The aim of the S R Nathan Distinguished Lecture is to provide greater awareness and understanding of the modern Middle East.

This lecture provides a forum for statesmen, internationally prominent scholars and public intellectuals to express their views on key issues. The lecture series is named in honour of Singapore’s late former president, Mr S R Nathan, who encouraged a deeper understanding of the Middle East region in Singapore.

Abstract

When economists attempt to predict the future, they base their predictions on theoretical models combined with empirical analyses of past data. But today, we are facing an unprecedented and rapid change in technology, business models, demographics and geopolitics — on a scale never seen before. Therefore, merely looking into the past may no longer be sufficient. In order to make predictions, we need to rely on diverse arguments from a variety of fields, in hope of outlining plausible scenarios and offering some useful insights and guidelines for governments and corporations, to help them be more prepared for the potentially turbulent future.

In this talk, Dr Kandel will try to outline a few insights derived from his last decade of preparing the strategy for the government of Israel, as well as from working within Israel’s technological innovation sector. He will discuss his views on the social impact of innovation, mostly using Israel as an example. He will also refer to the potential of innovation in the Middle East.

The event will be from 3pm to 4.30pm on 17 October 2019.

Those who missed the lecture can catch up on the event via the links below.

Watch Professor Kandel’s lecture:

Or tune in to the podcast via this link.

To see photos of the event, check out the gallery.

You can also catch up on the highlights on the CNA broadcast report or read an edited transcript of his speech.