KNOWLEDGE SUMMIT A SUCCESS FOR MELBOURNE
INTERNATIONAL ATTENDEES AND HOT DEBATE
AT 2010 KNOWLEDGE CITIES WORLD SUMMIT
Hosted by the City of Melbourne and the World Capital Institute, the third Knowledge Cities World Summit came to a close on Friday 19 November 2010. Over the three day summit, 390 knowledge experts from 27 countries met at the Melbourne Convention Centre to discuss a broad range of topics around the theme of knowledge cities moving "from theory to practice".
The summit included a vast array of superior plenary sessions with engaging discussions around topics including: creativity, innovation and the role of cities in the globalising knowledge economy; the arts and the creation of the 21st century knowledge-based organisations; and understanding the true attraction of urban space.
Amongst the summit highlights was the Great Brain Debate where Baroness Susan Greenfield came head-to-head with Deloitte Digital’s Peter Williams on a hot current topic. Greenfield managed to sway the audience that social technology can have a negative impact on society and that the private sector must work with governments to invest in research.
In a coup for Melbourne it was awarded the 2010 Most Admired Knowledge City Award, beating Singapore and Barcelona. Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said it was a great honour for Melbourne to receive this acknowledgement.
“This year Melbourne has celebrated its 175th anniversary. Melbourne was founded on primary industries, gold and manufacturing. Today Melbourne's economy is driven by knowledge-based industries in education, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and design.
Melbourne is already known as a city for the arts, literature, fashion and major events - and today Melbourne is internationally recognised as a Knowledge City.”
Chair of the local organising committee Peter Yates echoed the Lord Mayor’s sentiments. “Melbourne has long been regarded internationally as a world class city for its sport, arts and culture – and now we can add “knowledge city” to that list”, he said.
The Knowledge Cities World Summit is an annual event, founded by the World Capital Institute, focusing on the research and management of knowledge cities, knowledge societies, knowledge based development and knowledge ecology. The first summit was held in Monterrey, Mexico (2007) and the second in Shenzhen, China (2009). At the end of the 2010 summit, it was announced that Israel will host the 2011 Knowledge Cities World Summit.