Persia Educational Foundation is pleased to offer a joint webinar in association with the prestigious School of International Future (SOIF), featuring outstanding global experts, Iraj Abedian and John Sanei in conversation with Andrew Curry. The webinar will take place on Friday, 15 January 2021 at 16:00 GMT.

FutureNEXT is unfolding before our eyes. The old and familiar normal is crumbling away steadily and the need for a sustainable, fair and effective new world system is becoming evident with growing urgency. In conceptualising and crafting this global, or new normal, at least three protagonists need to be reinvented; ie: the individual, the institutions and the society. In our reflections on these key components of the new normal, we offer ideas, insights and suggestions. More importantly, however, we invite all like-minded and like-hearted individuals to start a conversation, to mobilize thoughts, reflections and suggestions. Whilst no one has all the answers, FutureNEXT argues that collectively we, as human beings, have all that is needed to imagine and roll out a new normal infinitely superior to what we are used to.

FutureNEXT webinar will involve the following three dynamics thinkers:

John Sanei comes alive at the intersection of human psychology and futurism and uses his truly unique perspective to discover elegant ways for his global audience to build the clarity and courage needed to approach the future with confidence. Not only is John Africa’s first Singularity University faculty member and a lecturer at Duke Corporate Education, but he is also an Associate Partner at The Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies – the only person on the planet to hold these three positions.

His rare ability to combine his fascination with emerging technology and its impact on society with a clear understanding of the way memories and stories influence our reality has seen him share the stage with several world-renowned thought leaders, including Yuval Harari, Nassim Taleb and Robin Sharma, amongst many others.

John has three best-sellers, with the 4th book in development.

Iraj Abedian is the founder and Executive Chairman of Pan-African Capital Holdings (Pty) Ltd, and the Chief Executive of Pan-African Investment and Research Services (Pty) Ltd. He was professor of economics at the University of Cape Town, before entering the business sector in 2000. He obtained his BA (Honours) and MA in Economics from University of Cape Town (UCT). He received his PhD in Economics from Simon Fraser University in Canada in 1993. He has served as a consultant on economic policy issues to public and private sector organizations in South Africa as well as internationally. His involvement in policy development in South Africa includes: The Transformation of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (1995), the RDP White Paper (1995), Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR 1996), Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF 1997/98), the Presidential Review Commission (PRC 1997/98, membership of the President’s Economic Advisory Panel 2006-2009 and Economic Advisor to Minister of Mineral Resources of SA Government (Feb. 2010 to July 2012).

He is a prolific researcher and has written or co-authored numerous articles and books, including:

Economic Growth in South Africa (Oxford University Press, 1992)

Transformation in Action: Budgeting for Health Service Delivery (UCT Press, 1998) Economics of Tobacco Control; Towards an Optimal Policy Mix (SAMA Press, 1998) Economic Globalization and Fiscal Policy (Oxford University Press, 1998)

Seeking the Ethical Foundations of the South African Nation, Co-edited with Itumeleng Mosala and Jeffrey Sehume (editors): A MISTRA Publication, Johannesburg 2018

A South African PGM Exchange: Policy Rationale for Financial Beneficiation; A MISTRA publication, 2019, Johannesburg, South Africa.

FutureHow: COVID19, Reimagining Our Collective Future; Co-authored with John Sanei, a publication of Mercury, Burnet Media, April 2020

FutureNEXT: Reimagining Our World & Conquering Uncertainty; Co-authored with John Sanei, a publication of Mercury, Burnet Media, October 2020

During September to December 1999, Dr Abedian was based at the IMF, Washington D.C., working on issues related to fiscal vulnerability assessment. In January 2000 he joined The Standard Bank Group at their head office in Johannesburg as Group Chief Economist. He was appointed Director and Group Economist in April 2000, and was a member of the Standard Bank Group EXCO.

Currently apart from the companies in the Pan-African Capital’s portfolio, he serves the following organizations and companies:

Chairman of Board of AMSOL (Pty) Ltd (December 2018 to date)

Member of the Advisory Board of the Auditor General of the SA Government (2006 to date)

Member of the Advisory Board of Council for the Advancement of South African Constitution (CASAC)

Andrew Curry is a Director of The Futures Company in London, where he leads on futures practice and is Managing Editor of the company’s thought leadership series, Future Perspectives.

He is a leading member of the UK’s futurist community. As a consultant he has worked on dozens of scenarios and scanning projects for clients in the private, public and third sector, using a wide variety of techniques. His clients have included the UK government’s Foresight Programme (see, for example, Intelligent Infrastructure Systems or Powering Our Lives) and the UK Environment Agency, where a set of 50-year scenarios informed the Agency’s 50 year water strategy. He was also the lead author of the UK Cabinet Office report, Understanding Best Practice In Strategic Futures. Other scenarios projects include ones on economic development, regulation, and sustainability.

He has published extensively on futures subjects, including – with Wendy Schultz – “Roads Less Travelled”, on the strengths and weaknesses of comparative scenarios methods and – with Anthony Hodgson – the first academic paper on the Three Horizons method. He also edited, for the Association of Professional Futurists, their tenth anniversary essay collection, The Future of Futures.

His Futures Company report, The 21st Century Business (co-authored with Jules Peck), won the 2015 WPP Atticus thought leadership award in the Strategy Category, while his earlier report, Unlocking New Sources of Growth, won the Atticus Grand Prix in 2013. His Foresight paper, “Africa 2010-2020: Poverty Beyond The Global Crisis” (2012, co-written with Joe Ballantyne and Andy Sumner), was Highly Commended by Emerald editors.

He is the Vice Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists. Before joining The Henley Centre in 1999 (which later became part of The Futures Company) he worked as a financial journalist for the BBC and Channel 4 News, as a television producer, and in interactive media.