24th – 25th May 2016, Colombo Sri Lanka
The Summit, the first of its kind that is being held in Sri Lanka that hope to kick start a dialogue on the importance of foresight and innovation as a value addition to traditional development planning to achieve sustainable human development and the 2030 development agenda.
The 2 days summit held at Water Edges, Battatamulla Colombo Sri Lanka was not an ordinary conference but an event that had gathered global pool of knowledge and expert from all over the world. UNDP has mobilised resource personnel to share valuable insights in using foresight and innovation at the summit. myForesight® together with other foresight expert were invited to be part of the summit, also to witness and celebrates UNDP 50 years in development.
There were discussions, debates, diverse ideas and perspectives shared during the summit. Bringing together over 200 participants and resource people from 9 countries, the summit provide a platform for the public sector, private sector, and civil society to engage in a two-day national dialogue on how they can create the Sri Lanka that we want and need by 2030.
By introducing foresight and innovation tools to the participants, they hope to foster a development sector that is forward looking and visionary in planning national and local development projects and to develop resilient policies.
In addition to the working sessions, the summit feature several high-level plenaries that includes En. Rushdi Abdul Rahim as one of the penal speaker on the plenary ‘Reimagining Governance: An Opportunity for Sri Lanka’ which was held with the participation of the Honourable Prime Minister. Following this, another session on ‘Disruptive Innovation’ took place with the Ministers for Science, Technology and Research and Digital Infrastructure. Finally a high-level private sector plenary on ‘Innovation for Sustainability: Role of the Private Sector’ featuring senior representatives of some of the biggest corporates in the country.
While all of this ensures that this is not just an ordinary summit, the main differentiator is the Outcome Document that was officially handed over to the Minister of National Policies of Economic Affairs at the closing plenary of the summit. This document present recommendations and the way forward in developing the desired Sri Lanka by 2030, based on the multi-sectoral discussions that took take place during the summit.
