The UAE Ministry of Defense will organize its annual “Leaders Conference: Wars in the 21st Century” on 24th and 25th October, under the slogan “National Defense in the technological innovation era”, Emirates News Agency WAM reported.
The Conference is expected to attract more than 700 national, regional and international senior officials, experts, specialists, civil and military scholars.
The announcement was made Tuesday by Dr. Ismail Al Baloushi, official spokesman of the conference, during a press conference organized by the Ministry of Defense in Wahat Al Karama, Abu Dhabi. The event was attended by several officials and media representatives. The monument was selected to host the conference as it represents a symbol of the sacrifices of the nation's heroes in the field of duty.
Dr. Al Baloushi stressed that the conference is held within the framework of the accelerating developments witnessed by the world in innovation and technology which have a great impact in changing the foundations, principals and trends in all fields including security and defense.
He said that the series of conferences aimed at training future leaders in predicting the future and responding to emerging challenges are especially important as they equip them with the most recent visions in security and defense, and confirms the contribution of the Ministry of Defense in producing the required strategic knowledge in the future areas of defense.
Dr. Al Baloushi added that the conference will present a number of strategic topics related to defense through the participation of an exceptional group of national and international leaders, experts and officials, including Dr. Michael Griffin, U.S. Under-Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and General Sir Richard Barons, former commander of the Joint British Command.
Dr. Al Baloushi said that the first day of the conference will include a number of important speeches followed by discussions in which experts and specialists will present working papers on topics such as “Defense in the age of confusing technology”, “Defending states in future wars”, and “Impact of Artificial Intelligence on defense, national security and innovation areas”.
He added that the second day will address different issues related to innovation and technology including the fourth industrial revolution, 4IR, independent systems and advanced materials, enhanced humans, biotechnology, institutionalized innovation, use of innovation in future wars, ethics of innovation in defense, and other related topics.
An exhibition will be held alongside the conference for technological innovation in areas of security and defense, in which the Armed Forces, UAEU, Khalifa Sciences and Technology University will participate.
