Global progress in forecasting future discussed at WGSO

DUBAI / Emirates Business

The World Government Summit Organisation (WGSO) held a session titled ‘Future Trends and How to Forecast Them’ to discuss global progress in the field of forecasting the future and developing solutions for the challenges that are expected to face decision makers in the public and private sectors.
The session seeks to support governments’ efforts to forecast and shape a better future for public and private organisations by encouraging members of the World Government Summit Organisation to learn and employ advanced skills and tools that allow them to develop future solutions.
The audience at the session included prominent ministers, such as Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of State for Tolerance; H.E. Hussein Al Hammadi, Minister of Education; H.E. Dr Ahmad bin Abdulla Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education; H.E. Jameela bint Salem Mesbeh Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education; along with 100 general managers of government agencies and executives from leading national companies in the UAE and the region.
Omar Sultan Al-Olama, Director of the World Government Summit Organisation, stressed that this session is part of the Organisation’s long-term effort to implement the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who has stated that to successfully shape a better future for a nation, its government must be committed – and equipped – to forecasting that future and proactively implementing measures to mould it to the benefit of its people. Governments must, additionally, plan ahead to anticipate and address future challenges and encourage society to adopt a future outlook.
Al-Olama noted that these sessions position the Summit as a platform for exchanging knowledge and expertise, and developing future-related skills and capabilities. This supports the UAE government’s objectives to encourage decision makers across various sectors to become future-ready. These sessions exponentially develop scientific
content, he explained, adding that they are key factors in disseminating
future-centric knowledge and tools.

Trends that will change the future
Global expert Jeremy Gutsche, Founder and CEO of Trendhunter.com, was keynote speaker at the session. Gutsche is a best-selling author and one of the most renowned global speakers on the subject of forecasting future trends. Trendhunter.com is the world’s most popular trend spotting website; it has generated more than 2 billion views from 150 million visitors, and has collaborated with over 500 brands and billionaires around the world.
The session sheds light on the most prominent trends that stand to shape the future, introducing methods to anticipate them, analyse them, and specify the sectors that will be most affected by them – in addition to exploring effective solutions for the challenges that are likely to face them. Governments must remain vigilant to avoid repeating the same mistakes, Gutsche cautioned, calling on officials to adapt to future developments by, first and foremost, successfully and accurately forecasting them.