After Tuesday's much-anticipated inauguration of the Museum of the Future in Dubai, now is as good a time as any to reflect on what life could look like years, maybe even decades, from now.
Would you, for instance, build your next house using novel bricks, paints and materials that help absorb and remove carbon from the atmosphere? Do you expect to receive your electricity from a fusion device that runs at 100 million degrees – hotter than the sun? Would you feel comfortable having your child or relative undergo some form of gene editing if it was under the control of a global charter? These are a few of the 50 opportunities we explore in a recent report by the Dubai Future Foundation, downloadable from our website.
The report aims to shed some light and promote thinking about the opportunities that lie ahead if the world is to become a better place. And, importantly, we believe that there is every chance for the world to be increasingly equal, inclusive and prosperous. We are not turning a blind eye to the challenges that are so present. We are also not cherry-picking opportunities for Dubai; this is a global outlook on opportunities.
We can't assume the future would be like the present only with additional sprinkling of cool new tech
The period spanning December to February is annually flooded with reports, each one of which hopes to shed some light on the trends that will matter and inform the coming months. As I have written before, by describing a trend we are making a sort of prediction about the imminent future. For example, avatars and VR headsets will matter as the metaverse becomes a thing. OK. The public will make purchase-decisions based on the green credentials of the company they buy from. Fine. Consumers will want to feel more in control. Well, of course.
Yet, in the coming 12 months, some new knowledge may come along that could reverse all these trends and we will be told how to respond in the next trends report. That’s just it: many of the reports are about consuming trends before us. In addition, these trends are all too often isolated data points or descriptions, and not enough thought is given to what that trend actually means. For instance, if a trend says that more people will spend their money on environmentally conscious brands, does it mean that the environment will improve? Is it just a gimmick that will lure customers? What happens to companies that are not so good at communicating these trends? Does the solution to climate change hinge on my purchase of the right food/flight/shoes/pens/perfume/car/cat food?
Reports that highlight trends frequently assume that people are passive. Reports focused on opportunities, on the other hands, are about being proactive, taking decisions and actions on ideas that do not yet exist, but which have the power to transform the world as we know it. Opportunities are the stuff that matters in a constantly changing world.
Looking out into the distant horizon, we cannot assume that the future would be like the present only with additional sprinkling of cool new technology. To prove the point, today we are not like 18th-century folks with smart phones. That's because so much has changed in society, in economics and in every aspect of our collective and global lives.
The 50 opportunities we list out in our report matter because they are consistent with enabling a future that has growth, prosperity and well-being at the core. This is a departure for someone like me who has for two decades developed scenarios that describe a range of possible futures. And so, a very positive vision is a necessary departure. Similar to “moonshots”, these opportunities propose highly ambitious outcomes that hinge on interventions that do not yet exist. New ways of operating and thinking are, therefore, needed to reach them. The opportunities are as much about the desirable future as they are about revamping stale habits.
One of my favourite opportunities is something called the "climate visa" – a globally recognised permit for people in climate-stressed regions to legally migrate. In a sense, Dubai has been on the forefront by being home to people from more than 190 countries, and with a similar – and very recent – concept: the remote working visa, which meets the different needs of people working in other countries. Clearly, a changing planet will encourage people to move; so, making this feasible and organised is critical. It’s also not something that can be achieved overnight, therefore leveraging existing experience will help.
Another favourite is "GDP 2.0" – a need to re-think how economic performance and growth are measured. This is not a new debate but its urgency is renewed; it’s about understanding the value, but crucially also the cost of economic activity. This includes, of course, environmental and social costs, which to a large extent have been “silent” victims of the economic growth processes of the past several hundred years. The term GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, was first coined in 1937, and the time is ripe to develop a measure that includes the creation of “soft” capital such as caregiving, and other social and well-being impacts.
There are other ideas, such as "rights for robots", "the end of data as a currency", "unlimited energy". In other words, there is something ambitious for everyone to sink their teeth and enthusiasm into.
So, you see, great strides forward are made by defining our future and the opportunities this presents – more than knowledge about what colour consumers might pick for their environmentally friendly faux-fur mittens next winter.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
