The Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Blade Nzimande, is participating in the prestigious World Governments Summit, hosted by the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai.
The theme for the 2025 World Governments Summit which began on Tuesday and will conclude on Thursday, 13 February, is “Shaping Future Governments”.
This theme aligns strategically with South Africa’s Decadal Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation, which aims to build a capable, developmental, and ethical state through investments in digital transformation and innovation.
The Minister will be a panellist in two high-profile sessions, focused respectively on the governance of artificial intelligence (AI), ensuring human dignity is respected, while innovation is enabled.
The panel will also discuss digital sovereignty, while fully exploiting the inter-connectivity of digital and data economies.
“These topics are also part of the priorities of South Africa’s G20 [Group of 20] Presidency in the domain of AI, data governance and innovation for sustainable development.”
Nzimande’s participation at the summit is part of the department’s ongoing efforts to promote South Africa as a preferred partner for international cooperation in science, technology, and innovation.
It also forms part of the Minister’s G20 engagements with his counterparts across the world.
“At a time when multilateralism and global solidarity are under threat, the Minister’s engagements will also seek to deploy science diplomacy as an instrument in support of South Africa’s foreign policy objectives to bring countries together, bridge divisions, and united efforts to achieve common objectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063,” the Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation said in a statement.
As one of the world’s most prestigious and influential forums for open debate and frank exchange between global leaders, the summit is a strategic platform from which to advance these objectives.
“Minister Nzimande will, therefore, also leverage his presence in the UAE to advance bilateral cooperation with a country, which is also a strategic BRICS partner, and a guest of South Africa for the G20.”
The Minister’s agenda will include several ministerial-level engagements with the UAE government, which will also finalise preparations for the signature of a new bilateral agreement.
The Minister will also have bilateral meetings with other African Ministers in attendance in Dubai to advance the African Union’s new Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
