• Mohammad Al Gergawi: New partnerships harnessing the UAE’s ongoing contribution to shaping a promising, prosperous future for humanity
  • Dubai Future Foundation, Association of Professional Futurists and The Millennium Project sign collaboration agreement at Dubai Future Forum to form the Global Future Society
  • Museum of the Future will become its global headquarters
  • Announcement paves the way for additional and sector-specific future- foresight and scenario planning organizations to join the new society

Dubai, United Arab Emirates:  Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) today launched the Global Futurist Society to be headquartered at the Museum of the Future (MOTF), in collaboration with two leading organizations, creating an alliance that will establish Dubai’s MOTF as an epicenter for the world’s futurists and visionaries.  

The Association of Professional Futurists and The Millennium Project became founding members of the Global Futurist Society after signing a collaboration agreement with DFF. The agreement was signed during the Dubai Future Forum 2022, the first edition of the world’s largest gathering of futurists, at the MOTF. The landmark partnership will pave the way for more collaborations and for other organizations to join the Global Futurist Society in the coming months.

The MOU signing took place in the presence of His Excellency Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation; His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications; and His Excellency Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of DFF

The Global Futurist Society headquarter at the MOTF creates a physical center for international and cross-border dialogue on how nations, private enterprise, entrepreneurs and citizens can navigate and work towards building a positive and responsible future for humanity. It will harness the knowledge and expertise of local and global networks and members of the constituent parties to shape practices in future foresight and horizon scanning, while identify cross-border trends which can be shaped, mitigated and capitalized upon.  

His Excellency Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi said: “The MOTF will be an incubator for global institutions, experts and all those interested in imaging and designing the future. It will provide an innovative, integrated ecosystem to promote global dialogues and collaborations between different parties around all future-related topics, trends, insights and transformations without any limitation to human creative thinking and imagination flow.”

“Global partnerships announced at the Dubai Future Forum represent a key milestone for the MOTF. They will contribute towards its goals of foreseeing and planning the future. These partnerships mark another achievement for the UAE’s ongoing contribution to shaping and creating a promising, prosperous future for humanity,” he added.

Commenting on this agreement, Shermon Cruz, Chair, Association of Professional Futurists, said: “Global interest and impact of foresight, in many different ways, has heightened all over the world. The commitment to expand the understanding and use of foresight requires a global, dynamic and collaborative effort. The partnership between the Association of the Professional Futurists and the Dubai Future Foundation aims to nurture that commitment. The Association of Professional Futurists is pleased to be part of the Global Future Society to contribute to continually advance excellence in the foresight profession and demonstrate the value of foresight to our stakeholders and the world.”

Echoing his commitment to the newly established society, Jerome C. Glenn, Co-Founder and CEO of The Millennium Project said: “The acceleration of global change and interdependency requires global futures research to improve the prospects for humanity; therefore, The Millennium Project – a global participatory think tank – is very pleased to participate in the founding of the Global Future Society a great initiative of the Dubai Future Foundation.”

The Global Futurist Society is special in that it enables previously siloed groups to deepen cross-border collaboration and cooperation on areas of common interest. It will also leverage the Museum of the to be where discussions regarding the future are anchored. Moreover, it will become the single largest collective of futurists, researchers, planners and analysts, leveraging perspectives from all regions of the world to create a truly global perspective of the future.

This was announced today on the sidelines of the inaugural Dubai Future Forum, the world’s largest gathering of futurists, convening 700 leading experts, scientists, innovators, and luminaries at the Museum of the Future to discuss, debate and predict the future trajectory of the world.

For more information about the Dubai Future Forum, please visit: www.dubaifuture.ae/dubaifutureforum

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