The World Government Summit (WGS), held in Dubai last February, brought together heads of state, prime ministers, and international figures, attracting participation from around 20 presidents and more than 250 ministers.
“The commemorative photo of these leaders taken together for this occasion left an indelible image in our collective minds,” said Joe Chidiac, CEO of JC Media Group.
While official photos at global events like this are not uncommon, it may be rare for leaders to face the camera and all agree on one thing: our world is in danger.
Undoubtedly, major and growing challenges face our world and future generations, foremost of which is climate change. Additionally, the emergence of new economic blocs, which enjoy powerful financial and global influence, threatens to fragment the world, worsen division, and increase trade and economic barriers, all of which could eventually result in significant losses to global GDP.
Another big challenge is the powerful emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). While the technology was once categorized as science fiction, rapid technological advancements over the past few years have turned AI into one of the most important transformative powers that future governments can hold.
The world will be divided between governments that proactively adopt AI technologies and those that live in the recesses of time, isolated and archaic in nature.
“This telling description is from the speech delivered by His Excellency Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the UAE and Chairman of the World Government Summit,” added Chidiac.
Read: Al Jaber at WGS: “We need to triple renewable energy capacity”
In other words, the clout of future governments will be measured by their ability to adopt technology. Therefore, they are expected to be ambitious in their decisions and forward-looking. Planning a future that takes full advantage of economic opportunities requires great technological leaps. We cannot attain this echelon of excellence without capacity building in advanced digital infrastructure and technology.
Today’s world is facing difficult economic times, experiencing slow global growth and high inflation rates triggered by the Russian-Ukrainian war. Sharp rises in energy and food prices, currency depreciation, high fiscal deficits, and domestic and external debt are issues that feature prominently in all economies around the globe.
However, it seems that we are beginning to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. World economists reassure us that global growth is emerging from current tight bottlenecks.
We need to look at our world from a glass-half-full perspective and be as optimistic as possible that there are always solutions to challenges, no matter how big, and that a better tomorrow awaits us and future generations.
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