Facing Tomorrow, the annual global conference initiated in 2008 by President Shimon Peres will take place a second time on October 20-22, 2009 in Jerusalem and will bring 3500 participants together with top economic, political, intellectual, and technological leaders from Israel and abroad.
The Conference focuses on our mutual tomorrow - investigating the trends that are shaping the future and exploring actions that could and should be undertaken towards the betterment of tomorrow for Israel, the Jewish people and the world at large.
The year 2009 presented us with numerous major crises and difficult dilemmas that demand action: the ongoing economic crisis, ecological deterioration, instability in the Middle East, Iran's continuous efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The impact of these issues will be far-reaching at the levels of national security, community life and the individual.
With these challenges in the backdrop, this year's Conference will investigate the parameters of the various crises, assess the threats and opportunities that may surface, and consider the policies and decisions that should be implemented to address these grave challenges. We will focus on ways we can make today's crises an opportunity - a gateway for positive change on our journey towards tomorrow.
Facing Tomorrow promises to be the product of a fascinating interaction between science, politics, technology, religion, economics, culture, philosophy and society. The Israeli Presidential Conference will serve as a space of inspired deliberation by a select group of the world's best minds.
In addition, the conference will showcase the future of Israeli research and development in a special exhibition entitled "Industries of Tomorrow," developed with the help of the Export Institute. The exhibition will present 30 cutting-edge Israeli projects in alternative energy, water technology, stem cell research, advanced education, defense and counter-terrorism, and communications.
Leading economic, political, intellectual, and technological experts from Israel and the world will address these issues in this year's conference. These include futurist Raymond Kurzweil, Baron David Mayer de Rothschild, French philosopher and economist Jacques Battaglai, French Philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, Global President of Skype Josh Silverman, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, Indian Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and others.
The statesman participating this year include U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, the President of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, former Spanish Prime Minister José María Alfredo Aznar López, Quartet Representative for the Middle East and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Chinese Minister of Information Wong Chan, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, Canadian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Leonard J. Edwards, and French Foreign Trade Minister Anne-Marie Idrac.
Also, during the conference a special session will address environmental issues and their impact on the cities of tomorrow. The Ministers of Environment from Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Israel will offer their perspectives.