WGS 2019: Governments are Shifting from the Age of Innovation to the Age of Imagination, Says Al Gergawi
Klaus Schwab urges governments to regain control for Globalization 4.0
World vastly unprepared for Globalization 4.0, Schwab warns WGS
Entrepreneurship, imagination and innovation integral to global competitiveness
Dubai-UAE
sallam sallam
– As we seek to optimize the potential of Globalization 4.0, the era where technology and globalization are seamlessly intertwined, “we are moving away from an age of innovation and towards the Age of Imagination”, His Excellency Mohammed Abdulla Al Gergawi, UAE Cabinet Minister and Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future said today at the opening of the seventh edition of the World Government Summit
Al Gergawi’s opening remarks were given at the “Globalization 4.0” plenary session which opened WGS, and were followed by an address by Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum who said: “We need to move away from crisis management to more constructive management”
Professor Klaus highlighted the inability of governments to keep pace with developments in technology as a core concern and articulated the need for enhanced awareness of the depths of change
Professor Schwab’s address followed the opening remarks by Al Gergawi, on Day 1 of the seventh edition of the World Government Summit (WGS 2019) in Dubai
Following the opening session, Professor Schwab engaged in a dialogue with His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi about the need for cities to become platforms for the creation of entrepreneurship-focused ecosystems that encourage imagination and innovation as the key drivers of global competitiveness
During his address at the official opening ceremony, Professor Schwab identified the speed of change, global transformation from a unipolar to a multipolar world and the new wave of populism, where people do not want to be left behind, as the main stress factors exerting pressure on the global system
He listed the imbalance caused by rapidly evolving technology, the challenge of data protection, and the breakdown of social and ecological systems as threats to the world in the age of Globalization 4.0
Professor Schwab said: “We have to change course. We have to move from globalization to a new type of globalization – what we call Globalization 4.0 – which is in line with the modern world, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with a multi-polar world”
He described Globalization 4.0 as a more sustainable, more inclusive environment where all stakeholders of society – including women, youth, NGOs, businesses and governments – participate in the process of change with a renewed moral code to reinstate trust in leadership through addressing challenges such as corruption
The three-day World Government Summit 2019 runs until February 12 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The landmark event has convened more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries, including heads of state and governments, as well as top-tier representatives of 30 international organizations
