The eyes of the world are locked on Dubai and the UAE as the Expo 2020 has opened its doors to visitors from all around the world to be inspired by the ideas which will shape the future of humanity.
During the 17th Century until the beginning of the 20th Century, intellectual salons of exchanging ideas were widespread in the western world. Expo 2020 Dubai is a modern version of this old practice that will serve as a bridge connecting the best minds from different nations.
The UAE has set its aim to become the number one in the world by the centennial anniversary of the Union in 2071. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has famously said: “With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive.”
The metaphor of His Highness lies precisely at the momentum that has fuelled the UAE’s rapid rise on the world stage in the past 50 years. With the UAE placed on the pedestal of the world in each field, its citizens will enjoy the highest quality of life that humankind has ever experienced.
What may have sounded like a distant utopia only some decades ago, today the Emirates are a preferred domicile for everyone having an idea that meets the world’s needs. This provides an alluring perspective for many intellectuals around the world. As a result of the recent Covid-19 restrictions, many leading intellectuals are currently looking for a new place to continue and scale their work. Dubai has been able to position itself as a haven of freedom amidst the restrictions.
In order to establish itself as the globally leading economic hub, the UAE has recently unveiled the “United Global Emirates” initiative to stress the country’s ability of being a lodestone for entrepreneurs, investors and talents from all seven continents. As the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan once said: “We shape our tools, and thereafter, our tools shape us”. This can be seen as a reflection of the UAE leadership’s fundamental long-term vision for the nation. Success breeds further success.
The ambitious national strategy “Towards the next 50” aims to represent the UAE’s next 50 years, building on its rapid rise to the world stage in the past 50 years. The UAE’s light speed development proves to us the nation has found its own unique path of development. Fifty years ago, the UAE was nothing more than a blank paper. Brave nations bare the cost of the first experiments.
The UAE’s success to be ranked third among 27 emerging global economies is the result of its leadership’s long-standing visionary strategies on being a testbed for imagining, designing and executing the future innovations.
One of the core principles of ‘The Next 50’ is to strengthen the UAE’s position as a competitive knowledge-based economy by welcoming the world’s talent to be part of creating the future. Dubai and the UAE wish to become an open laboratory for the world to test the smartest and most innovative solutions.
Dubai and the UAE wish to become an open laboratory for the world to test the smartest and most innovative solutions.
In the future, the Nobel prize will be given to a team instead of an individual. Today people are more focused on having rather than being. Solving complex global challenges requires interdisciplinary collaboration. By sharing our knowledge and future best practices, it allows the individual to reach his or her true potential, through embracing the interconnectedness rather than individual effort.
Advanced technology, once fully developed, becomes available for the planet as a whole, but at an early stage a host country must cover the cost of the first experimentation. Italy has become known for pasta, even though the ingredients necessary for making delicious spaghetti have been around for centuries. It was the combination of the ingredients that made pasta what it is today. What are the ingredients Dubai and the UAE can mix together to design unique products and services to be known all around the world?
The UAE has become synonymous with the word ‘futuristic’, a country bravely looking towards the future and embracing talent. People want to feel that they contribute to the society. At the core of being a human is the need to be heard and be seen. As a young person having grown up in Albania, a country riddled with isolation from the rest of the world during the communist era and still coming into terms with its dark past, I have often felt frustrated because my country has never appreciated me for the merit of my ideas. The UAE has become a home for the world’s talents seeking opportunities. The recent United Global Emirates initiative by the UAE government shows that the UAE has evolved from being a regional hub to a truly global hub, helping humanity progress towards the highest quality of life.
Expo 2020 is a platform which will lead the global conversation on the future of humanity for the years to come. For me as an individual, there has never been a more interesting time to be alive and to be contributing to this conversation as now during the Expo 2020, in a country which has made the promotion of openness and tolerance as one of its core principles shaping the next 50 years of the nation.
Diana Mjeshtri, senior policy analyst at Impact Innovation Institute.
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By Diana Mjeshtri
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Dubai 2071: The leading intellectual capital of the world
Expo 2020 Dubai is a platform which will lead the global conversation on the future of humanity for the years to come
The eyes of the world are locked on Dubai and the UAE as the Expo 2020 has opened its doors to visitors from all around the world to be inspired by the ideas which will shape the future of humanity.
During the 17th Century until the beginning of the 20th Century, intellectual salons of exchanging ideas were widespread in the western world. Expo 2020 Dubai is a modern version of this old practice that will serve as a bridge connecting the best minds from different nations.
The UAE has set its aim to become the number one in the world by the centennial anniversary of the Union in 2071. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has famously said: “With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive.”
The metaphor of His Highness lies precisely at the momentum that has fuelled the UAE’s rapid rise on the world stage in the past 50 years. With the UAE placed on the pedestal of the world in each field, its citizens will enjoy the highest quality of life that humankind has ever experienced.
What may have sounded like a distant utopia only some decades ago, today the Emirates are a preferred domicile for everyone having an idea that meets the world’s needs. This provides an alluring perspective for many intellectuals around the world. As a result of the recent Covid-19 restrictions, many leading intellectuals are currently looking for a new place to continue and scale their work. Dubai has been able to position itself as a haven of freedom amidst the restrictions.
In order to establish itself as the globally leading economic hub, the UAE has recently unveiled the “United Global Emirates” initiative to stress the country’s ability of being a lodestone for entrepreneurs, investors and talents from all seven continents. As the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan once said: “We shape our tools, and thereafter, our tools shape us”. This can be seen as a reflection of the UAE leadership’s fundamental long-term vision for the nation. Success breeds further success.
The ambitious national strategy “Towards the next 50” aims to represent the UAE’s next 50 years, building on its rapid rise to the world stage in the past 50 years. The UAE’s light speed development proves to us the nation has found its own unique path of development. Fifty years ago, the UAE was nothing more than a blank paper. Brave nations bare the cost of the first experiments.
The UAE’s success to be ranked third among 27 emerging global economies is the result of its leadership’s long-standing visionary strategies on being a testbed for imagining, designing and executing the future innovations.
One of the core principles of ‘The Next 50’ is to strengthen the UAE’s position as a competitive knowledge-based economy by welcoming the world’s talent to be part of creating the future. Dubai and the UAE wish to become an open laboratory for the world to test the smartest and most innovative solutions.
In the future, the Nobel prize will be given to a team instead of an individual. Today people are more focused on having rather than being. Solving complex global challenges requires interdisciplinary collaboration. By sharing our knowledge and future best practices, it allows the individual to reach his or her true potential, through embracing the interconnectedness rather than individual effort.
Advanced technology, once fully developed, becomes available for the planet as a whole, but at an early stage a host country must cover the cost of the first experimentation. Italy has become known for pasta, even though the ingredients necessary for making delicious spaghetti have been around for centuries. It was the combination of the ingredients that made pasta what it is today. What are the ingredients Dubai and the UAE can mix together to design unique products and services to be known all around the world?
The UAE has become synonymous with the word ‘futuristic’, a country bravely looking towards the future and embracing talent. People want to feel that they contribute to the society. At the core of being a human is the need to be heard and be seen. As a young person having grown up in Albania, a country riddled with isolation from the rest of the world during the communist era and still coming into terms with its dark past, I have often felt frustrated because my country has never appreciated me for the merit of my ideas. The UAE has become a home for the world’s talents seeking opportunities. The recent United Global Emirates initiative by the UAE government shows that the UAE has evolved from being a regional hub to a truly global hub, helping humanity progress towards the highest quality of life.
Expo 2020 is a platform which will lead the global conversation on the future of humanity for the years to come. For me as an individual, there has never been a more interesting time to be alive and to be contributing to this conversation as now during the Expo 2020, in a country which has made the promotion of openness and tolerance as one of its core principles shaping the next 50 years of the nation.
Diana Mjeshtri, senior policy analyst at Impact Innovation Institute.
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