Queen’s University Hosts Global Innovation Summit with World Leaders
By Luella Coley
Queen’s University was the host of the annual Global Innovation Summit (GIS), which took place between November 11th and November 15th, in association with the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC). The summit aims to coordinate discussion on the coupling of economic growth and sustainability, and this year centred under the theme of Accelerating Global Sustainability and Economic Inclusion. [1] The event was strengthened by high-profile guest speakers of the likes of Professor Brian Cox and Andy Burnham, as well as visits by Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, and Former United States First Lady and Secretary of State, and QUB Chancellor, Hillary Clinton.
The first day of the summit, Tuesday 12th, included a highly anticipated session by experimental physicist Professor Brian Cox, who advocated for coordinated investment in science as a gateway for job creation and growth. [2] The morning also included a panel on the acceleration of global sustainable development goals, in conjunction with economic inclusiveness, as well as a thoughtful session on navigating the AI revolution by CEO and founder of Satalia, Daniel Hulme. The latter half of the day included a variety of workshops on decarbonisation, innovation in energy, food security, resource productivity, and sustainability and inclusivity. These workshops served as an opportunity for reflection on the thoughts provoked by the day’s sessions, with a plethora of industry experts and academics taking part. This successful first day was brought to a close with a summary by the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils’ Executive Director– Roberto Alvarez.
As the GIS moved into its second day, the focus moved to the topic of inclusiveness, and the crucial role it plays in long-term sustainable innovation. Queens’ president and vice-chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer opened the day by urging attendees to take advantage of the opportunity to ‘connect, learn, and
spark ideas that will shape the world for the greater good’. [3] The panel discussions of this second day raised questions of community engagement in innovation, capitalising on digitalisation for economic growth, and the contributions that can be made by global partnerships in distributing opportunities for education and training.
There was also an opportunity for reflection on the Datathon that had been hosted by Queen’s Business School on Tuesday, where the best performing teams took the stage to discuss their success, and the challenges they overcame in the competition. It was another exciting day at QUB, with the day drawing to a close after such insightful and stimulating discussion. The closing day took on the focal point of ‘The Power of Partnership’, with discourse working around the centre of ‘successful partnerships between industries, governments, and communities’ for the cause of driving collective progress towards an innovative, sustainable future.2 Notably for the topic of partnership, Michelle O’Neill MLA and Emma Little-Pengelly MLA, First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively, spoke on leading Northern Ireland forward and the importance of cooperation in this respect. There was more politically driven discussion later in the day, with the appearance of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, who presented his plans to continue the City’s successful development in industry and sustainability.
Continuing the thematic link of political leaders, it was then put to Queen’s Chancellor Hillary Clinton to lead the penultimate address of the summit, launching next year’s event alongside Professor Joan Gable, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh– GIS25’s hosts. It was another high profile day inside Queen’s University Belfast, but perhaps overshadowed by the events happening beyond the gates. It would, of course, be remiss to hesitate from mentioning the controversy of the summit’s 3rd day– with the appearance of Hillary Clinton striking up motivation for a Pro-Palestinian demonstration, once again demanding her removal as QUB’s chancellor. It was an event which, perhaps, overshadowed the duration of the conference, with some 300 protestors appearing outside the Queen’s to object to Ms. Clinton’s attendance, resulting in the arrest of 4 participants.
So, it was certainly a week that promoted discussion on important topics, and connection building to facilitate innovation– an exciting opportunity for all students and staff at Queen’s, with all talks and panel sessions available online if you missed out.
Sources:
[1] “Global Innovation Summit 2024,” TheGFCC.org, 2024, https://www.thegfcc.org/global-innovation-summit-2024.
[2] “Schedule | GIS2024 | Queen’s University Belfast,” Qub.ac.uk, July 2024, https://www.qub.ac.uk/gis2024/schedule/.
[3] “Global Innovation Summit 2024: Day Two- Harnessing Inclusiveness for Sustainable Growth,” Qub.ac.uk, January 9, 2024, https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2024/global-innovation-summit-harnessing-inclusiveness-sustainab le-growth.html.
