Why do we come to Dubai?

Tim Brown is the is CEO and president of IDEO and Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Design.

By Tim Brown (@tceb62)

Why do several hundred global experts, in topics ranging from China to Food Security and Design to Ocean Governance, get on planes and burn many tons of carbon to meet for three days in Dubai? Is it because despite the many virtual means of collaboration and communication there still remains a great benefit to being in the room with smart people exploring issues and ideas?

As I look forward to this third Global Agenda Council Summit I hope to have some of the same surprising and informative experiences as previous years.  Conversations where I learnt about the merits of providing cities in emerging economies with decentralized sanitation systems or discovering there was common ground between the worlds of religious faith and advertising while moderating the inter-council conversation on values.

While there is great benefit to the individual councils meeting face-to-face it is these interdisciplinary interactions where in my opinion the great potential lies. Where else but the GAC Summit do you get designers talking to experts on the future of government and exploring potential new frameworks for both topics? Where else do those passionate about women’s empowerment get to have informed conversations with those trying to deal with organized crime? This is a unique event and I look forward to joining you in surprising conversations. See you in Dubai.