Other Activities
This page introduces "other activities", in addition to those that are linked to directly under separate headings on the home page. Access those by clicking on the specific sub-themes in the Activities box.
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..:: "World Urban Forum"
The 10th edition of the annual World Urban Forum (WUF) was held on February 8-13, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. The WUF was originally established in 2001 to address critical issues faced by humanity, particularly related to "rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies". Today, this event has become known as the world’s premier conference on cities. Through partner organisation in URBiNAT, IKED was engaged in the agenda on citizen participation. See link: https://wuf.unhabitat.org/
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..:: "Global Forum Annual Summit", Angers October 9-10, 2019
Since 2004, IKED is represented on the Steering Committee of the Global Forum, the annual event which gathers policy makers, academic professionals, tech-experts and business people as well as other global thinkers, for exchange of knowledge and ideas on the future dimensions of ICT. In October 8-10, the 2019 edition, “The Roll-out of Digital Transformation” was hosted by the City of Angers, held in conjunction with the International Conference for Multi-Area Simulation (ICMASim). IKED’s representative moderated a session on Environmental Issues, and also addressed digital enablers in regard to Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), drawing on the URBiNAT project. For information on the Global Forum 2019, see this link: http://globalforum.items-int.com/
The previous year, on November 5-6th, 2018, IKED co-sponsored the Global Forum, then hosted by Copenhagen. The theme then centered on ways for privacy, security and ethics to keep up with the pace of technology. Special sessions addressed the subject of fake news, with the discussions featuring representation from Facebook, among others. Other sessions addressed regulatory frameworks in regard to AI and IoT. At the event, IKED chaired the session addressing Health and Digitalisation, at which simulation, AI assisted surgery and personalised as well as preventive health were examined.
For Global Forum 2018, see link: http://globalforum.items-int.com/#program
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..:: International Collaboration on Women Entrepreneurship
The conditions confronting Women Entrepreneurship and Women-owned SMEs give rise to major distortions and inefficiencies in many societies. Currently, IKED is partnering with Qatar University, Delfts University in the Netherlands and Bradford University in the UK in the development of "A Platform to Promote Entrepreneurship for Women in Qatar Through International Collaboration and Co-Innovation", a project funded by Qatar Foundation. The project engages extensive networks of women entrepreneurs, in Qatar as well as in other countries.
From 2006, IKED has been represented on the OECD Task Force on Fostering Women's Entrepreneurship in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Countries. Previously, jointly with Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), IKED organised a panel at the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Korea, on the upgrading of competencies related to management and the introduction of ICT in women-owned SMEs, resulting in a Handbook on how to develop programmes supporting practical action and competence development in this area.
Working with partners in various countries, including France, Greece, Morocco and Turkey, IKED is further engaged in fostering women entrepreneurship through advocacy and application of practical experience in training at educational centres, business labs, incubators and science parks. Coaching activities and mentorship programmes focusing on women-owned start-ups aim to strengthen path-ways for innovation and growth.
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..:: Addressing technology and jobs
One of the most critical issues of our time has to do with the relationship between technology and jobs. It is well-known since decades that technology is critically important for productivity growth and competitiveness, which in turn leads to more jobs. Already Keynes (1930), Leontief (1952) and other leading economists predicted, however, that technology would ultimately replace jobs on a massive scale, reaching a magnitude that would lead to many people being laid off for good and the working day being reduced to a few hours at best. With the digital revolution, the traditional view that technology is good for jobs initially prevailed. More recently however, even the World Economic Forum, the OECD, and many academic researchers, have begun to argue that the impact of technology is now taking on a new shape.
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..:: Innovation Systems for Natural Resource Rich Economies
Since several years, IKED has been engaged in addressing issues of natural resource-based economies and their transition to knowledge-based economies. In this field, projects have been undertaken notably on Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Related work has been carried out in Malaysia and Pakistan, and also in Central America and the Caribbean.
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..:: Visit by DRC, China, to Stockholm, Sweden, addressing Housing Development/Policies
During a 2-day visit (30-31 Oct., 2018), IKED hosted a delegation from the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) for a mission to Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose was to explore the Swedish urban development model and bring policy lessons about how to frame the housing market back to China.
At the start of the visit, IKED experts informed about the ongoing relevant projects undertaken by the organisation, including URBiNAT, the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project which engages nine cities (seven from Europe and two from Asia, including Shenyang in China, in an intensive mutual learning process how to engage citizens in promotion of nature-based solutions, particularly in deprived city areas), and also other relevant projects ondigital tools for citizens´participation as to improve well-being and mobility issues.Certain methodologies including coaching and motivational interviewing techniques will be explores in order to build frameworks for collaboration between the cities.
The visit featured a number of meetings with top public and private institutions involved in Swedish housing models and policies, with the aim of enabling an improved understanding of the issues faced by the housing sector.
Meetings were arranged with the following:
- Senior Experts on Stockholm Municipal Government Housing Policy
- The Stockholm Housing Office (Bostadsförmedlingeni Stockholm AB)
- The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
- A visit to Stockholm Royal Seaport
- Meetings with experts from BOVERKET (Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning)
At the end of the visit, IKED and DRC team agreed to engage in enhanced future cooperation and work on preparing and pursuing joint projects with the objective of sharing knowledge and expertise and contribute to improved policies and market conditions at both ends.
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..:: Inconet-GCC
The first phase of the EU-funded Inconet-GCC project started in 2008 and lasted for approximately four years. Aiming at basic capacity-building, that phase featured mapping of common research interests, areas and issues in the GCC-countries and the European Union. Its results included a specification of priorities for research collaboration between the EU and the GCC countries.
The second phase, Inconet-GCC II, started in January 2014. It addressed specialised research and innovation agendas, notably innovation in health, including to combat diabetes, and a track on smart city development. IKED, as one of the European partners, focused primarily on the second part. On December 7-8, 2015, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman, the project team led by ITEMS in Paris and hosted by the Research Council of Oman, organised the major Conference, "Collaboration for Innovation; Linking GCC and EU". IKED played a major role in supporting the local organisation and moderated two sessions, on Main challenges in EU-GCC R&I cooperation: Ways to overcome the hurdles, and on Innovation in Energy/Smart Cities and Health in an international context.
Prior to the completion of the project early 2017, a final event was organised in Brussels, November 29, 2016. IKED coordinated the preparation of the Continuity Study, see here, outlining strategies for future collaboration between the GCC and the European Union, as well as provided major contributions to the Whitepaper and Roadmap wrapping up the end results (available here).
Apart from IKED, the complete list of partners in Inconet-GCC II was:
- Eurocosnualnts SA http://www.euroconsultants.gr/index_ecsa.html
- Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas http://www.forth.gr/
- Agenzia per la promozionedellaricercaEuropea http://www.apre.it/
- Turkiye bilimsel ve teknolojik arastirma kurumu http://www.tubitak.gov.tr/
- Panepistimio Thessalias (University of Thessaly) http://www.uth.gr/en/
- ITEMS International http://www.items.fr/
- The BRITISH COUNCIL http://www.britishcouncil.org/
- Industrial Innovation Center http://home.trc.gov.om/tabid/194/language/en-US/Default.aspx
- The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates http://www.peie.om/
- Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences http://www.kfas.org/
- Higher Colleges of Technology http://www.hct.ac.ae/
- Abu Dhabi Systems Integration http://www.adsi.ae/
- Masdar Institute of Science and Technology http://www.masdar.ac.ae/
- Qatar University http://www.qu.edu.qa/
- Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage http://www.cultnat.org/General/Cultnat.aspx
- Political Development Forum; Gulf Research Center Foundation http://www.grc.net/
- Bahrain eGovernment Authority http://www.ega.gov.bh/
- Ministère de l'EnseignementSupérieur, de la RechercheScientifique et de la Formation des Cadres, Direction de la Technologies - http://www.enssup.gov.ma/
..:: Cyber Security Event and Agenda in India
The annual conference on Cyber-Law, Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Security which took place in New Delhi, November 17-18, 2016, brought together decision makers, experts and practitioners to address a range of issues that are now critical to fulfilling the potential benefits of the information society. India is increasingly positioning itself as a major player in this area. New institutions and initiatives are at the same time under way to use ICT for addressing major outstanding societal problems. Here the "100 Indian Smart Cities" agenda is of particular interest.
Collaborating closely with the organisers of the conference, IKED contributed with a keynote presentation via video for the 2015 event, linking between security and the opportunity to take ICT to the next level. Follow-up activities are under way, which connect with the smart cities agenda. The ability of mega-cities in India and other major emerging economies to make effective use of information tools, including the Internet-of-things, to boost new services and content to counter some of the most critical issues of our time, will much depend on improved coordination in regard to security, identity management, data governance and privacy.
For information on the International Conference Cyber Law, Cyber Crime and Cyber Security, in New Delhi on November 17-18, 2016
- http://cyberlawcybercrime.com/
- http://cyberlawcybercrime.com/sponsors-supporters
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..:: Individual Digital Identity (INDI) Ecosystem Implementation Process Initiated
The project GINI-SA (Global Identity Networking of Individuals - Support Action), ran as an EU-funded research project and Support Acton from the spring 2010 until December 2012. Its main task has been to outline the vision of an Individual Digital Identity (INDI) ecosystem and to work out a Roadmap for its implementation.
Following acceptance by the European Commission of the final reporting of the research stage, the GINI project continues to operate based on a Collaboration Agreement signed between the eight partner organisations, with IKED as coordinator, for the purpose of paving the way for realisation of its results.
Special Event at the World Economic Forum in Davos ...
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..:: IKED projects related to FDI
IKED is engaged in various projects and studies on the attraction and effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and how they relate to innovation capacity in the countries where they invest. This work aims at an increased understanding of the interplay between national institutions, competencies and resources, and the role played by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and global investment flows. For many emerging economies, these issues are of high practical importance, and IKED puts priority on work with countries where its analysis and recommendations can be of practical use.
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..:: New Approaches to Entrepreneurship Training
Since 2009, IKED has been engaged in collaborative projects to promote and undertake training to foster innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset. Some of these activities have been developed in collaboration with the International Entrepreneurship Academy (Intentac). IKED is also engaged in bringing the entrepreneurship component to graduate programmes arranged by universities addressing complementary topics. On this basis it has provided lectures linking to entrepreneurship through, e.g., classes wiithin the Harvard University Extension School in the area of "Beauty, leadership and innovation", in Siena, Italy, July 2014 and in Milan, Italy, July 2015. Earlier training activities in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates reached a broad range of stakeholders. In Greece, IKED collaborates with Euroconsultants (Thessaloniki ) in activities that engage chambers of commerce, public authorities and young entrepreneurship associations in support of better conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship. Discussions have also been initiated with the University of Teheran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, on new training modules, following the appointment of Intentac's Dean Prof. Piero Formica as Adjoint Professor at the Entrepreneurship Centre.
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..:: Entrepreneurship training for the World Student Community on Sustainability
The World Student Community for Sustainable Development (WSCSD) brings together some 100 student unions around the world. Its annual 2012 Summit, organized in Nairobi on 12-16 November in partnership with the University of Nairobi, the Multimedia University College in Nairobi, and UNEP's Environmental Education and Training Unit (EETU), aimed at defining a common conception of a Green Economy for university students and showcasing their talents, innovation and leadership potential towards a Green Economy with a focus on five topics: Energy, Water, Waste, Food and Transport.
From the outset of the preparation process, IKED worked closely with the WSCSD on structuring the event, including the organisation of the Green Entrepreneurship Workshop which aimed to raise the ability of participants to develop their concepts and ideas into real-world viable projects.Following the summit, IKED and WSCSD continue to foster collaboration to support sustainable development through entrepreneurship and related training activities, targeting areas such as, e.g., energy, waste management, water management, and food security.
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..:: E-science Data Exploration for the Future
A pioneering EU project engaged a High Level Expert Group to explore the future potential for e-Scientific Data and associated policy and governance challenges. With IKED represented in the expert panel, the group formulated requirements for a new global framework for handling data that is ”flexible, reliable, cross-disciplinary and cross-border”. The findings further stressed the need of incentivizing researchers, companies and individuals to highlight their concerns and contribute to the future setup. After concluding the report in 2011, the group continued an active interface for a couple of years and was brought together on various occasions to present and advance its conclusions and recommendations, which led to practical follow-up by several European countries. See http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/e-infrastructure/docs/hlg-sdi-report.pdf
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..:: Needs of new knowledge-based society initiatives in the Middle East
Over centuries, the Middle East was at the epi-centre of leading scientific and technologies breakthroughs. Today, there is a fundamental need of establishing renewed structures for reclaiming progress in this area. A looming effort is that of WorldScienceBook, a planned forum for the pan-Arab world to join forces in fulfilling the new opportunities around Science, technology and entrepreneurship.
On this subject, IKED was approached by the Arab Administrative Development Organization of the League of Arab States (ARADO), to prepare such an initiative designed to promote a range of science and innovation related activities in the pan-Arab region.
The WorldScienceBook project was not yet fullfiled but represents a latent opportunity for the Middle East to collaborate in essential capacity building and to inspire research, innovation and the development of new knowledge-based companies and jobs for the growing generations.
On ARADO
ARADO, affiliated with the League of Arab States and established in 1961, is a specialized organisation assuming responsibility for promoting administrative development in the Arab region.
ARADO aims to foster better utilization of human and financial resources, using the most modern communication techniques and information technology in support of social and economic development. Having promoted the "WorldScienceBook" among stakeholders across the Arab world, ARADO met with widespread interest and support. Given the allocation of required financial resources, the initiative could advance new networking and action opportunities for innovation centres, researchers, Arab alumni, business people, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
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..:: Patient Certification
The Patient Certificate Scheme (PCS) pineered a concept and methodology for providing the means and the incentives to enable individuals to gain knowledge and resume a greater responsibility for their behaviour in respect to aspects of health, safety and environmental issues. IKED has contributed to the agenda by carrying out background analysis and by providing administrative support.
The PCS aims to deliver services which will help increase awareness among targeted individuals in various parts of the world of serious distortions to our present and future well-being, inspire behavioural change and thereby help improve life for large numbers of people. Particular emphasis is currently placed on projects focusing on the Middle East. New applications make use of mobile telephony, coupled with appropriate means for learning, gaining inspiration, and enabling beneficial adjustments to human behaviour.
See: Patient Certificate Scheme
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..:: A Comprehensive Approach to SMEs and Competence Development
Started in 2003, IKED developed a novel approach to more coherent policies for upgrading of skills that are relevant to the specific situation of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). In collaboration with NUTEK (the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) at the time, IKED examined the experience of a number of countries in applying similar strategies under varying conditions, in support of SME competitiveness and regional development. The report "Competence Development for Growth - International Outlook and Analysis" sums up approaches and experiences gained by a number of countries, and discusses ways forward to devising improved strategies.
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..:: The Global Trust Center
The Global Trust Center (GTC) is an independent non-profit organisation that develops policy, standards and procedures to enable trust in all digital interactions. The GTC provides a forum for governments, businesses and civil society to carry out the research and dialogue to develop the framework required for users to enjoy significantly enhanced trust levels in the digital world.
The mission of the GTC is to place the individual user at the centre of all digital interactions and to reaffirm fundamental values of legality, integrity and accountability.
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For further information, contact info@iked.org
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