First Open Forum in Dubai

For the first time, the World Economic Forum, the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Dubai will be hosting the Open Forum in parallel with the Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai. There will be four sessions completely open to the general public, bringing speakers and participants from the Summit on the Global Agenda to the American University in Dubai. Each session will look at a different topic relevant to both the local and global agenda. The full programme will be:

Sunday 28 November

13.30 – 15.00

American University in Dubai – Auditorium
Cities of the Future
Open Forum sessions are sessions on selected Council topics open to the general public of Dubai, co-organized by the World Economic Forum, the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Dubai.

– How can the United Arab Emirates exercise its leadership in planning and building the future's sustainable cities globally?
– How can the cities of the future be built in a world of climate change and resource scarcity?
– How can the region tackle sustainable urbanization in a period of marked population growth?

Speakers:
•    Khaled Awad, Founder, Grenea, United Arab Emirates; Global Agenda Council on Urbanization
•    Phil Gordon, Mayor of Phoenix, USA
•    Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Secretary-General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Germany; Global Agenda Council on Urbanization
•    Fahd Al Rasheed, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Emaar The Economic City, Saudi Arabia; Real Estate & Urban Development Industry Agenda Council
•    Ren Xuefeng, Vice-Mayor of Tianjin, People's Republic of China; Global Agenda Council on Urbanization

Moderated by:
•    Nik Gowing, United Kingdom

15.30 – 16.30

American University in Dubai – Auditorium
Energy Security and Economic Prosperity for the Region
Open Forum sessions are sessions on selected Council topics open to the general public of Dubai, co-organized by the World Economic Forum, the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Dubai.

– How can the region safely engage on the path to nuclear energy?
– How can the region invest in diversification from over-dependence on the revenues from fossil fuel production?
– How can oil revenues best be invested to ensure long-term prosperity in the region?

Speakers:
•    Margaret Catley-Carlson, Patron, Global Water Partnership (GWP), Canada; Global Agenda Council on Water Security
•    Cornelia Meyer, Independent Energy Expert and Chairman, MRL Corporation, United Kingdom; Global Agenda Council on Energy Security
•    M. S. Srinivasan, Chairman, ILFS Tamil Nadu Power Company, India; Global Agenda Council on Energy Security
•    Nejib Zaafrani, Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, United Arab Emirates; Regional Agenda Council on the Middle East & North Africa

Moderated by:
•    Fatima Zahra Daoui, Business News Presenter, Al Arabiya, United Arab Emirates

Wednesday 1 December

15.00 – 16.30

American University in Dubai – Auditorium
Water Security
Open Forum sessions are sessions on selected Council topics open to the general public of Dubai, co-organized by the World Economic Forum, the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Dubai.

– What are the key challenges to water security in the Middle East?
– How is the water issue linked to economic growth and what are its implications?
– How can regional stakeholders better collaborate to address the issue?

Speakers:
•    Luis Echavarri, Director-General, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, France; Global Agenda Council on Energy Security
•    Rabi Mohtar, Director, Global Engineering Program, College of Engineering, Purdue University, USA; Global Agenda Council on Water Security
•    Usha Rao-Monari, Senior Manager, Infrastructure Department, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Washington DC; Global Agenda Council on Water Security
•    Margaret Catley-Carlson, Patron, Global Water Partnership (GWP), Canada; Global Agenda Council on Water Security

Moderated by:
•    Gideon Rachman, Associate Editor, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, Financial Times, United Kingdom; Global Agenda Council on Institutional Governance Systems

17.00 – 18.30

American University in Dubai – Auditorium
Education and Innovation
Open Forum sessions are sessions on selected Council topics open to the general public of Dubai, co-organized by the World Economic Forum, the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Dubai.

– How can the Middle East develop a skill and talent pool that ensures long-term growth?
– How can the education system be restructured to develop systems thinking and multidisciplinary problem-solving for a robust global culture of innovation?
– How can education support a globally mobile workforce?

Speakers:
•    Adam Bly, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seed, USA; Young Global Leader; Global Agenda Council on Innovation
•    Göran Hultin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Caden Corporation, United Kingdom; Global Agenda Council on Migration
•    John Kao, Chairman and Founder, Institute for Large Scale Innovation, USA; Global Agenda Council on Innovation
•    Demetrios G. Papademetriou, President and Board Member, Migration Policy Institute (MPI), USA; Global Agenda Council on Migration
•    Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director, International Education Policy Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA; Global Agenda Council on Education

Moderated by:
•    Majed Mohsen, News Anchor, Dubai TV, United Arab Emirates

Anyone is welcome to attend the Open Forum, but as seats are limited, not everyone will be able to get in. We will be making the sessions available online here on the blog, on our website and on our YouTube channel. If you're not able to come, you can still take part by submitting your questions to the panelists in the comments below. You can also leave them on our Facebook page or find out more on the event page. Finally, you can tweet your questions to us using the hashtag #openforum. We will try to ask as many of your questions as we can and will include a selection of the best ones here.