About 2,000 participants from 100 countries are expected to attend the eighth summit of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), in Doha on November 14-16.
The biennial summit, a premier international gathering on the future of education, will attract some of the world’s most creative leaders in the fields of education, technology, social entrepreneurship, global development, media, and philanthropy.
The theme of the 2017 summit, ‘Co-Exist, Co-Create: Learning to Live and Work Together,’ is designed to spark debate around education challenges in times of global disruption and economic uncertainty. 
Central to these discussions will be the role of education in a post-truth world, with sessions focusing on media literacy, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, social entrepreneurship, design thinking and direction for best education choices, among others.
Among some of the 100 confirmed speakers and moderators include: Prof Sebastien Thrun, chairman and co-founder of Udacity, innovator, edu-preneuer, and founder of Google X Labs (US);  Fareed Zakaria, writer and columnist, CNN host (US); Dr Amel Karboul, commissioner,  International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (Tunisia);  Wendy Kopp, CEO and co-founder, Teach for All (US);  Michael Barber, founder and chairman of Delivery Associates (UK);  Noella Coursaris Musunka, founder, Malaika (Democratic Republic of Congo); Prof  Kishore Mahbubani, dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University (Singapore); Sarah Borgman, director and curator, Skoll World Forum (US); Vivian Onano, youth leader and advocate, Women Deliver (Kenya) and  Samir Saran, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi (India).
A highlight of the programme will be the announcement of the 2017 WISE Prize for Education Laureate.
The WISE Prize for Education is the first distinction of its kind to recognise an individual or a team of up to six people for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of QF, will present the WISE Prize for Education gold medal and $500,000 to the laureate during the opening plenary session on November 15.
The 2017 WISE conference provides an opportunity to meet the people behind pioneering international projects championed by WISE initiatives all year round.
These include the WISE Awards for proven, high-impact education solutions; the WISE Accelerator programme, which supports promising edtech projects in education; the WISE Learners’ Voice, a mentorship programme for young leaders in education and the WISE Research series of reports, authored by experts with leading international institutions.
Participants will also attend hands-on workshops run by organisations including LEGO, working jointly with Ashoka; IDEO; the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development; the Brookings Institution; Meetpro, China; and the National Education Opportunities Network, UK.
There will also be an interactive lab for adults and children run by C2 (Montreal), questioning participants on their vision for the future of education. The outcomes will serve as guidance to policy-makers.
Twelve to 14-year-old students from Qatar’s schools will also take part in four experiential learning labs aimed at fostering fun and collaborative learning, run by the Little Engineer, Lebanon; Cultural Infusion, Australia; ibTECHar, Qatar; and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (Qatar).