Rohan Roberts
Innovator, Author, Entrepreneur, Futurist, Edtech Advisor, Educational Consultant
ABOUT
Overview
Rohan is the director of the Dubai Science Festival. He is the founder of Intelligent Optimism and Café Scientifique Dubai.
He is currently the Director of Innovation and Future Learning at GEMS Education (world's largest private education provider). In his role as the Innovation Lead at GEMSX he led strategic planning, industry partnerships, and future-readiness across 40+ international schools in the UAE. Central to his role is the generation and expansion of programmes and strategies aimed at redefining institutions as places in which new ideas, solutions, and products are developed, shared, and scaled, and lead to significant improvement outcomes.
In 2017, he was invited to the inaugural Expo2020 World Majlis to share his views about the future of Education and was part of Dubai Plan 2021 that describes the future of Dubai through holistic and complementary perspectives. In 2023, he keynoted at LEAP, one of the world's largest tech conferences. In recent years, he has moderated panels for SciFest Dubai and Emirates LitFest. In 2019, he was featured at the World Government Summit as one of six individuals embodying the Advanced skills of the Future.
Rohan is an avid astronomer and has developed programmes for the Saudi Space Commission. He is also the Lead Curator at Project Tesseract. He has been described in the media and by those who know him as a Renaissance Man, a Polymath, a Multi-potentialite, and an Interdisciplinary Systems Thinker.
Education
Rohan has a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Leeds, a PGCE from Sunderland University, and a CICTT diploma from the University of Cambridge.
Professional Experience
Rohan is a Microsoft Certified Master Trainer, a Google Certified Educator, and has won numerous national and international awards in the field of Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.
In recent years, he has collaborated with MIT SOLVE, MIT Lemelson, and Harvard's Project Zero. Since 2017, he has collaborated with Singularity University in creating a Global Futures Curriculum about the impact of exponential technologies, accelerating change, abundance mindsets, and disruptive innovations.
Organisations
Rohan is the Director of SciFest Dubai. He is the Founder of Intelligent Optimism, and Cafe Scientifique Dubai. He is also the Co-producer of The Adjacent Possible Podcast.
Futurist
Techno-Optimist
Innovation Evangelist
Director of Innovation & Future Learning
Advisor & Keynote Speaker
Speaker, Host, & Moderator
Selected as one of six UAE Residents embodying the Advanced Skills of the Future
Keynotes & Conferences
Rohan has keynoted at numerous national and international conferences and panels, including at:
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UNESCO Expo Science
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Google EdTech
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Bett
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World Education Summit
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Aspen Ideas Festival
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Global Education Forum
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and many more....
In 2016, he was the host of the Global Innovation Summit.
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From award-winning educator, innovation expert, and Global Teacher Prize finalist, Rohan Roberts, comes a provocative look at why our current education system is not fit for purpose and why we need to overhaul it. Cosmic Citizens and Moonshot Thinking: Education in an Age of Exponential Technologies takes a fresh approach to what we need to do differently to prepare our children for a world of exponential technologies, disruptive innovations, and ubiquitous A.I.
In this ground-breaking book, Roberts outlines the purpose of education in a world of increased outsourcing and automation and explains how we can future-proof our youth to survive and thrive in a world of accelerating change. Through interactions with corporate leaders, interviews with principals, meetings with parents, and surveys of students, this book considers how the best and brightest students would overhaul their education system.
The book highlights the role of neuroscience in education and explores several fascinating concepts such as radical openness, abundance mindsets, the gig economy, the technological singularity, intelligent optimism, the age of imagination, humanics, transhumanism, and the importance of Enlightenment values as we advance into the 21st Century. Underpinning this book is a constant focus on the importance of bringing a sense of awe into education and fostering a sense of cosmic wonder when contemplating human purpose and human existence.
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Videos
Media
Rohan has been featured extensively in national and international media.
Click on the links below for details.
Other Highlights
Click on the icons for more details
Rohan has co-created the Global Futures Curriculum in collaboration with Singularity University.
In March 2019, Rohan was invited to talk about art, creativity and artificial intelligence at the Global Art Forum | Art Dubai
Rohan was a keynote speaker at the 2014 UNESCO Expo Sciences conference.
Rohan has consulted on numerous ocassions for the Dubai Knowledge and Human Authority (KHDA).
Rohan has been a host and moderator for numerous panels at the Emirates Festival of Literature.
Articles
Articles and blog posts by Rohan as featured in
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Artificial Intelligence
Rohan is a recognised AI Expert known for his insightful contributions to the field of artificial intelligence and its intersection with education and societal development. His engagements span from consulting for organisations and start-ups, advising think tanks and delivering thought-provoking talks to authoring white papers, drafting policy, developing future-focused learning modules for students, and designing training sessions for educators - all aimed at demystifying AI and its implications.
Awards
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Rohan was the 2017 Finalist of the
One-million-dollar Global Teacher Prize – the first and only educator ever from Dubai – shortlisted out of 20,000 candidates from 179 countries.
From the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Rohan is the recipient of the prestigious
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Distinguished Academic Award
