The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation has announced a comprehensive agenda including debates and workshops as part of the first in a series of events for the Arab Strategy Forum to be held in Dubai from October 28 to 29.

It is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The event, to be held at the Mina A’Salam Hotel, will also mark the launch of the Arab Knowledge Report, a joint endeavour by the Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme.

Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan, CEO of the Arab Strategy Forum, said: “As a prominent knowledge-based platform, the forum gathers a wide array of Arab and international thought leaders to discuss vital issues in the Arab World. The first regional event in Dubai will lay the ground for intense and insightful discussions on a comprehensive list of topics covering a range of regional issues.”

The first day’s proceedings will include a plenary session that will see prominent personalities discussing two critical topics – ‘Knowledge Gaps and Enabling Environments for the Knowledge Society in the Arab Region: Where are the Flaws?’ and ‘Foundations and Mechanisms of Action for Building the Knowledge Society in the Arab Region’.

In addition, John P. Keegan, chairman and president, Charles Edison Fund, Edison Innovation Foundation, US, will address participants on ‘Tangible Innovation’.

The second day will feature four workshops on ‘Innovation: the Road to Knowledge Society’, ‘Transfer or Indigenisation of Knowledge?’, ‘Information and Communications Technology: the Bridge for Intercommunication and the Reform Axis of the Modern Knowledge Society’ and ‘Education and Formation of Knowledge Capital: Have Arabs built their required knowledge capital?’.

The Dubai event will host prominent speakers including Dr. Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, UAE Minister of State; Dr. Ziad Bin Abdullah Aldrees, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate at Unesco; Dr. Ali Fakhro, Bahrain’s former Minister of Education; Dr. Turki Al Hamad, Saudi thinker and writer, and Dr. Taher Kanaan, managing director, Jordan Center for Public Policy Research and Dialogue, Jordan.

Individual sessions will be moderated by Dr. Sulaiman Al Hattlan; Khalfan Al Miheiri, cultural advisor to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation; Dr. Mohammed bin Hwaiden, professor of Political Science, UAE University; Dr Aldrees and Dr Tayeb Kamali, vice chancellor, The Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE.