Day 2 of WGS 2023: Turkish President thanks UAE for support, UAE announces new AI tutor for students; as it happened

[Editor's Note: This blog is now closed.]

The World Government Summit (WGS) 2023, which kicked off on Monday, February 13, in Dubai, saw world leaders and officials come together to discuss topics that affect governments around the world, such as climate change, gender balance, trade, and economy.

Over three days, from February 13 to 15, more than 20 presidents and 250 government and private sector leaders from more than 150 countries convened at Madinat Jumeirah for the forum.

On the first day, the Summit saw leaders discuss government action to accelerate gender equality, the importance of collaboration between nations in tackling climate change, the role of youth in government, and more.

Here are the highlights from the second day of the WGS 2023 at Madinat Jumeirah:

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2.43pm: Sierra Leone minister awarded prize by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education in Sierra Leone, awarded the Best Minister Award at World Government Summit. He was awarded by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Read his inspiring story here:

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2.30pm: Sheikh Hamdan presents prize

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, presents the World Data Visualisation prize to Lindsey Poulter.

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2.11pm: Ruler of RAK speaks about 'Ras Al Khaimah: Past, Present and an Ambitious Future'

"Ambition is the identity of the UAE. It is what made the UAE a unique model in the world and what made the founding fathers go beyond their present time to lay the foundation for the future," says His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah in a speech about the past and future of the emirate.

"Our goal today is to create a government works together as an orchestra playing a symphony for a better future," he adds. "The vision is to unlock the potential and we just started. We anticipate that we will triple the number of tourists by 2030 and double the hotel capacity by 2025."

"The UAE is a beautiful garden. When you enter a garden, you see the different trees and roses, the differences between them add to the beauty of the garden. All of us together make for the most beautiful and compelling garden."

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1.56pm: Turkish President video conferences into World Government Summit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thanked the UAE, its leaders and people for assisting the country after the earthquake. The leader expressed his gratitude in a recorded message played out at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was in attendance as Erdogan delivered his speech.

Read full story here:

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1.41pm: Panel members discuss dangers, benefits of using AI in education sector

Elucidating on the dangers of reformulating assessment using AI for the future, Janet Godwin, CEO, ACT (a non-profit organisation) says, “One of the risks for any kind of assessment is not preparing educators to know how to interpret those results. Preparing the educationists and teachers on what the skills and competencies are going to be assessed, could be a simulation project but the curriculum needs to be developed and educators need to be prepared to deliver that curriculum, and be transparent (with students that we are using it) and preparing teachers to use those results.”

She adds, “There have been instances in the past, of stories of misuse of assessment results using data in a way which have kept students out, or denied them opportunities. We need to be careful that we are preparing our educators for this new form of assessment and take the time to create such curriculum and space.”

Shedding light on the Future of Assessment in ECE and K-12, Hadi Partovi, CEO, Code.org, says “Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education just delivered a speech written by AI stating that his advisors cautioned him against doing so. The most unethical thing to do is to stick to the curriculum of the past and forcing the students to learn the same things without recognizing how much our world has been changed by technology. I think this is a change that needs to come not only in the university systems but even in the primary and secondary education. Our education leaders in the world need to have the courage to embrace change. Of course we have to think about ethical implications but the most unethical thing would be to leave students in the same system that we grew up in.”

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1.22pm: President-Designate of COP28 speaks on global emissions, energy transition

“The world is playing catch up when it comes to holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees. And the hard reality is that the global emissions must fall 43 per cent by 2030, just seven years away. We need a major course correction. We need to transform our food and agriculture systems that account for one-third of global emissions," says Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, President-Designate, COP28, during the session 'The Road Map to COP28: Prioritizing Action'.

“The international community must follow through on pledges made over a decade ago. We need real reform of international financial institutions, and the multilateral banks to unleash more concessional dollars, lower risk and attract more private finance for vulnerable communities,” he adds.

“As COP28 President, I will lay out a roadmap that is inclusive and result-oriented," he continues.

“Climate change knows no boundaries. It affects us all. We believe that game changing solutions can be achieved if the collective political will is there. And I promise you, it certainly is from the United Arab Emirates. We in the UAE are not shying away from the energy transition. In fact, we are running towards it.”

Read the full story here.

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1.12pm: UAE Minister of Education gives speech written by AI

“One thing that I would like you all to be aware of is that the speech that I just read out is fully written by AI. This is really not my style but something I insisted on. My communications team was on edge and advised me not to go ahead publicly as a Minister of Education with a pre-written speech by ChatGPT and I said that’s exactly what I want,” says Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education, UAE.

Read the full story here.

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11.42am: New AI tutor for students in UAE

The UAE is working to develop and launch a tutor powered by artificial intelligence (AI), says Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education.

He adds, “The Ministry of Education will be working with partners like Microsoft, OpenAI and other tech companies to ensure that AI technologies are used to enhance the quality of learning and education.”

Read the full story here.

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11.21am: How UAE fought Covid-19 pandemic

“We learnt how diversity could add value and bring unity in the UAE,” says Abdulrahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, UAE, commending how people of over 200 nationalities cooperated with the government to maintain Covid restrictions and get vaccinated.

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11.11am: Delegates, attendees at the World Government Summit at interesting talks on important global issues

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11.01am: 'International cooperation is of utmost importance', says Egyptian health minister

"No one nation can work alone to solve this epidemic. We need to work together so that no one will be left behind. We need to build preparedness. I am afraid that as humans we forget easily. So it is important to keep in mind that we should not forget the lessons of Covid-19 pandemic," says Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, Arab Republic of Egypt.

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10.52am: UAE health minister speaks on climate change, new technologies

“We must have a wider perspective of climate change. Between 2030-2050 will cause 250,000 additional deaths because of malaria, diarrhea and heat stress. Climate change is the biggest health threat facing mankind," says Abdulrahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, UAE. Speaking about developing technologies in the field, he adds, “(A) resilient health system... can respond to health threats while maintaining quality medical services. Digital healthcare has become a new norm.”

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10.50am: Session on health and wellbeing, 'Sustaining Health: An Agenda for All' begins with opening remarks from UAE Minister of Health and Prevention

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10.50am: 'Don't wait for peace to happen,' says Yemeni PM

"Yemen fell a few times but it didn’t collapse thanks to countries who support us," says Dr. Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, Prime Minister, Republic of Yemen. "The Yemeni government is working hard and the focus is saving the people."

“If you want to save Yemen there needs to be continuous support, don’t wait for peace to happen," he adds.

Read the full story here.

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10.39am: Kristalina Georgieva on building bridges

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10.34am: UAE is the heart of Mena, says Minister

“The UAE managed to recover through the last couple of years and really build the lighthouse to show how dynamic government and dynamic visionary leaders can deliver," says Abdulla AlMarri, Minister of Economy, UAE.

“The UAE is in the heart of the Mena region. We have strong financial hubs. Our banks are one of the most liquid, with very strong balance sheets, and they operate on all systems."

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10.22am: IMF managing director speaks on biggest challenge to global growth

“Keeping the world together is the greatest challenge today to global growth. What we face are forces of fragmentation that are pulling us apart. We have done analysis at the IMF - what is the cost of this fragmentation? It is quite scary because fragmentation can cost us anywhere between losing 0.2 per cent to 7 per cent of GDP. Just to give you a sense what 7 per cent of GDP means, it is wiping out Germany and Japan from the world economy,” Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, says during the panel discussion at the World Government Summit.

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10.14am: Panel members discuss forces fragmenting the world

• WGS in Dubai: Gender Balance Forum kicks off, discusses government action to accelerate equality, growth