The United Nations 2045 Roundtable: A Distinguished City to Honor the United Nations’ First Century

                                                        The United Nations 2045 Roundtable  

                           A Distinguished City to Honor the United Nations’ First Century

                       Co-organizers: The United Nations Academic Impact and Boston Global Forum

8:30 -10:00 EDT/19:30 – 21:00 ICT, March 17, 2021

Chair:  Mr. Ramu Damodaran, chief of the United Nations Academic Impact and editor-in-chief of United Nations Chronicle Magazine.

Speakers/Panelists:

Kamal Malhotra, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam
Michael Dukakis, three-term governor of Massachusetts

Le Tuan Phong, governor of Binh Thuan province, Viet Nam

Nguyen Trung Khanh, Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Thomas Patterson, Harvard University

Alex Pentland, MIT

John Quelch, University of Miami

Bui Thanh Nhon, chairman of Nova Group, Vietnam

The United Nations 2045 Initiative

The United Nations 2045 is an initiative of the United Nations Academic Impact with collaboration by the Boston Global Forum.

The United Nations 2045 include roundtables, ideas, concepts, solutions, essays, and reflections looking ahead to the global landscape in 2045, when the United Nations completes its first centenary, in areas of these technologies, including artificial intelligence, cyber security and weapons systems, among others. Such a compilation which looks both to the horizon ahead and the role of the United Nations in making it beneficial and secure, would be timely.

AIWS City

AIWS City is a digital virtual city founded on principles stated in “Social Contract for the AI Age”, “People Centered Economy”, “Trustworthy Economy”, “Intellectual Society”, and “AI-Government.”

AIWS City was introduced on 08/21/2020 at the United Nations 2045 Roundtable, co-organized by the United Nations Academic Impact and the Boston Global Forum.

The AIWS City Board of Leaders are: Governor Michael Dukakis, Chairman of the Boston Global Forum; Nguyen Anh Tuan, CEO of the Boston Global Forum; Professor Alex Pentland of MIT; Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist of Google; former Latvian and Club de Madrid President Vaira Vike-Freiberga; former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija; Professor Nazli Choucri of MIT, Professor David Silbersweig of Harvard University; Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University; and Marc Rotenberg, Director of Center for AI and Digital Policy at Michael Dukakis Institute.

AIWS City includes distinguished world leaders, inventors, and innovators, as well as faculty from universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, UC-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Oxford, and Cambridge.

NovaWorld Phan Thiet

Phan Thiet, Vietnam is known for its white sand beaches, temperate climate, and proximity to an international airport and port of call. Less than 100 miles from Ho Chi Minh City, Phan Thiet was historically a place of the Champa people and the enlightened Champa culture, remnants of which still exist in the area.

Phan Thiet is emerging as a worldwide destination. At Phan Thiet, Novaland Group is creating a “World Beach City” for vacationers that will also be an international hub for world leaders, creators, innovators, and scholars.

Although virtual in concept, AIWS City will have a physical location – NovaWorld Phan Thiet.

AIWS City will bring to NovaWorld Phan Thiet a rich set of activities designed to highlight intellectual and creative talent and progress. Together, AIWS City and NovaWorld Phan Thiet will serve as a model for sustainable development and high standards, embodying the ideals that marked the founding of the United Nations and that will sustain it as it moves toward its centennial year.

The city of Phan Thiet will be the place for the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid and the Michael Dukakis Institute to hold important annual events that gather presidents, prime ministers, and the top thinkers around the world. Especially, the year 2022 will be a highlight with the theme of Building a New Economy, a New Finance for the world in the digital and artificial intelligence era.

NovaWorld Phan Thiet, thanks to the partnership with the Michael Dukakis Institute, will serve as the venue to announce new achievements in the history of artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Program:

Ramu Damodaran, Opening Remarks and introduction

Kamal Malhotra, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam. “Vietnam and the United Nations: Past, Present and Aspirational Future 2045.”

Governor Michael Dukakis. “Imagining the City of the Future.”

Nguyen Trung Khanh, Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

Governor Le Tuan Phong. “Responsible Development of Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City.”

Professor Thomas Patterson: “AIWS City as Concept and Reality.”

Professor Alex Pentland: “Application of New Economic and Financial Ideas to AIWS City”

Chairman Bui Thanh Nhon. “NovaWorld Phan Thiet as a World Model.”

Professor John Quelch. “AIWS City supports NovaWorld Phan Thiet into a Global Brand.”

Discussion, Chaired/Moderated by Mr. Ramu Damodaran.

Concluding, Mr. Ramu Damodaran

Bios:

Chair/Moderator:

Ramu Damodaran

Chief, United Nations Academic Impact, United Nations

Editor in Chief of the United Nations Chronicle Magazine

Mr. Ramu Damodaran is Deputy Director for Partnership and Public Engagement in the United Nations Department of Public Information’s Outreach Division and is chief of the United Nations Academic Impact initiative, which aligns institutions of higher learning and research with the objectives of the United Nations and the States and peoples who constitute it.

He is also the current secretary of the United Nations Committee on Information.

His earlier posts with the Organization have included the Departments of Peacekeeping and Special Political Questions, as well as the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. Mr. Damodaran has been a member of the Indian Foreign Service, where he was promoted to the rank of Ambassador, and where he served as Executive Assistant to the Prime Minister of India as well as in the diplomatic missions in Moscow and to the United Nations, and in a range of national governmental ministries.

Speakers/Panelists:

Michael Dukakis

Chairman of The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Co-Founder and Chairman of The Boston Global Forum

Co-founder of AIWS.net and the AIWS City

Co-Author of Social Contract for the AI Age

The three-term Governor of Massachusetts and the 1988 Democratic nominee for President of the United States, Distinguished Professor of Northeastern University and UCLA 

Michael Stanley Dukakis culminates a half-century career dedicated to public service, political leadership, fostering the careers of young leaders, and scholarly achievement.

Together with Nguyen Anh Tuan, this former Massachusetts governor, has established The Boston Global Forum as a globally recognized think tank noted for developing peaceful solutions to some of the world’s most contentious issues.

Thomas Patterson

Research Director of The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Member of AIWS City’s Board of Leaders

Co-author of Social Contract for the AI Age

Professor of Government and the Press of Harvard Kennedy School

Thomas E. Patterson is Research Director of The Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation. He is a Professor of Government and the Press of Harvard Kennedy School and served as the Acting Director of Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University for some years. His book, The Vanishing Voter, looks at the causes and consequences of electoral participation. His earlier book on the media’s political role, Out of Order, received the American Political Science Association’s Graber Award as the best book of the decade in political communication. His first book, The Unseeing Eye, was named by the American Association for Public Opinion Research as one of the 50 most influential books on public opinion in the past half century.

He also is author of Mass Media Election and two general American government texts: The American Democracy and We the People. His articles have appeared in Political Communication, Journal of Communication, and other academic journals, as well as in the popular press. His research has been funded by the Ford, Markle, Smith-Richardson, Pew, Knight, Carnegie, and National Science foundation.

Patterson received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1971.

Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland

Director, MIT Connection Science and Human Dynamics lab

Co-author of Social Contract for the AI Age

Member of AIWS City’s Board of Leaders

Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland directs MIT Connection Science, an MIT-wide AI and Data for Good initiative, and previously helped create and direct the MIT Media Lab and the Media Lab Asia in India.  He is on the Board of the UN Foundations’ Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, co-led the World Economic Forum discussion in Davos that led to the EU privacy regulation GDPR, and was central in forging the transparency and accountability mechanisms in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  He has received numerous awards and prizes such as the McKinsey Award from Harvard Business Review, the 40th Anniversary of the Internet from DARPA, and the Brandeis Award for work in privacy.

John A. Quelch

Vice Provost, University of Miami, Dean, Miami Herbert Business School and Leonard M. Miller University Professor

Co-founder of The Boston Global Forum

John Quelch became dean of the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School on July 1, 2017. He is the Leonard M. Miller University Professor and also serves as the University’s vice provost for executive education. Quelch has a wealth of senior leadership experience, having previously served as the dean and senior associate dean at three internationally-recognized business schools.

Prior to joining Miami Herbert Business School, Quelch was the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He also held a joint appointment as professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – the first to hold dual primary appointments in those two schools, and one of only a few faculty members across Harvard University with this distinction.

Prior to his most recent time at Harvard, Quelch was dean, vice president and distinguished professor of international management of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) from 2011 to 2013. Under his leadership, annual revenues increased by more than 25% to over $100 million; the school’s MBA global ranking in the Financial Times improved from 24 to 15 and its Executive MBA ranking from 18 to 7; and the school launched programs to integrate faculty and staff activities across four CEIBS operations in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Ghana.

From 1998 to 2001, Quelch served as dean of the London Business School, where he helped transform the school into a globally competitive institution and launched seed capital funds to invest in student and alumni start-ups. By 2001, London Business School ranked 8 in the Financial Times MBA global ranking.

Quelch initially joined Harvard Business School in 1979, holding a number of positions over the years, including Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, co-chair of the marketing department and Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration. He served as senior associate dean of Harvard Business School from 2001 to 2010.

Quelch is the author, co-author or editor of 25 books, as well as numerous business case studies on leading international organizations. He also is known for his teaching materials and innovations in pedagogy; during the past 40 years, his case studies have sold more than 4 million copies.

Quelch has served on numerous corporate, nonprofit and public agency boards, including a nine-year term as chairman of the Massachusetts Port Authority. He is a member of both the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Quelch earned his BA and an MA from Exeter College, Oxford University; an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; an SM from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a DBA in business from Harvard Business School.

In addition to the United Kingdom and the U.S., he has lived in Australia, Canada and China. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2011 and, in 2017, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kamal Malhotra

The United Nations Resident Coordinator

Mr. Kamal Malhotra assumed his position as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from January 2017. In January 2019, he took up the full-time position of UN Resident Coordinator, representing the UN Secretary-General in Viet Nam.

Immediately prior to his two UN appointments in Viet Nam, Mr. Malhotra was the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Turkey between April 2013 and December 2016. Prior to this appointment, he was the UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia; UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam and UNFPA Representative for Malaysia (October 2008 – March 2013).

From 1999-2008 he worked in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy in New York as Senior Adviser and Cluster Leader on Inclusive Globalization (2002-2008), Civil Society Empowerment Adviser (2001-2002) and Senior Civil Society Adviser (1999-2000).

Before joining UNDP, Mr. Malhotra was Co-Founder and Co-Director of Focus on the Global South, (1995-1999) a global policy research organization located at the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute in Thailand. During this period, he was also a part-time Regional Adviser on Macroeconomic Policies and Children’s Rights for Save the Children Fund (UK) for South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Prior to this, Mr. Malhotra was Director of the Overseas and Aboriginal Programme at Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam Australia), based in Melbourne, Australia from 1988-1995. Before that, he worked for the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines (1982-1988) as Research and Rural Credit Specialist, Associate Director, and then Director, International Extension. Mr. Malhotra also worked as a Management Consultant at A.F. Ferguson & Co. based in Mumbai, India between 1978-1981.

Mr. Malhotra holds an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York, USA, with a specialization in economic and political development (1982), a Master’s in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management (affiliate of the Sloan School of Management, M.I.T. USA), with a specialization in finance and economics (1978), and a BA in economics (with honours), from the University of Delhi, India (1976). Mr. Malhotra also completed an Executive Education Program at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA on “Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage”, during January-February, 2013.

Mr. Malhotra is widely published with over 125 journal and other articles on global trade, debt and finance, the multilateral system and development cooperation issues. He has also been the lead author, co-author or chapter lead in over 10 books, including the lead author of UNDP’s Making Global Trade Work for People (Earthscan, 2003) and Globalization and the Least Developed Countries (UNDP, in cooperation with the UN-OHRLLS and the Government of Turkey, 2008). He also initiated and led Virtuous Cycles: The Singapore Public Service and National Development (UNDP, 2011) in cooperation with the Government of Singapore.

Le Tuan Phong

Chairman

Binh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee

Mr. Le Tuan Phong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee was elected Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee from January 18, 2021.

Prior to that, Mr. Phong used to hold the following positions: Vice Chairman of Phan Thiet City People’s Committee, Director of Department of Planning and Investment Binh Thuan, Vice Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee.

Mr. Le Tuan Phong, born on September 10, 1974, is from Ham Hiep commune, Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province. He was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam on December 13, 2004. Mr. Phong has a Master degree in Civil Engineering, Road Construction Engineer and Senior Political Theory.

Duong Anh Duc

Vice Chairman

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee

Mr. Duong Anh Duc has been elected as Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee since March 27, 2020 (Period 2016 – 2021).

From 2017 – 2020, he was Chairman of HCMC Department of Information and Communication.

From 1990 – 2017, Mr. Duc was a lecturer of HCMC General University; Vice Principal of HCMC University of Science; Principal of Information Technology University; Vice Principal of Vietnam National University in Ho Chi minh City.

Mr. Duong Duc Anh was born on August 24, 1968 in Ha Noi. His homeland is in Hai Chau Dist., Da Nang City. Mr. Duc is Assoc. Prof. – Dr. in Information Technology. He holds Advanced Political degree and is a member of HCMC People’s Committee period X (2015 – 2020).

Nguyen Trung Khanh

Director General

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism – Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh was appointed as the Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism from January 1, 2019.

Prior to that, Mr. Khanh was General Director of International Cooperation Department from 2014 – 2018

From 1995 – 2014, Mr. Khanh was the President of Hanoi Tourism College; General Secretary (Part-time) of Pacific – Asia Travel Association, Vietnam Chapter; Lecturer of Travel Operations Management and Tourist Guide Faculty, Hanoi Tourism School, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Mr. Khanh holds Bachelor Degree of Economics and English, Master Degree of Business Administration (Bangalore University) and Ph.D. Degree of Economics.

Tran Minh Triet

Vice President

University of Science, VNU-HCM

Mr. Tran Minh Triet is an Associate Professor at the University of Science, VNU-HCM.

He joined the University of Science, VNU-HCM, in 2001 and currently is the Vice President of University of Science, VNU-HCM, in charge of Science, Technology, and External Relations. He is also the Head of Software Engineering Laboratory and Deputy Head of Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University of Science, VNU-HCM. He is IEEE Vietnam Section Student Activities Chair, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Information Security Association (South Branch) and member of the Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence of Ho Chi Minh city.

His research interests include cryptography and security, computer vision and human-computer interaction, and software engineering. He was a visiting scholar at National Institutes of Informatics (NII, Japan) in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2015-2016.

He obtained his B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., and Assoc.Prof. degrees in computer science from University of Science, VNU-HCM, in 2001, 2005, and 2009

Bui Thanh Nhon

Chairman

Nova Group cum Novaland Group

Founder – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nova Group cum Novaland Group

Mr. Bui Thanh Nhon is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nova Group, a multidisciplinary economic group, providing essential services and products to the community, including Novaland Group – Nova Service Group – Nova Consumer Group.

Mr. Nhon is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Novaland Group.

Mr. Nhon is one of the first private business owners in Ho Chi Minh City since the 1980s and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the World Presidents’ Organization (WPO).

Mr. Nhon graduated with a BA in Agriculture and graduated from Executive MBA course, HSB-TUCK, Dartmouth University, USA.

Le Quang Minh

Director of Digital Content

Vietnam National Television (VTV)

Mr. Minh is currently the Director of VTV24 News Center, Radio THVN, dubbed the “News Man” in Vietnam.

From 2000 – 2015, Mr. Quang Minh was the Editor of VTV’s 19-hour News Program, Good Morning, Integration, Policy Dialogue, Sports Programs and Television Manager of Vietnam Television.

Mr. Minh was nominated for the Impressive Video Editor of the VTV Awards 2014, received the title of the Most Favorite Presenter of news and essay by TV magazine readers in 2009 and Award of Most Popular TV Host of 2008.

Mr. Le Quang Minh was born on July 30, 1976 in Hanoi. He graduated from the Diplomatic Academy in 1988.

Pham Phu Ngoc Trai

Founder and Chairman

Global Integration Business Consultants (GIBC)

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai – Founder and Chairman of Global Integration Business Consultants (GIBC), a company which was established with the mission of facilitating the integration and sustainable growth of Vietnamese businesses – has more than 30 years of experience in various FMCGs businesses including state-owned enterprises, joint-ventures and foreign companies, spanning across Vietnam and countries worldwide.

Mr. Trai held the position of Chairman and CEO of Saigon Food Processing Company (Foodexco), General Director of SPco. Holdings Company, Co-founder of International Beverages J.V Company (IBC) in 1991 – IBC was accorded the first foreign JVC license by Vietnamese Government to a Singapore party, which was later became Pepsico Viet Nam. After that, he was being appointed to the President & CEO of PepsiCo Vietnam and South East Asia, Head of Corporate Affairs in Asia Pacific…He was among the very first Vietnamese senior leader in charge of regional business in a leading multi-national company. Under his leadership, PepsiCo Vietnam had consecutively won 4 prestigious DMK awards – the most honorable award of Pepsico International.

Mr. Trai is currently holding the position of the Strategies Advisor for multiple leading corporations and reputable brands in Vietnam, guiding them in establishing corporate sustainability development strategies. Widely acknowledged as the pioneer of CSR in Vietnam, in recent years, he has passionately supported and promoted the concept of ‘Creating shared values- CSV’ which aims for environmental, social and economic sustainability in all business activities .Mr. Trai has participated and been elected to lead multiple Foundation, business associations, and NPOs such as: Chairman – Recycling Packaging Organization (PRO) Viet Nam, Founder – Institute of Circular Economy and Development (ICED)- HCMC National University, Members of Science Advisory Committee for Department of International Business and Marketing in University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City; Sponsorial Association for Poor Patients in Ho Chi Minh City, Leading Business Club (LBC), SGT Foundation Scholarship, and involved in many other social activities…

Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc Trai is also Chairman of the Sustainable Development Council of Novaland Group.