What will the world look like in 2050?
That may seem like a huge, abstract question — a date that’s more attached to some distant sci-fi future than to our lives right now — but 2050 is just 32 years away, and it’s the young people of today who will help shape the answer.
This is the focus for an unprecedented event that will bring together 20,000 of “the world’s most innovative young people” for parties, sports, camping, AI vs human competitions, gigs, speaker sessions, and lots more over three days in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, from Friday 25-Sunday 27 May.
Entitled 2050, the initiative is the brainchild of Dr Jian Wang, chairman of the Technology Steering Committee at Alibaba Group, and will take place at Cloud Town, best known as the base for Alibaba’s annual Cloud Computing Conference. But rather than provide a platform for long-established industry figures, Wang’s aim for 2050 is
to make the world pay more attention to young people’s innovations. […] It will allow young people to stand in the spotlight, talk about innovation, look towards the future and face the challenges with a young mind.
Wang envisages it as an incredible meeting of people from across the globe, all looking to share knowledge and exchange ideas on how we tackle the challenges of our future.
According to the organizers, 5,000 of the attendees will come from overseas, including 100 supported by the Hangzhou Yunqi Science and Technology Innovation Foundation’s 2050 Future Plan. This body will also provide a $10,000USD scholarship for each of the 10 winners of the 2050 Youth Awards, which will recognize the most impressive contributions over the three-day gathering.
“This is an exhilarating time,” says Wang. “Not just because of the arrival of the internet or the possibility of colonizing Mars. This is the youngest generation in history. 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years-old. What could be more exciting?”
Issues up for discussion range from driverless cars and flying transportation, to “how technology can create greater gender equality” and a “blockchain stand up show”. There’ll be an “exploration space”, “camping under the stars”, and an array of social events and activities.
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According to the organizers, 2050 will “unleash the power of the young generation to change the world. There will be no bystanders.”
RADII will be an active participant at 2050, hosting our very own INNER CIRCLE Reunion event and our inaugural FUTURE OF X speaker forums, dedicated to delving into the trends and phenomena that are transforming life and society in China today.
Together with our friends from Brandnographer, AGLA and Shanghai Creative Collective, we’ll kick off the weekend with the 2050 INNER CIRCLE event on Friday, May 25th, bringing together our speakers plus thought leaders from each of our organizations for drinks, networking, and good times, followed by a conference-wide party featuring music by DJ TOY.
Our weekend of programming will feature keynote speeches from two-time Grammy Award winning musician Dana Leong on THE FUTURE OF MUSIC, co-founder of Light Chaser Animation Studios (dubbed the “Pixar of China”) Yu Zhou on THE FUTURE OF “MADE IN CHINA”, and M WOODS co-founder and post-internet generation art collector Michael Xufu Huang on THE FUTURE OF CULTURE IN THE DIGITAL AGE.
We’ll also be holding an expert panel discussion on THE FUTURE OF CONSUMPTION, with Adam Chen (Founder/CEO of CREATEC and Chairman of Shanghai Creative Collective), Emily Cheng (Founder of STW赏游 Platform/Culture & Heritage Columnist for China Advertising 中国广告), Zak Manion (Innovation & Analytics Associate Director at ABInBev) and Adrian Lai (Founder of social e-commerce platform Yumi), moderated by Brandnographer founder Ruby Chui.
For more information on RADII at 2050 and to sign up for these exciting events, please visit the page below.
We can’t wait to see you there.
