Announcing the programme for the Global Challenges Summit 2018, representing a new phase in the development of the Astana Economic Forum.

Today’s world is changing rapidly. The planet’s resources are being exhausted, and the effects of ultrahigh-speed technological development can be unpredictable. Biotechnologies are forcing mankind to work out new ethical norms, the digital economy is altering our habitual economic relations, and the development of artificial intelligence may have absolutely unexpected consequences. The world’s population is moving into the cities, and soon the entire planet will become totally urbanised, but no city is ready yet for such drastic changes. The developed countries have not been able to reach a consensus on the optimal development strategy for the world community, while the developing countries lack, first and foremost, the resources to move forward. The gap between the two is growing ever wider.

The 2018 Global Challenges Summit is assembling the global expert community, the technological elite, representatives of city and state administrations, visionaries and the leaders of large corporations, setting before them the chief planetary challenges: from resource sustainability and super-longevity to global security and the organisation of the megacities of the future. The task set the congress is to find answers to these challenges and work out appropriate solutions on a global scale.

In initiating the Global Challenges Summit, the Republic of Kazakhstan is providing a platform for international discussion on the practices of effective innovation management and the capabilities of ground-breaking technological to address global challenges on the supranational, national and corporate levels.