Riyadh Governor inaugurates 1st Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity

Riyadh Governor inaugurates 1st Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity

Riyadh (UNA-OIC) – On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz inaugurated here on Sunday the First Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity “Imagine the Future” on the sidelines of the G20 Saudi Presidency.

The two-day conference is organized by King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity “Mawhiba” and the G20 Saudi Secretariat. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques directed to hold this event every two years.

The Governor of Riyadh region said, “The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, honored me with the opening of the activities of the First Global Conference for Giftedness and Creativity “Imagine the Future”. His sponsorship of this conference and directive to hold it periodically every two years is an assertion of his generous confidence in everything that would enhance the Kingdom’s leadership in launching specific initiatives with a developmental priority that brings added value to the future of humanity.”

“The wise leadership enabled the nation’s youth and provided them with the opportunity to participate in the nation’s renaissance with their actions and initiatives to achieve its vision that strengthened the role of young people in developing the national economy, as they represent 36.7 percent of the total population,” he added.

The governor went on to say, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing, in this auspicious era, an exceptional and comprehensive renaissance to build the Saudi man and invest in his abilities and capabilities that keep pace with the talented and creative human energies of our dear country in various fields.”

The governor stated that during the activities of this conference the world will witness Saudi examples of Mawhiba students who have achieved outstanding global successes on international platforms. He noted that Mawhiba has succeeded since its inception and for over 20 years with the support and guidance of wise leadership to promote a culture of giftedness and creativity as well as expanding its local activity and transfer it to the world.

He said that nearly 400,000 students were tested to identify gifted people and provide quality programs for 161,000 students to assess their abilities and enhance creativity, innovation and leadership.

“The process of identifying gifted individuals is participatory and integrative that begins at home and is strengthened in the school and community institutions. Consequently, it is important to support the public and private sectors for gifted people, investing in them and attracting them as leaders of change and the engine of progress towards the future,” the Riyadh governor stated.

He also stressed the importance of caring for gifted people and encouraging them through the programs, initiatives and activities of Mawhiba, in light of this prosperous era under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

For his part, Mawhiba Secretary-General Dr. Saud bin Saeed Al-Muthami welcomed honoring the Riyadh governor to inaugurate the conference on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. He stressed that the conference is held in light of the many challenges the world is witnessing and under exceptional circumstances with the continuing spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Today’s world is witnessing an acceleration in economic change and technological progress, in a way that will have profound effects on human life in various parts of the globe,” the Mawhiba chief said, pointing out that everyone realized that the prosperity of nations depends on empowering talented and creative minds that lead and shape the future.

He stated that today’s conference strengthens the ability of talented and creative people to build the virtual world and employ it efficiently and effectively, explore the future of virtual reality and its impact on human development, and expand international cooperation through effective partnerships to develop human capital from talented, creative and innovative young energies to face global developments and challenges, and launch a global platform for virtual communication that brings together specialists, interested, talented, creative and innovative people from different parts of the world.

 

The conference has brought together 17 local and international keynote speakers. Participants in the opening session titled: “Imagine the future … Empowering talented and creative young abilities to shape new future horizons”, include Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM); Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh, Minister of Education; and UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

Participants in the conference also include Prof. Michio Kaku, the futurist and theoretical physicist; Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson; Gerd Leonhard, the author of ‘Technology vs Humanity’ and a film-maker who specializes in the debate between humanity and technology; NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr, Huawei’s Hong-Eng Koh; Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Worldwide Education at Microsoft; Jonas Kjellberg, co-founder of Skype and former chairman of iCloud; Adam Cheyer, former Apple chief engineer, who co-founded Siri; Esther Wojcicki, vice president of the Advisory Board for Creative Projects in California, who was a co-founder of Tract Learning, a student-directed teaching platform; and Andreas Weigend, former Amazon chief scientist, who is also a member of Germany’s Digital Council.

The conference will address several themes, such as sponsoring gifted students in Saudi Arabia as a model for pioneering experiences in the world; Mawhiba: The 20-year journey, investing in gifted and creative individuals; the future of science and technology, and more.

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