From eminent thought leaders to innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, Nobel laureates, and artists the Bhutan Innovation Forum will bring together over 80 world-renowned speakers. Among others, they will be talking about mindfulness and compassion, mindful innovation and entrepreneurs, and identifying new business opportunities in Bhutan. The Bhutan Innovation Forum is scheduled to take place at the Dungkar Dzong in Pagbisa, Paro from the 1st to the 3rd of October.
The three-day forum will see nearly 100 speakers. There are eight keynote speakers and 89 speakers from across the globe.
Buddhist Scholar and internationally acclaimed Author and Filmmaker Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche is one of the keynote speakers at the forum.
Recognised as a ‘Trulku’ at a very young age, Rinpoche is the founder of the Khyentse Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports all traditions of Buddhist study and practice.
On the opening day of the forum, Rinpoche will be speaking on ‘Mindfulness and Compassion: A Vision for Peace and Prosperity’.
Rinpoche spoke to BBS on how the principles of mindfulness and compassion can be integrated into the development of the Gelephu Mindfulness City. Rinpoche said he would like to envision the GMC as a space where people know how to use artificial intelligence to enhance their knowledge.
“We need to bear in mind that real intelligence is also not going to go anywhere. And I think in the process of getting incinerated by artificial intelligence, we are forgetting the real intelligence. So in the long run, I think if the city can put some effort into keeping the real intelligence using actually, if needed, artificial intelligence to enhance the knowledge of real intelligence, I think that would be good for Bhutan, and I think it will be good for our world.”
Other keynote speakers include Economist Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz and Molecular Biologist Nobel Laureate Richard J. Roberts.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, an American economist and a professor at Columbia University will be talking about Creating a Learning Society and a Knowledge Economy on the first day of the forum.
Richard J. Roberts, a British Molecular Biologist at the New England Biolabs in Massachusetts, USA will be speaking on Leveraging Science and Innovation to Deliver Prosperity on the second day of the forum.
Globally recognized economist and a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, Nicholas H. Stern will be talking about Managing Climate Risks and Promoting Sustainability on Day 3 of the Bhutan Innovation Forum.
Evan Spiegel Co-Founder & CEO of US tech giant SnapChat will be presenting the Power of Art: Driving Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Colombian Nobel Laureate Juan Manuel Santos will be speaking on peace, stability and development. He was the president of Colombia from 2010 to 2018 and the sole recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016 for “his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”.
Keynote speaker Robert Friedland, an American-Canadian billionaire financier in the mining industry will be speaking on Critical Minerals and Energy Transition.
Muhammed Aziz Khan, a Bangladeshi industrialist and the founder and Chairman of Summit Power International Limited and Summit Holdings Ltd is also one of the keynote speakers for the forum. Summit Group is the largest infrastructure conglomerate in Bangladesh and employs over 6,000 people.
World-renowned researcher and scientist, Christopher B. Field one of the speakers for the forum will be talking about ‘Measuring and Monetizing Carbon Offsets’ on the final day of the forum. Christopher B. Field or Chris Field is the current Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University in California. Field’s research focuses on climate change, especially on solutions that improve lives, decrease the amount of future warming, and support vibrant economies.
Field said his session at the Bhutan Innovation Forum will try and figure out ways for Bhutan to take advantage of protecting and expanding its forests by managing the ecosystem for the benefit of the world.
He added that Bhutan can monetise carbon offsets effectively and is ideally positioned to deliver carbon credits at the highest in the integrity scale.
“My understanding is for them buying from the city, is that commitment is already deep and widespread, and it’s that kind of commitment that will give buyers in this market the confidence that they can depend on the integrity of these offsets. I think that there’s nothing that substitutes for the combination of commitment and holding strongly to principles of mindfulness and good stewardship.”
The three-day forum intends to build impactful pathways for Bhutan in terms of innovations in digital technology, ecology and environment, education, health, urban planning, and economic transformation in Bhutan.
Tashi Dekar
Edited by Phub Gyem
