Qatar - National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce

World Innovation Summit
for Education (WISE) 2010:
“Building the Future of Education”
In December 2010, over 1,250 delegates
from more than 100 countries attended the
second annual World Innovation Summit for
Education (WISE) held in Doha. WISE is a
global collaborative established in 2009 by
the Qatar Foundation under the patronage
of H.H. Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned,
the First Lady of Qatar.
“I am convinced that the
World Innovation Summit has
an important role to play in
the development of a truly
global vision of education.”
H.E. Kofi Annan, Former United
Nations Secretary General
“WISE was established because we felt that
education is the most significant way to empower
individuals and societies,” says WISE Chairman
Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani. “All of us suffer
from the global deficit in education, and it is
important to engage all sectors in finding new,
relevant and practical solutions. The summit’s
global diversity and action-oriented approach
are distinguishing features of W.I.S.E. and a
major source of its strength.”
36 NUSACC • www.nusacc.org
Dr. Abdullah notes that
WISE continues its work
year-round through collaborations
with international
o r g a n i z a t i o n s . “ T h e
challenges are pressing –
today 70 million children
have no access to schooling
and 800 million adults are
illiterate,” he points out.
“Building the Future of
Education” was the theme
of the 2010 three-day
summit, which discussed
new models of leadership,
innovative curricula, open
education and pedagogical
models around the world,
among numerous other topics. Twenty young
students from different countries were invited
to attend and report on the Summit’s activities
as “next-generation” journalists.
Included among the 100 prominent speakers
who participated in the summit were: H.E.
Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa
Al-Thani, Chairperson of the Qatar Museums
Authority (see page 13), as well as Chair of the
Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) initiative; Irina
Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO; Lord
David Puttnam, Chairman of Futurelab;
Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World
Bank Group; and John Maeda, President of
the Rhode Island School of Design.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the
Earth Institute at Columbia University in New
York, described WISE in his televised speech
as an “extremely crucial and timely forum.”
He added that “every single one of the Millennium
Development Goals has education at
the core. Education isn’t simply a short stage
of life – it is really about an entire lifetime.”
Four main resolutions were announced
at the close of the 2010 Summit:
• establishment of the WISE Prize for
Education, the world’s first major
international prize for outstanding
contributions in the field of
education
• launch of a WISE publication and
web portal
• establishment of a taskforce
dedicated to rebuilding the education
system in Haiti
H.H. Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (front row center)
at the 2010 WISE Summit
• acceleration of best practices and
support for innovative ideas in
education
“I am certain that WISE will lead to
opening wide horizons for developing quality
education and expanding its reach,” commented
H.H. Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned,
Qatar’s First Lady and Chairperson of the
Qatar Foundation, at the closing session of
the summit. “I look forward to WISE being
engaged more and more in offering alternatives
and solutions to the main education
problems and challenges we are facing.”
“WISE was established because
we felt that education is
the most significant way to
empower individuals and
societies. All of us suffer
from the global deficit in
education, and it is important
to engage all sectors in finding
new, relevant and practical
solutions. The summit’s global
diversity and action-oriented
approach are distinguishing
features of WISE and a major
source of its strength.”
WISE Chairman Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani
Photos courtesy of WISE