Keynote Speech by EMEA Founder and President, Prof. Rym Ayadi, at the webinar on brain capital on the 24th of February, 2025
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished experts, colleagues, and friends,
It is a great privilege to welcome you to this important discussion on Hope to Action: Designing and Catalyzing Brain Economy Living Labs.
The world is undergoing profound transformations—climate crises, digital revolutions, and demographic shifts are reshaping our societies.
In the face of these challenges, the economy of the future must be one that values and invests in cognitive, brain health and emotional well-being.
This is the essence of the Brain Economy—a model that recognizes brain health and brain skills as fundamental drivers of productivity, resilience, and human flourishing.
Yet, translating this vision into action requires more than just policies and frameworks. It demands tangible, real-world experimentation—spaces where innovative ideas can be tested, refined, and scaled.
This is where Brain Economy Living Labs come in. These labs serve as incubators for cutting-edge policies, financial instruments, and technological solutions that enhance brain capital across multiple sectors—from healthcare to education, from finance to urban planning.
Imagine a city where urban design promotes cognitive well-being, workplaces that integrate neurodiverse talent, and financial systems that prioritize investments in mental resilience.
Imagine a future where economic success is measured not only in GDP but in human flourishing. This is not an abstract vision—it is a blueprint for a sustainable, inclusive economy, and today, we will explore how to bring it to life.
The public sector plays a crucial role in establishing enabling policies and frameworks.
The private sector drives innovation and brings scalable solutions.
And the philanthropic sector has the agility and vision to pioneer high-impact initiatives.
By uniting these forces, we can design and catalyze Brain Economy Living Labs that serve as beacons of change.
But our discussions today must go beyond theory. We must identify concrete steps—how to finance these labs, how to implement best practices, and how to measure success.
Our goal is to move from hope to action, ensuring that brain economy models are not just conceptual but deeply embedded in our regional and global economic landscapes.
This is an opportunity to challenge conventional thinking, forge new collaborations, and design a future where economies truly work for people—where innovation does not come at the cost of well-being but rather enhances it.
Finally Let me thank Harris Eyre, Member of the Advisory Board of EMEA and the Executive Director of the Global Brain Capital Alliance and the Brain Economy Hub who made this webinar possible. Today is our hope to translate hope into tangible results.
Thank you
Prof. Rym Ayadi, EMEA President, and co-founder of the Brain Capital Alliance & the Brain Economy Hub, delivered the keynote speech at the Webinar “Hope to Action: Designing and Catalyzing Brain Economy Living Labs”. The webinar was organised by EMEA, in cooperation with the Brain Capital Alliance, the Brain Economy Hub, and the Neuro-Policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and took place on Monday 24 February 2025, 13:00 CET on Zoom.
For more info and photos from the webinar please visit” EMEA webinar “Hope to Action: Designing and Catalyzing Brain Economy Living Labs” completed successfully
Link to the webinar video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3G-AwzeDvg&t=1s
The EMEA team, in collaboration with OECD Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative, the Brain Capital Alliance, and the Global Brain Capital Dashboard Working Group, has developed the Global Brain Capital Dashboard. The Dashboard aims to quantify and track Brain Capital while also serving as a platform to inspire novel policy innovation. Link to the Global Brain Capital Dashboard
