FII Institute’s THINK Pillar aims to shape the future of humanity
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Whatever we humans do impacts our lives, loved ones, community, humankind and earth. Sure, the impact of our daily routine on humanity as a whole is tiny, but there are billions of us, and a billion little steps can go a long way.
While the heads of state and the CEOs of global corporations leave a bigger footprint and have more resources than anyone else, it is certainly not a case of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ when it comes to creating change.
To make the world a better place, we do not need to compare ourselves with others and their actions – we must collectively do better together. We all need to search for the right direction and walk towards it.
That is why Future Investment Initiative Institute was founded. Created by the Royal Order of King Salman in October 2019, FII Institute is a nonprofit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda:
impact on humanity.
Whatever we as an institution do is designed to have the highest positive impact on humanity. The resources we spend are not only for the sake of making the world a better place but also in doing so in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.
That is our goal, and always will be. We as FII Institute expect ourselves and our staff to abide by doing what is best for humanity and, therefore, out of all the possible technologies, investments and projects out there, we choose to fund and promote those that have the potential to make the world a better place.
FII Institute thus sets new standards of actionable items instead of mere talk. All our publications or events include a call to action based on our assessment of how to maximize the positive impact on humanity.
To assess correctly, however, we must think thoroughly. That’s why the THINK Pillar of the institute was created.
Global, inclusive and built on environmental, social and governance principles, we foster great minds from around the world to solve today’s issues while shaping the
future of humanity.
The resources of our think tank are focused on five critical areas where we see the highest chances of maximizing our impact: healthcare for better and longer life, education for inclusive and empowered life, sustainability for people and the planet, and artificial intelligence and robotics as useful technologies for humanity.
How do we do this? By being guided by experts, partnered with esteemed academics and operated by a passionate team. FII institute’s THINK Pillar delivers its impact mainly in three ways: academic partnerships, publications and initiatives.
FII Institute is currently partnering with world-class universities and leading scientific institutions. They range from the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University to the International Vaccine Institute to the leading French business school HEC Paris to the publisher of the leading multidisciplinary science journal Springer Nature. The institute has also tied up with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco.
These institutions cover diverse research fields, such as achieving net-zero carbon goals, harnessing the power of AI and developing business models for the circular economy. They underscore and reinforce FII
Institute’s mandate to be a genuinely global catalyst for change.
FII Institute’s think tank also publishes extensive reports, focused whitepapers and compact spotlights within our focus areas. Our library of more than 40 publications in just three years of existence covers topics from food security to vaccine fairness to circular carbon to education and poverty.
Our Global Infectious Disease Index, developed with Metabiota and Accenture, is a unique platform providing data on both endemic and epidemic diseases. Knowledge from the index can reduce the threats of infectious diseases so that decision-makers can be better prepared to mitigate unnecessary deaths from infectious diseases and transform global health for the better.
Moreover, our institute has organized the Future Investment Initiative since 2017, annually bringing together thinkers, doers and global decision-makers from business and society for three days of debate and thought exchange in Riyadh.
As the think tank of the institute, we contribute to the content planning and preparation of the FII. We are also in charge of creating initiatives that can bring our ideas to life and positively impact humanity, making us not only a think tank but a do tank.
• Safiye Kucukkaraca is director of THINK, FII Institute.
