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Professor Thembela Hillie, principal researcher at the CSIR's National Centre for Nano-structured Materials, who has been invited to become a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies 2009
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Professor Thembela Hillie, principal researcher at the CSIR's National Centre for Nano-structured Materials, has been invited to become a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies 2009.
The Network of Global Agenda Councils plays a significant role in shaping the global agenda by monitoring global issues and elaborating recommendations to address them. Each council, comprising 15-20 members, serves as an advisory board to the forum and other interested parties, such as governments and international organisations.
The Global Agenda Councils also act as the intellectual drivers of the World Economic Forum's Global Redesign Initiative, an unprecedented international, multistakeholder and multimedia dialogue that aims to develop a 21st-century vision of global cooperation. Members of the G20, the UN and other international organisations have pledged their support to this initiative.
"I am immensely humbled by the invitation," says Hillie. "I embrace the opportunity to contribute to this critical initiative, the WEF's Global Redesign Initiative, which is a visionary blueprint for meeting the challenges of the 21st century. It is a collaborative effort involving all stakeholders of our global society to shape our future with relevant thinking around issues such as science, the environment and economic policy. To be invited to participate as a representative of emerging technology thinking is an unbelievable honour."
Hillie were also invited to participate in the Summit on the Global Agenda to be held in Dubai from 20 to 22 November this year, in partnership with the government of Dubai. Invitation to the summit is exclusively reserved for council members.
Earlier this year he was appointed as an Affiliated Associate Professor by the University of the Free State (UFS) in his capacity as an academic of the UFS's Department of Physics. He was also awarded a fellowship by the African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS).
He concludes: "I believe that sustainable technological solutions to basic societal needs can only be achieved if strong partnership between the science fraternity and communities can be formed, with strong commitment from private and public institutions to support and consolidate them. To keep communities informed of research that has relevance for them, a holistic approach that involves all stakeholders is needed."
Enquiries: CSIR Communication
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