New Strategy Center participated in the Global Innovation Summit, organized by the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils, in Belfast, UK, from 11-13 November.

The topic of this year’s forum, “Accelerating Global Sustainability and Economic Inclusion”, the event is a platform for discussion and exchange of views between experts, academics and entrepreneurs.

At the annual meeting of GFCC members, George Scutaru, CEO of the New Strategy Center, participated in a panel dedicated to geostrategy and current security challenges and presented to the audience the strategic importance of the Black Sea for global connectivity, energy and food security. Discussions covered challenges to freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, Russia’s hybrid actions and the impact of the war in Ukraine on Black Sea security. The evolution of disruptive technologies, the massive use of drones, the disappearance of the comfort of geographical distance from countries such as Russia, North Korea, Iran were mentioned during the panel. A Russian cyber attack is just as destructive in Romania or the UK, Iranian drones are hitting Ukrainian ports on the Danube and North Korean missiles are being used to damage the infrastructure of ports in the Odesa region, showing a “globalization of evil”, very effective in the war in Ukraine.

George Scutaru also participated as a speaker in the session entitled “Harnessing Partnership to Advance Food Security and One Health” and gave a speech dedicated to the impact of the Black Sea region on global food security and Russia’s use of grain as a hybrid weapon to distort global markets and affect Ukraine’s export capacity. The stability of some countries in Africa and the Middle East depends on grain supplies from the Black Sea region Russia is trying to drive Ukraine out of the grain market in some countries by bombing Ukrainian ports, electronic warfare actions to disrupt ship communications or naval mines. George Scutaru emphasized the need for a free and open Black Sea, as what happens in the region has a global effect. The panel was moderated by Prof. Wayne Powell, Principal and Chief Executive, SRUC, UK, and the other speakers were: The Rt. Rt. Hon. The Baroness Minette Batters, former President (2018 – 2024), National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, UK, Dr. Peter Dorhout, Vice President for Research, Iowa State University, USA, Prof. Ursula Lavery MBE, Director for Technical, Research and Development, Pilgrim’s Europe, UK, Phillip Phiri, Executive Director, National Competitiveness Commission (NCC), Zimbabwe, Prof. Ken Sloan, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Harper Adams University, UK.

At the GIS, Marcel Foca, NSC Senior Expert, participated as a speaker in the workshop “Accelerating Sustainability and Inclusiveness Through R&D”. His intervention focused on how we can increase trust between different actors involved in the R&D process or how to increase cooperation between different countries with different levels of development, so that we can ultimately achieve social development and economic progress through scientific innovation, but also better face multiple security challenges.

The event was moderated by: Dr. Padma Raghavan, Provost for Research and Innovation, Vanderbilt University USA, and the other speakers were: Deborah Gordon, Senior Advisor, Longview Fusion Energy Systems, USA, Dr. Wendy McCloone, Director of Research, Queen’s University Belfast, Dr. Mmboneni Muofhe, Deputy Director General, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa, Dr. Nathan Skillen, Assistant Professor in Sustainability, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Herriot-Watt University, UK, Prof. Jay Walsh, Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation, University of Illinois, USA.

The NSC delegation, formed by George Scutaru, Marcel Foca and Bogdan Găurean, Secretary General of the NSC, had discussions with several GFCC members from Europe, USA, Japan, Australia, Africa, to identify possible future collaborations in various projects.

In the margins of this global event, George Scutaru also participated in the GFCC Leadership Dialogue, which took place on November 8 in Birmingham, UK.