Connected's vision of the future conference brought together more than 2,000 participants from 27 countries.

A coherent image of the future of humanity, based on the principles of harmony, synthesis and taking into account the rapid development of technology, has been discussed by leading futurists and experts. world-class participants at the Connect conference in Astana.

The international conference “Connect-2024: Understanding the Image of the Future”, held in Astana on October 18-19, 2024, has become a unique platform where world-renowned experts present their vision of the future of all humanity.

To analyze the key challenges and opportunities of our time, the conference brought together global change agents who believe in the importance of promoting global values, as well as applying Use knowledge and expertise consciously. These are people, social movements and organizations whose activities lead to social change and influence the worldview of individuals.

The conference was attended by more than 2,000 delegates from 27 countries: USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Finland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, China. China, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, UAE, South Africa, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

The general sponsor of the event, businessman and investor Serik Tolukpayev, drew attention to the fact that each of us is currently going through a period of uncertainty, because the world has changed a lot .

“The world is divided by major problems, conflicts at the geopolitical, religious and ideological levels. The most important question we tried to answer with the speakers is what should people do with their ego? And I really hope that we will continue to search deeper for answers. At the very least, we will lay out search paths.

Our main task is to show the world that in Kazakhstan there is also a community that thinks about the future 20-30 years from now. This is a very important mission – to understand what kind of world will replace the one in which we live today. I deeply believe that it is human values ​​that will dominate the future world. The new world first needs harmony,” he said.

Photo: CONNECTED-2024 conference organizing committee

Serik Zhunusov, founder of Connected, also emphasized:

“We want to apply a worldview approach to finding solutions to today's global problems. In this time of incredible uncertainty, is global synchronization possible on a common vision of the future? Nature itself has given us the key to the answer. We see this in examples of synchronization – the flicker of fireflies, the synchronized movement of a metronome. They found rhythm, unity and harmony. There is an important truth hidden in this: global narratives can also harmonize with each other.”

Photo: CONNECTED-2024 conference organizing committee

One of the event's headliners was Yuval Noah Harari, a historian, futurist and author of best-selling books on the future of humanity. Among the main questions posed to the speaker: what is technology in the vision of the future – good or evil, tool of creation or destructive power. According to him, the danger is that one day artificial intelligence itself will begin to create its own values.

“For thousands of years, we humans have lived in a human world, everything around us from physical artifacts to financial, religious and political systems is a product of human consciousness . There is nothing else on planet Earth that can invent such things. But now artificial intelligence can begin to invent new kinds of value in everything from financial systems to religious systems. Now we need to understand what happens to governments, to human societies, when humans lose control over important elements like the political or financial systems,” futurist speak.

Photo: CONNECTED-2024 conference organizing committee

Speakers at the Connected conference also include outstanding experts such as: Nobel Prize winner in the field of green economy Rae Kwon Chung; President of the Association of Futurists, European Commission Foresight Advisor Tanya Schindler; Professor at Oxford University and author of the bestselling book “Silk Road”. New World History” Peter Frankopan; “China's Green Goddess” and green development advocate Peggy Liu; Professor at Stanford University, author of AI courses Younes Bensouda Murri; bestselling author first and first editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine David Rowan; futurist, trend analyst, economist, Bronwyn Williams, futurist at UNDP; Tibetan lama, teacher, author author Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche; systems thinker and philanthropist, one of the 10 most influential people in Africa (Forbes) Mamadou Quijim Toure; strategic visionary expert and keynote speaker on Generation Z at the organization consult Whetston Jahkini Bisselink and others.

Going forward, the Connect conference aims to become an ongoing global discussion platform where change agents from different sectors of society will discuss important global stories and the challenges they create.