UAE Mission to UN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres picked Mr Al Gergawi as one of 20 independent experts to advise him on the panel, which was launched at the UN headquarters in New York in July.
It includes leaders from government, private industry, civil society, academia and the technology community.
Its purpose is to strengthen international cooperation in digital industries, realise the potential of technology and safeguard against risks inherent in such advances.
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“We stand at the very outset of vast changes, and are not yet able to predict the impact of the technological revolution. The issue we are dealing with is bigger than any particular aspect like cyber security, privacy, or economic changes,” said Mr Al Gergawi.
“I am honoured to bring the UAE perspective to the discussion. The UAE is in the business of change and embracing the future,” he said.
“We need to embrace technology and bring the right people together from across sectors and regions of the world in order to bring the country, the region and the world into the future.The UAE has been a strong advocate for cooperation in the digital realm, he said, pointing to the UAE Centennial Plan 2071. The five-decade strategy says cooperation is needed to provide the tools, knowledge and skills to push-technology forward.
Plan 2071 is essential to long-term economic diversification and national security, said Mr Gergawi. Cyberattacks have been a constant threat to the UAE and illustrate the need to balance potential with risks. The minister said the UAE believes in a common purpose for all nations to tackle challenges and opportunities brought about by “the fourth industrial revolution”.
World Government Summit and Business Of Hope
By Mohammed Al Gergawi
When we launched the World Government Summit in the UAE, back in 2013, many people wondered why we would bother with such a big event targeting government managers and leaders. Did the world need another governmental talking shop? But we had a very defined goal in mind, part of an ongoing program of reform and transformation which was instituted by the UAE’s leadership in order to build new value and instill a new spirit of innovation, development and inspiration into government in the UAE.
There’s no business in the world like government. Together, our governments serve a global clientele of seven billion people. Getting government right is perhaps the most important thing we can do as societies and yet we seem to accept that government should be slow, bureaucratic and resistant to change. We need to constantly challenge that thinking, so creating a platform that put change at the core of its agenda was a natural step forwards.
Change is an exponential process: once you have managed 5%, it’s a small step to 6% and a shorter leap to 10% and so on. Change that is inspired rather than mandated has more chance of being fundamental and durable. And so a platform which brings the very best ideas and initiatives, challenging new ideas and brilliant innovation together is a platform for enduring change with enormous societal benefits. Our answer to those early questions today stands as a keystone in a reform process that has seen our government not only transformed but open to, indeed welcoming of, transformation.
Sheikh Mohammed has often used the phrase that ‘we are in the hope business.’ I was asked the other day whether that means he supports ‘social entrepreneurship’, where a business is set up to have socially beneficial goals. I replied that this wasn’t my understanding, although social entrepreneurship can be a very beneficial approach to creating value and positive change.
Being in the hope business is a wider goal. It is at the very heart of our work at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, the umbrella organisation that ties together some 33 charities, entities and awards that reflect His Highness’ many philanthropic interests. The hope business aims to kindle belief in people, that change is possible, and our future can be defined by our actions in a more positive and sustainable way. It’s not just about providing immediate relief, but in supporting long term development, so that communities can take control of their futures and aspire to build a better, more inclusive and fulfilled life for themselves and their communities. It’s about resourcing institutions that serve communities and drive goodness and create opportunities that young people can believe in and reach for.
In creating that hope, we have the building blocks for firing true revolutions – intellectual, cultural and social development that empowers people and gives them faith that choosing to try and build a better world is not a pointless task or an empty gesture, but a true step on the path to defining a brighter future.
Making that long-term goal practical and sustainable has long-term benefits for a people as a whole. It creates opportunity, economic value and wealth. As His Highness once replied when asked if Dubai and the UAE had benefited from unrest in the Middle East, ‘We benefit five times more if we can enjoy peace.’
Sources : https://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/uae-minister-chosen-as-un-digital-technology-adviser-1.749947
