Preparing leaders towards the next 50 years
Her Excellency Dr. Aisha Bint Buti Bin Bishr is the vice chairman of Emaar Development board since Dec 2020. Bin Bishr is a global digital magnate and the former founding Director General of Smart Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. With the distinction of being the first woman to lead the transformation of a smart city globally, she has laid a robust foundation for upcoming talent and inspires youth towards building a better tomorrow through digitalisation. Bin Bishr is considered an Emirati global ambassador for digitalisation being a renowned thought leader advocating the humanisation of technology to create better urban smart future. She is among the world’s most powerful women leaders in business and technology, with Forbes ME ranking her among the Middle East’s Top 10 most powerful businesswomen. She was the Director General of the Smart Dubai Department, UAE between 2015-2020. Dr. Aisha also led the creation of ‘The Smart City Index’ – the first-ever benchmark for smart city implementation across the globe in cooperation with ITU and the United Nations. In addition to her responsibilities at Smart Dubai, Her Excellency was a member of the Dubai Council under the Government Development Track until July 2020. Her Excellency also was the Chairperson of the Dubai Future Council for Blockchain. Dr. Aisha also heads The Council of Happy Cities (part of the World Happiness Council), is the Chairperson of the SDG 11 Global Council, and is the only woman from the Middle East to be a member of the Gartner Global CIO Research Board. Additionally, Her Excellency serves as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils and The Fourth Industrial Revolution’s Smart Cities Readiness Index Team – an initiative also led by WEF. Her Excellency is also a Board Member at the Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE and a member of Emaar’s Board Committee until Dec 2020. Dr. Aisha was also a member of the board at the UAE AI Council, the Computer System Advisory Board, the Leadership Team for Smart Services and Digital Infrastructure, and she is a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of Sharjah, the University of Wollongong, and the World Happiness Council. Awards The incredible work of Dr. Aisha is recognised globally. She has received numerous accolades which include, the ‘Digital Transformation Award’ at the Achieving Women Awards 2019, ‘Excellence in Strategic Leadership Award 2017’ by Entrepreneur Middle East’s Enterprise Agility Awards; Leadership in Digital Transformation by .GOV, ‘Outstanding Alumni Award 2017’ from The University of Manchester ME Centre; ‘Woman In Government’ Award at the Arab Women Awards 2016, ‘Woman in Public Sector Award’ from Global Women in Leadership Economic Forum 2015; ‘Community Service Medal 2013’ by Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior ; and the ‘Middle East Woman Leader in Corporate Management Excellence 2012’ by Middle East Women Leaders Excellence Awards. In February 2020, Dr. Aisha was recognised as one of the Middle East’s Top 10 most powerful businesswomen by Forbes Middle East.
H. E. Nawal Rashed Al Hassani, has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Tourism and Culture. She has played a key role in transforming and defining the strategic agenda of the tourism and culture industry in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Al Hassani has also contributed to the development of the UAE Tourism Agenda and promoting synergies with other tourism boards in the UAE.
Al Hassani and as part of her role as executive director for the strategic affairs at the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, had led the efforts to build and establish the future foresight office and to root the scenario planning practices across tourism and culture industries in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Al Hassani has extensive experience in the field of excellence management, she led the higher committee of the excellence program at the department of culture and tourism. She also worked with the Dubai Excellence Program, as an excellence assessor for more than 3 years.
Dr. Ahmad Thougan Hindawi
Former Minister of Industry and Trade
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Chairman and CEO of Hindawi Excellence Group (HEG), a regional management consultancy firm specializing in institutional performance excellence and related fields. Former Minister of Industry and Trade of Jordan and former Director General of Jordan’s Standards and Metrology Institution both winners of the King Abdullah II Award of Government Excellence in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Member of the Upper House of Parliament (Senate) (2020-2022). Robust experience in institutional performance excellence for more than 30 years. Head of the Board of Assessors, assessor, senior consultant and founder for several Arab excellence award programs including King Abdullah II Award for Excellence, Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP), Sheikh Khalifah Excellence Award, King Hamad Sustainable Development Award, UAE Minister of Interior Excellence Award and Egypt Excellence Award. Under his leadership, HEG restructured more than 60 organizations in the UAE and the region over the past 13 years (2006-2019) institutionalizing the culture of excellence within such organizations. Between 1988 and 2005, he served in the Royal Jordanian Airforce, Higher Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Planning, Jordan Institution of Standards, and Ministry of Industry and Trade of Jordan. Dr. Hindawi has been the head and member of the Boards of Directors for several economic and industrial organizations in the Arab world. Jordan’s candidate for the position of Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2013. Dr. Hindawi attended the Senior Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University Business School in 2018 (alumni status). He also has a Ph.D. in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering/ Industrial Management from the University of Birmingham in the UK in 1998. He is an EFQM certified assessor and trainer. Author of several books, studies, research and articles in economic, management, political areas including “Future Foresight and Creation” and “A Nation’s Revelation” books.
Dr. Aldhaheri is a veteran of the UAE technology industry with over 30 years of experience in
driving technology adoption in various public and private sector organizations. He has been
the Director General of the Emirates ID Authority, a member of the scientific advisory
committee of the UAE Space Agency, an Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on
information technology, Chairman of the board of Smartworld LLC, and a Professor at the
UAE University.
Dr. Aldhaheri also has been an assessor to various excellence programs and awards,
including the GCC e-government Award and the Dubai Government Excellence Program.
Currently, he is the director of the Center for Futures Studies (CFS) at UD, a visiting lecturer
at Oxford University course: Artificial Intelligence: cloud and edge implementation, member
of the Global Future Councils on the future of the Metaverse at the World Economic Forum.
He is also on industrial advisory boards of several universities in the UAE.
He is the author of the book Digital Nation: How the UAE is building a future based on tech
innovation, and he has written several articles and reports that were published at Harvard
Business Review Arabia, Times Higher Education, Human Futures of the World Futures
Studies Federation, and Dubai Policy Review Journal.
Dr. Aldhaheri has been invited to speak at prestigious universities and international
organizations including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, the WEF, the UN, and
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Dr. Bishop is the Founder and Executive Director of Teach the Future, an organization whose mission is to encourage and support educators who want to include futures thinking in their classes and schools at all levels. In 2013, Dr. Bishop retired as a Professor Emeritus of Strategic Foresight and Director of the graduate program in Foresight at the University of Houston.
He has published two books on Strategic Foresight: Thinking about the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (2007) and Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (2012), both with co-author Andy Hines. He delivers keynote addresses and conducts seminars on the future for business, government and not-for-profit organizations. He also facilitates groups in developing scenarios, visions and strategic plans for the future.
Dr. Bishop is a founding Board member and Chair of the Membership Committee for the Association of Professional Futurists. Dr. Bishop came to the University of Houston in 2005, having taught futures studies at the Clear Lake campus since 1982. Dr. Bishop started teaching at Georgia Southern College in 1973 where he specialized in social problems and political sociology.
He received his doctoral degree in sociology from Michigan State University in 1974 and his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Louis University where he also studied mathematics and physics. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where he was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) for seven years. Dr. Bishop is married with two children and three grandchildren.
Dr. Andy Hines is an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight and is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.
His 30 years of professional futurist experience includes a decade’s experience working inside first the Kellogg Company and later Dow Chemical, and consulting work with Coates & Jarratt, Inc. and Social Technologies/Innovaro.
His books include Thinking about the Future (2nd edition), Teaching about the Future, ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape, 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society, and his dissertation was “The Role of an Organizational Futurist in Integrating Foresight into Organizations.” He is a member and former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.
Scott Smith is founder and managing partner of Changeist, a futures research and consulting partnership established in 2007 in the United States, now based in the Hague. With more than 15 years in futures, Scott and his team have consulted to a range of global institutions, including SWIFT, UNICEF, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The Royal Society, Nesta, New York Times, Comcast, Aldar, ADCB, Khalifa Fund, and the Dubai Future Foundation.
He leads engagements with some of the largest and most respected global financial, retail, telecoms, technology and media brands. He has delivered futures projects, talks and workshops in over a dozen countries, across Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. Scott developed the Strategic Foresight program for Dubai Future Academy, and guest lectures in the Innovation & Future Thinking program at IED Barcelona.
He has written for international publications such as The Atlantic, Quartz, WIRED UK, and How We Get to Next, and spoken at major events worldwide, including The Next Web, Lift, South Australia’s Open State, Oxford Futures Forum, Sibos, FutureFest, and NEXT. He is the author of “How to Future: Leading and Sense-Making in an Age of Hyperchange,” published by Kogan Page Inspire.
Derek Woodgate is a consulting futurist/foresight scientist, educator, author, speaker and curator. He is Chief Futurist of The Futures Lab, Inc. a foresight consultancy, which he founded in 1996, which specialises in creating future potential for major corporations and institutions (futures-lab.com) including Ministries in the UAE. Derek’s fields of expertise include the application of emerging technologies and new approaches to the science of foresight and uniquely creative approaches to working with unstructured knowledge in unknown worlds.
His recent academic work deals predominantly with the intersection of foresight, future learning, multimedia technologies, personal ambience and the changing human. Also, Derek is an Assistant Professor at the University of Agder in Norway, since 2013, teaching Master’s courses on the Future of Mobile Learning and the Future of Media and Entertainment; and is a University Lecturer at The University of Houston, USA, where his courses include An introduction to Foresight and The Future of Energy and the Environment.
He has authored several books including Future Frequencies, Future Flow, Calling the Toads, and the PR Playbook – The Future of PR Fringecore Publishing, USA, (2005). Derek has previous experience as an executive on the board of two major international corporations and over 20 years SVP-level management and operational experience and ex-UK diplomat.
Terry Grim is a founding partner with Foresight Alliance, a futures research, futures strategy, and futures education consultancy firm that works to help clients gain a clearer vision of the possible futures they face and integrate futures and foresight thinking into their organizations. As a partner at Foresight Alliance, Terry has worked with numerous associations and corporations to meet their wide-ranging futures and strategy needs. Terry has taught in the University of Houston’s master program and futures certification curriculum for over 15 years as well as teaching foresight methodology around the world to different organizations and businesses. She has been a speaker and workshop facilitator for numerous conferences and organizations such as ASAE, IFEBP, SITC, CoreNet Global, National Restaurant Association, and others.
Her presentation “How to Think Like a Futurist” appeals to wide-ranging audiences and brings an awareness of the major frameworks that distinguish foresight thinking. She is the author of “The Foresight Maturity Model (FMM): Achieving Best Practices in the Foresight Field.” The FMM is a results-oriented approach to evaluating an organization’s foresight capacities based on best practices in the field. It was originally published in The Journal of Future Studies and has been presented in governmental and corporate venues as a way to assess current practices and define next steps for improving foresight activities.
Terry’s prior experience includes senior positions at IBM in the space program software development team, international management, and corporate strategy. Terry has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Florida, and an MS in Studies of the Future and MA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, both from the University of Houston. She is a founding member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) and is currently serving as a member of their board. Terry’s clients include Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism, American Chemistry Society (ACS), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), Dell, ExxonMobil, Intel, IEEE, PepsiCo and many others.
Dr. Abu Sitta has more than 25 years of experience in technology management and strategic thinking. He is the co-author of the first edition of Dubai e-Government Excellence Criteria. He has received recognition certificates for his distinguished work in the field of organizational excellence and agile management from HH. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein, HE Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs.
Dr. Abu Sitta is known for his role in promoting the government agility and scenario planning. He has been working with the Department of Culture and Tourism in building the future scenarios for the tourism sector and public libraries. He has also been engaged and participated with Abu Dhabi Executive Office in conducting horizon scanning for the culture and tourism sectors.
He is currently engaged with the University of Houston in the Future Foresight Program. He has conducted several studies and reports on Futures of Education, Futures of Tourism, and Futures of Energy. Beside his professional experience, Dr. Abu Sitta has been working and engaged as an adjunct professor with a number of well-respected education institutes in the region and globally.