daily practice and a language that everyone understands, is in third place.

In the category of Foreseeing the Future for Communities, His Highness the Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, honored the team of the “Healthy Long Life City” initiative from Italy, which won first place for its integration of the uses of artificial intelligence in various vital sectors, to enhance the long healthy life of future urban communities. The “Recovery Future” initiative from Greece won second place for its success in employing foresight to overcome the challenges of social division and build more cohesive future societies, while the “Foresight” initiative came in second place. “For Fair Governance” from Australia came in third place for including foresight as a basis for cooperation and solidarity between generations and various societal groups to design the desired future.

As part of the “Foreseeing the Future for the Environment” award, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum honored the first place winner, which was the Congo River Basin Initiative from Cameroon, which highlighted the importance of anticipating the future of biodiversity for the sustainability of the river basin, which is important for the countries of the Central African continent. The second and third place winners, respectively, were: “Three Tests for the Future Initiative” from the United States of America, for inventing tests that anticipate practical opportunities to reduce the temperature of the planet in the future, and “The Future Initiative Agriculture in the Nile River Delta of the Arab Republic of Egypt,” for presenting specific forward-looking visions about positive strategic transformations that open new horizons for the future of agriculture in the Nile River Delta.

The honoring was attended by Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Technologies, Deputy Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Director General of the Community Development Authority in Dubai, Hessa bint Issa Buhumaid, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, Issa Kazim, and a number of senior officials.

“Sensing the future”

In addition, during the Dubai Future Forum 2025, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also witnessed the graduation of the second batch of members of the “Sensing the Future Programme,” the first international program of its kind in the region, organized by the Dubai Future Academy, with the aim of empowering executives, entrepreneurs, strategy and policy designers, opinion leaders, investors, vital sector experts, and innovators from around the world with the skills and tools to anticipate future transformations and contribute to creating their opportunities.

His Highness stressed that building capabilities in all fields, the most important of which is sensing the future, contributes to the advancement of human knowledge and the improvement of people’s lives. His Highness called on the pioneers of sensing the future and their talents and competencies to contribute effectively. Starting from Dubai, and from their academic and professional positions in the government and private sectors, and in the fields of research, development, innovation and entrepreneurship, to explore new future horizons that hold promising opportunities for further progress and development for the Emirates, the region and the world.

30 participants from 15 countries around the world participated in the second session of the program, who were selected out of 401 applications for participation from 68 countries. The program provided an integrated educational and training experience for participants over a period of 4 weeks, to empower them with tools for anticipating the future and enhance their ability to keep pace with the acceleration of innovations in various fields.

Dubai Future Experts Programme

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum met with the graduates of the fifth batch of the “Dubai Future Experts Programme.” The first government program of its kind in the world, developed by the Dubai Future Foundation, in cooperation with the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, to enable national employees in the middle or senior management category in government and semi-government agencies in Dubai to become future experts in various sectors.

His Highness noted the importance of the skills of anticipating the future, saying: “Dubai has always aimed for first place… and our talents and competencies benefit from an integrated support system that enhances their work as one team with a unified goal, which is to enhance Dubai’s leadership, proactiveness and competitiveness, and accelerate work on achieving the goals of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.”

The fifth session of the “Dubai Future Experts Program” witnessed the participation of 21 middle and senior leadership members from 16 government agencies in Dubai, to enable their expertise in anticipating and designing the future in various major government and strategic sectors. An elite group of experts and specialists in the field of future forecasting from various parts of the world participated in presenting the program.

5 axes

The activities of the first day of the Dubai Future Forum 2025 included keynote speeches and specialized sessions that focused on five main themes: an in-depth look at the future, exploring the unknown, the future of societies, the future of health, and the future of systems.

The main sessions discussed the most prominent global transformations in the era of artificial intelligence, the nature of future societies, how to make the right future decisions, the role of education in building the world’s readiness for the future, the role of industrial sectors in driving the future of the economy, the importance of the role of scientific alliances in supporting research and development, the future of the field of proactive medicine, and other important future topics.

Hamdan bin Mohammed:

• Designing the future is one of the most important strategic sectors at the heart of the work of countries and governments, and a pillar of the action plans of companies and institutions in various fields.

• Dubai cooperates with all those keen on the values ​​of positivity, proactiveness and preparedness from around the world, to imagine, design and implement a future that societies aspire to.

• We launched the Dubai Future Forum to be an annual global platform that brings together the most important experts and institutions of designing the future in Dubai.