Dubai - MENA Herald: The huge leap in technology needs to be effectively tapped to deliver high quality knowledge content of relevance to the Arab world, stated knowledge experts at the third and final day of the Knowledge Summit 2015 today in Dubai.
Speaking at a session on Innovation in Media and Film Making, Riz Khan, prominent television personality said that innovation has brought about dramatic transformation in the field of media in terms of equipment and the way content is generated and delivered. However, what is significant is that content is still key to the target audience, he said.
“If it is a great story of relevance to them, people still want to know it. They ignore the delivery system but just want the content,” Khan said.
David Bennett, Chief Development Officer, National Geographic Society, innovation has made it possible to generate more stories from more people and broadcast them to a larger audience than ever before.
Describing the dramatic changes in the world of photography and videography, Bennett said technology has eliminated the need for infrastructure and expertise, and drastically cut the costs involved in creating high quality photography.
National Geographic posts 40 billion photos on Instagram and uploads videos on YouTube every day that would normally involve 65 days of work in theatre format, Bennet added.
George Kordahi, popular television presenter, said while the entire media scene has undergone massive transformations in recent decades driven by technology and innovation, television has adapted best to the changes.
“Those who thought television will be eliminated were mistaken. Television has made use of the digital revolution and adapted very fast to digital media,” Kordahi said.
Nayla Alkhaja, Emirati film director, script writer and producer, felt that with technology being accessible to everyone, content is being diluted.
“Today it may be possible for anyone to create a film but not everyone can create a good story,” Alkhaja said.
Ali Mostafa, British-Emirati filmmaker, director and producer, said technology has not only brought down the costs involved in film making but also made it possible to capture emotions and expressions like never before. Mostafa added that Emirati film making industry needs to adopt innovative thinking in its approach, making the best use of innovative technology.
Speaking at a session on Innovation in Brain Games, Jason Luis Silva, media artist and television personality, said the today’s exponential changes in the technology and innovation arena have created new possibilities in overcoming human limitations.
Stating that Genetics, Nanotechnology and Robotics (GNR) will transform the world like never before in the coming years, Silva said humanity is equipped with new tools that will help create new forms of expression and beauty.
As breakthroughs in genetics and biotechnology speed up the exponential change, the next revolution in information technology will be in the field of biology leading to huge leaps in healthcare, Silva said. Nanotechnology will make the physical world made of atoms programmable, and it will be possible to tell buildings to create themselves, he added.
Earlier on the second day of the Knowledge Summit on December 8, speakers on a panel discussion entitled Knowledge Index; Education indicators in the Arab Region highlighted the importance of the index in offering guidelines for future areas of improvement in education in order to better provide employees with the right skill sets for the workplace. Academia, research centres and other similar tools help inform decision makers about key changes required in the education system, they agreed.
Dr. Ali Hamdi, technical education expert at the Arab Labor Organization, said the index would help provide information to solve the region’s burgeoning unemployment crisis. “We cannot solve unemployment using the traditional approaches, which originate from the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries and rely on supply and demand. Now we need to incorporate new and innovative strategies that ignite and motivate a spirit of entrepreneurship based on research,” he said.
The Knowledge Summit 2015 is organized by MBRF, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The Summit is being held from December 7 to 9 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai.