The 3rd Kazan Global Youth Summit organized by the Government of Tatarstan Republic (Russian Federation) and the OIC-affiliated Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF), was held on 22-24 August 2024. Policy makers, experts in youth affairs, representatives of youth organizations from various countries attended the different events of the Summit. The opening session was addressed Ms. Leyla Fazleeva, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan; Mr. Taha Ayhan, President of the ICYF; Ambassador. Tarig Ali Bakheet, Assistant Secretary General of the OIC for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs; Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, Director General of IRCICA, and other dignitaries. Following the plenary session themed “How to Involve Youth to Science and Technology Development in the Digital Age”, the Summit involved both ministerial round tables (mostly ministers of youth and sports) as well as thematic sessions, which were titled: “Role of Youth in Preserving Traditional Values and Humanity in the Digital Age”; “Youth Well-being in the 21st Century: Overcoming Mental Health Challenges”; “Creativity in the Age of AI: Exploring New Boundaries”; “Role of Family in Modern Society: How to Raise Talented Individuals in the Digital World”, and the final plenary session titled “Digitalization and Modern Tools in Youth Policy”. A wide range of new challenges were pinpointed during the sessions, such as “restoring trust in the era of AI”; “technologic diplomacy and the future of professions”; “modern hybrid conflicts”, and “the issue of ethical regulation of AI and technology”.
Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, Director General of IRCICA, also addressed the plenary session themed “How to Involve Youth to Science and Technology Development in the Digital Age”. Elaborating upon the subjects of the Summit agenda, Prof. Kılıç pointed out that “A vital goal of our time and a necessary condition for the sustainable survival of societies is to raise generations motivated for science and technology that will take part in the global production and use of digital methods, that will be able to harness artificial intelligence, incorporate the learning, teaching, and eventually production of these techniques into their various industries. …. On the other hand, realization of these objectives depends on the removal of the fundamental problems of underdevelopment befalling many populations around the world. … A basic condition for digital learning, which is access to Internet at schools, at institutions and for the public, is far from being met satisfactorily in the majority of countries around the world.” Underlining that youth constitutes a weighty segment of population in the OIC countries and generally in all developing countries, Prof. Kılıç said that encouraging youth to specialize in advanced sciences and technology is a necessary condition for their societies to benefit from, and eventually become developers, of modern technologies.”
On the occasion of the conference, Prof. Kılıç met with the Rector of the Russian Islamic University, Prof. Rafiq Mukhametshin and the Vice-President of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences Prof. Ainur Timerkhanov on 22 August 2024, where possibilities of cooperation were discussed.
