Knowledge Summit to put spotlight on development of knowledge economy, fighting poverty, and Future of Knowledge Foresight Report 2022 on second day

March 11, 2022 – The Knowledge Summit, organized by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at Expo 2020 Dubai, will address 12 key areas, including epidemiology, public and mental health, tackling poverty, reshaping the legal landscape during pandemics, the availability and use of data, and the development of the knowledge economy, on its second day. Additionally, the Social Progress Index, the Future of Knowledge Foresight Report 2022, and the Global Knowledge Index 2021 will also be discussed during the event.

The agenda for the second day of the summit will include seven sessions and a training workshop in the Main Hall, along with five sessions and a training workshop in the Parallel Hall, under the theme ‘Knowledge Space.’

The first session of the second day will begin in the Main Hall, titled ‘UNDP and MBRF: A Partnership for Sustainable Development,’ which will highlight the longstanding strategic partnership between the two entities as they collaborate on the knowledge project framework to achieve the UN SDGs. The second session titled, ‘Future Knowledge and Mastering the Art of Disruption’ will discuss. The third session is themed, ‘Epidemiology and Public Health: A Profound Impact on How We Live Our Lives,’ where participants will examine the effects of daily practices and its effects in everyday lives caused by pandemics, constructing health systems to deal with long-term diseases, and the importance of a holistic approach in public health.

Furthermore, the fourth session titled, ‘Mental Health and Pandemics,’ will discuss the most visible solutions to mental health problems caused by the pandemic, such as depression and anxiety. This will be followed by the fifth meeting titled, ‘Fighting Poverty,’ which will focus on the key strategies to help fight global poverty, and decrease poverty rates by increasing productivity, as well as enhancing educational outcomes, along with the sixth session, which will showcase the ‘Social Progress Index,’ which measures the level of social progress in states, based on a set of criteria for measuring well-being, growth opportunities, and basic human needs.

At the closing discussion in the Main Hall, titled ‘How COVID-19 is Reshaping the Legal Landscape,’ participants will review the general legal landscape during pandemics, and the need to rethink legal practices in a post-pandemic world.

The second day’s parallel sessions will begin with the launch of MBRF’s third edition of the ‘Future of Knowledge Foresight Report: A Transformative Capacity Model for Future-ready Societies,’ in collaboration with UNDP, which reviews future knowledge directions to prepare societies that are ready to face rapid changes in the future.

The second session titled, ‘Growing the Knowledge Economy in an Age of Intangibles’ discusses the relationship between digital transformation and economic growth, the future of innovation, and the importance of intellectual capital.

This is followed by the third and fourth sessions titled, ‘The Global Knowledge Index: Sectoral Perspectives,’ that is set to showcase the results of Arab States in the Global Knowledge Index 2022, as well as how to conduct a timely and comprehensive review of the knowledge situation.

The fifth and final session titled ‘Data availability and access: The Key to Resilience,’ will explore ways to develop data-based policies, data quality assurance, and how traditional data compares with large data and advanced analysis. Two workshops titled ‘Data for Development’ are also set to be held at the end of the second day.

Knowledge Summit 2022 will take place on March 14 and 15, at Expo 2020 Dubai, and from 16 to 18 through virtual sessions. The summit will bring together a wide range of experts, leaders, and government officials from all over the world with an aim to highlight the role of knowledge in meeting global challenges and review the options and opportunities it offers to protect humanity, as part of MBRF’s objectives of promoting and empowering knowledge in the societies and across the world.