More than 150 governments and international organizations will come together for the World Government Summit (WGS), organized by the UAE government in Dubai on Feb. 8-10, 2016 to share knowledge and experiences in the efforts to improve government work and offer better services to humanity. In a major transformation, as part of the Summit a number of global initiatives and research studies will be released throughout the year, highlighting the Summit's status as an organization that works constantly to find innovative solutions in government services. Announcing the Summit, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the World Government Summit, said: "The previous editions of the Summit have been successful in establishing a global platform for best practices in innovation for the development of government services. The new name of the Summit reflects the goal of expanding its role on the international level and strengthening partnerships with major global and regional organizations such as United Nations, Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, World Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and World Economic Forum." Al Gergawi said the World Government Summit has now transformed into the largest platform for the next generation of governments leaders, and aims to prepare for the future and improve the lives of nearly seven billion people by gathering the world under one umbrella. He said: "The World Government Summit research and studies will cover several sectors, including future of education, future of economy, future of technology, future of health care, future of development, future of government work, sustainability and future of the environment, cities of the future, and future of human capital management in the labor market." Creating knowledge for governments of the future The World Government Summit will witness 10 major changes. The first is the new the name and the logo, while the second change is the transformation of the Summit from a Forum to an organization that offers integrated knowledge services for more than 150 governments and global organizations with the goal of foreseeing future governments, creating knowledge and organizing events throughout the year. Thirdly, the summit will answer tomorrow's questions by preparing for the future and proposing solutions to challenges. Fourthly, the Summit will issue government research and reports and launch global development indicators constantly throughout the year. ‘Edge of Governments' exhibition to showcase innovative government practices The fifth change will be visible in the nature of the sessions, with their duration and mechanisms enhanced to ensure better dialogue between speakers and the audience. The sixth change includes the development of a smart application and the website of the World Government Summit as knowledge platforms. The seventh change will be the introduction of a smart application to provide effective communication between the participants. The eighth change is the ‘Edge of Governments' exhibition, aimed at enabling 15 governments to share their experiences and knowledge on applied disruptive innovations. An annual guest of the Summit will showcase various experiences, while the tenth change is the launch of a new annual award – World Government Summit Award – to honor the best minister in the world who has led a new and successful qualitative government project. As in previous editions, the Summit this year will honor the winners of the third edition of the m-Government Award. Besides, a number of meetings will be organized on the sidelines of the Summit to discuss the implementation of sustainable development goals. The World Government Summit will discuss the latest topics of relevance to future technical applications. One of the sessions, hosted by Tim O'Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Media, will look at the future of government work and explore the new generation of smart government. Another topic related to cities of the future, will be discussed in a session titled, ‘The future of road transportation', hosted by Jim Al-Khalili, professor of physics at the University of Surrey. The future of the digital economy will attract much attention with discussions spread across multiple sessions, including one on ‘Digital coins: The Future of Money'. A session on the future of innovation and ways to develop environments will be hosted by Christopher M. Schroeder, an entrepreneur, advisor and investor in interactive technologies and social communications. The World Government Summit will launch a number of reports in cooperation with knowledge partners, both during the Summit as well as throughout the year. These include reports on artificial intelligence, development of sciences and the future of governments in cooperation with The Economist. A survey will be launched on digital transformation of the government in collaboration with Deloitte. In addition, a report on the future of teaching methods will be released in cooperation with Oxford Analytica, while another report on the upcoming major innovations will be launched in collaboration with Harvard University. The Summit will also set the stage for several other events, including the Museum of the Future, which will focus on the robotics and artificial intelligence sector. — SG
