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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The World Expo in Dubai, IKED contributed with a presentation and discussions in a panel arranged at the Dutch Pavilion on February 20th, 2022,
outlining ways forward in support of a circular economy along with opportunities in agriculture and food. The analysis drew on a series of studies
of the covered sectors, pursued on the invitation of Dutch Gulf since 2021 and further oriented to project implementation in 2022.
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The World Eco City Summit hosted by the City of Rotterdam but primarily with on-line participation, originally scheduled for 2021,
eventually took place on 22-24 February 2022. IKED contributed to a panel on circular economy, with analysis of
the smart city transition to eco-cities featuring digital enablers tailored to engaging different categories of citizens in constructive
co-creation of nature-based solutions.
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Introducing a high-level panel in the UN Habitat on October 12, 2021, IKED provided the keynote speach and overview how to transition
from support of nature-based solutions to a nature-based economy, drawing on the whitepaper produced by the EC Task Force II on Nature
based solutions, available here..
The presentation and intensive discussions featured valuable participation from Marc Vatum, part of IKED's African network and the
leading force behind the bottom-up initiative on Africa for 2040. For some points picked up from that part, and also by other
participations in developing countries, see here..
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..:: "Global Forum Annual Summit"
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 latest in digitalisation.
The next edition will take place in Muscat, October 17-18, 2022, with IKED strongly involved in the organisation.
This being the first time the Global Forum is held in the Middle East, commodities and sustainability will feature on the agenda,
along with other pertinent issues such as IoT, smart city development, privacy and security, AI and ethics, and so forth.
The most recent event took place in the city of Angers, France, In October 8-10, 2019, on "The Roll-out of Digital Transformation".
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.
Read more ...
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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: