Contact Learning from Outer Space, GCF 2011 [ at The 4th Global Competitiveness Forum] 
http://www.gcf.org.sa/en/Program/Program/Welcoming--Networking--0800---900112112/

Contact: Learning from Outer Space

Psychological and socio-cultural assumptions and preconceptions constrain us to a large extent, and shape our views of the universe so that we are inclined to find what we are looking for, and fail to see what we are not. Using knowledge gained from research in the fields of Ufology and the search for extraterrestrial life, what might we possibly learn about hindrances to innovation in other areas of inquiry?


 - Innovation and anthropomorphism, ethnocentrism and ego

 - Falsification and the evidence of absence


 - What Giordano Bruno would say 


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Zaghloul El Naggar, 

Professor of Earth Sciences



Stanton T. Friedman,

Nuclear Physicist, Lecturer,  Author



Michio Kaku,

Professor of Theoretical Physics, City University of New York, Host of Sci Fi Science on the Discovery/Science TV Channel



Nick Pope,

Author, Journalist



Jacques Vallee,

General Partner, SBV Venture Partners



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http://www.gcf.org.sa/en/


The 5th Annual GCF: January 22-25, 2011 
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

 

Let's take competitiveness to the next level . . .

 

While the 4th Global Competitiveness Forum focused on finding the right balance of economic growth and sustainability through competitiveness, the 5th GCF will dig into one of the key elements of competitiveness – “Innovation as a Means to Competitiveness”. Over the last 4 years of the Global Competitiveness Forum, innovation was discussed as a means of developing competitiveness - to build sustainability, promote responsible development, and drive economic growth. For the Global Competitiveness Forum’s 5th anniversary, the world’s premier gathering on competitiveness challenges will not only look at what challenges to competitiveness exist, but how to use innovation to solve those challenges.

 

Five years ago, the Global Competitiveness Forum started as a gathering of ICT experts, which included Bill Gates, discussing how ICT enables competitiveness. For the next three years, the GCF grew through the financial crisis to tackle the world’s most important competitiveness issues. The 5th Global Competitiveness Forum will continue building on the success of previous years, with the goal of being one of the year’s most important conferences.

 

The Forum will be held from 22 – 25 January 2011, and a number of speakers have already been confirmed, including: HE Ali Al-Naimi, Klaus Kleinfeld, Marco Tronchett-Provera, Jean Pascale-Tricoire, Janine Benyus, Ulf Henriksson, James Wolfensohn, Andy Bird, Professor Michael Porter, Linda Rottenberg, Paul Hawken, Jean Chrétien, Andy Meyers, Amy Zhou, James Carpenter, Atul Punj, John C. Warner, and many more.

 

The Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF), the only event of its kind, is an annual meeting of global business leaders, international political leaders, and selected intellectuals and journalists brought together to create a dialogue with respect to the positive impact organizational and national competitiveness can have on local, regional and global economic and social development. It was founded in 2006 by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), and is held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia under the patronage of HM King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

 

Vision: An annual program of activities attended by global business leaders, international political leaders, and selected intellectuals who share a common interest in competitiveness.

 

Mission:  To continue fostering awareness and enthusiasm around the issue of competitiveness, and to evaluate the applicability of competitiveness theory and practice as a tool for generating real solutions to contemporary global challenges.


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View all the GCF video highlights from last year and related material on the GCF YouTube Channel