The First International Baku Futures Forum - on Next Big Things for the Future of Azerbaijan: Post-oil Economy

Azerbaijan Future Studies Society, also acts as the Azerbaijan Node of the Millennium Project and the Millennium Project in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of Republic of Azerbaijan, the Centre for Strategic Studies under the President of Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan State of Economic University of Republic of Azerbaijan had organized The First International Baku Futures Forum - on Next Big Things forthe Future of Azerbaijan: Post-oil Economy.

Over 60 delegates from local and 30 from foreign countries – representing Government, politicians, Academy of Sciences, Business and Civil Societies, NGOs, futurists, the Millennium Project Nodes from all over the world, international and local media– had convened in Baku, Azerbaijan - to combine the efforts contributing the dialogue among them at Baku Futures Forum, to be held on 3rd June 2013.

The speeches of outstanding international experts from NASA, the National Science Foundation, Google, Singularity University, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Rocky Mountain University were presented at forum. Moreover, among the invites were the Minister of Science of Montenegro and other international and Azerbaijan specialists, officials.

Opening ceremony speech was by Dr. Reyhan Huseynova the chair of Azerbaijan Future Studies Society, Azerbaijan Node of the Millennium Project.

As the keynote speaker of forum, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Dr. Ali Abbasov noted that the country had entered a new stage of development as an oil country. Thus, the future economic development of the country is based on the unity of science, education and technologies which is determined in the development concept "Azerbaijan-2020: Vision of the Future" for the next few years.

The event also were addressed by Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Dr. Huseyngulu Baghirov, Chief of Department of Political Analysis and Information Provision of Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Dr. Elnur Aslanov, Director of the Millennium Project Dr. Jerome Glenn, Minister of Science of Montenegro and Co-chair Node of Montenegro of the Millennium Project Dr. Sanja Vlahovich, Head of Foresight Department, UNESCO Dr. Riel Miller, Academic Visitor at Oxford University, nanotechnology researcher Dr.Eric Drexler, Chief Scientist and Chairman of Rocky Mountain Institute Dr. Amory Lovins etc.

The main focus of the Forum was future technologies and new factors for the development of post-oil economies, such as Nano and bio-technologies, as well as the strategic role of information-communication technologies forming the Future.

One of the newest technologies that had been presented at Forum were Holography, demonstrated in Azerbaijan for the first time and 3D Printer, within the framework of the Forum.