The 11th World Government Summit, held in Dubai from February 12 to 14, 2024, attracted broad international participation, highlighting its significance as the foremost global platform for envisioning the future of governments worldwide. The global event brought together a large number of heads of states and governments, more than 85 international and regional organizations, in addition to 120 governmental delegations and a select group of global thought leaders and experts, totaling more than 4,000 participants and over 300 ministers from various countries around the world.
In light of the significant momentum of the World Government Summit and the ideas put forth therein, this article aims to assess the significance of this event, its most notable outcomes and achievements, and its role in envisioning the future of global governance.
A Global Platform for Dialogue and Innovation Support
Since its inception over a decade ago, the World Government Summit has evolved into a global platform for governmental dialogue through hosting hundreds of dialogues and forums addressing the most pressing challenges facing governments worldwide. It highlights new and non-traditional solutions to these challenges, facilitates the exchange of experiences and opinions on developing governmental plans and policies to achieve the people’s aspirations in development and prosperity, and prepares for future changes to adapt and capitalize on opportunities.
In its previous editions, the World Government Summit hosted over 1,600 sessions and workshops, with the participation of more than 40,000 experts, government officials, and public figures. Over 1,550 speakers presented their ideas and perspectives on the issues at hand. In the 2024 edition, the summit discussed six main themes and held 15 global forums to discuss major global trends and transformations in over 120 interactive dialogue sessions, featuring 200 global figures, including presidents, ministers, experts, thinkers, and future makers. On ministerial level, the summit also hosted more than 23 ministerial meetings and executive sessions attended by over 300 ministers.
The latest edition of the summit witnessed a notable qualitative development in dialogue quality by convening a distinguished cohort of Nobel Prize-winning scientists across diverse disciplines. Additionally, it launched 25 strategic reports through collaboration with knowledge partners from think tanks, academic institutions, and research centers. These reports analyze global trends in multiple sectors and propose actionable governmental strategies, reinforcing its standing as a premier global platform for intellectuals and decision-makers.
This significant diversity of events, sessions, dialogues, and experts from different cultures and nationalities undoubtedly enriches the summit's outcomes, particularly regarding achieving its overarching objective of envisioning the future of governmental work and focusing on the priority of innovative solutions to address global challenges and enhance the lives of human societies.
The gains of the summit extend beyond the exchange of experties, ideas, and visions to serve as a platform for enhancing cooperation and coordination among governments in various fields. Previous editions of the summit witnessed the signing of over 80 bilateral agreements between governments of various countries to enhance cooperation in various domains. This year's edition saw high-level ministerial meetings such as the ministerial meeting on sustainable development, the Arab finance ministers' meeting, a consultative meeting of labor ministers from The Gulf Cooperation Council, and an energy ministers’ meeting to discuss the future of hydrogen energy, among others, aiming to coordinate positions and enhance mutual cooperation, making the summit a significant contributor to promoting international governmental cooperation.
Another key achievement of the summit is its encouragement of values of creativity and innovation in governmental work, not only by showcasing the best global practices in governmental work but also by honoring ministers and individuals who have achieved exceptional success in their work to serve the development of governmental work. The summit presents several international awards, honoring government ministers, innovators, and creators for their exceptional contributions to building a better society for humanity, including the Best Minister Award, Creative Government Innovations Award, Global Award for Best Government Applications, and Global Government Excellence Award.
Artificial Intelligence as a Central Focus
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have forcefully imposed themselves on the international agenda in recent years with the growing global competition in this field. These technologies have permeated various human work domains, along with the overall rapid growth of the global AI market. Some estimates suggest that the global AI market will grow to around USD 1.6 trillion by 2030, compared to about USD 165 billion in 2023. Other estimates project even further, anticipating the AI market size to reach approximately USD 15 trillion by 2030.
In line with this, the 2024 World Government Summit accorded considerable attention to the issue of artificial intelligence. Insights from participating experts and prominent global contributors in AI technologies emphasized that these technologies will shape the future global economic landscape. They will contribute to improving the quality of life and foster collaboration and employment opportunities globally, these technologies are poised to facilitate communication with investors worldwide, thereby bolstering investments. While some experts downplayed concerns regarding AI development, others emphasized the imperative of governance and the establishment of legal and ethical frameworks to mitigate misuse. Remarkably, a large number of leading AI technology developers in the world attended the latest edition of the summit, such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT application, Joe Liemandt Principal of alpha.school, Yann LeCun, A.M. Turing Award Laureate and Chief AI Scientist for Facebook AI Research (FAIR), Jensen Huang, founder and President of NVIDIA, among others, making the summit the largest dialogue platform for AI developers in the world.
This focus on AI aligns with the UAE's interest in this domain. The country has recognized the importance of employing AI technologies and their positive impact in bringing about a developmental leap in the methods of providing government services and government work in general. Accordingly, the UAE has adopted several policies and strategies aimed at developing and employing AI technologies to achieve its ambitious future goals. This includes the launch of the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy in October 2017, the UAE Digital Economy Strategy, and the National Program for Artificial Intelligence.
Additionally, the UAE Council for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain was formed in 2018 and was restructured in 2021 to oversee the integration of AI technologies within government entities and specifically within the education sector. Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence was established to educate talented students and develop their capabilities in this field.
These steps were crowned by the issuance of a law by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, on January 22, 2024, establishing the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), tasked with developing and implementing policies and strategies related to AI and advanced technology investments and research in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan was appointed as the chairman of the council, and Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the vice-chairman, in a clear confirmation of the significane this file holds within the UAE leadership agenda.
Government Bureaucracy Elimination
The UAE has evolved into a global model in the field of government development, with many governments around the world seeking to replicate the Emirati model and benefit from it. However, the UAE government continues to pursue development to achieve its goal of being the most efficient and flexible government in the world. In this context, the announcement on November 8, 2023, of the launch of the Zero Government Bureaucracy Program seeking to simplify and reduce government procedures and eliminate unnecessary procedures and requirements. Ministries and government entities were directed to immediately implement the program and cancel at least 2,000 government procedures, reducing at least 50% of the time required for procedures and eliminating all unnecessary requirements within a year. The results of the work will be evaluated, and the best achievements celebrated by the end of 2024.
This program carries a clear message that government development is ongoing, and the determination for the UAE government to be the best government in the world is firm and steadfast. The ultimate goal is to meet the expectations of citizens and residents, enhance their well-being.
The World Government Summit remains steadfast in its ambitious goal, which lies at the heart of its organization. Central to its mission is the identification of exemplary governmental practices worldwide, utilizing them to advance government operations in the UAE. Moreover, the summit is dedicated to envisioning the future of governance, thereby fortifying the UAE government's position as a global leader both presently and in the years to come.
