💡 Warp News at the Expo 2020 World's Fair in Dubai

Warp Institute and Warp News are part of the World's Fair in Dubai, dubbed Expo 2020. World Fairs have a history dating back to 1791, but perhaps the most famous was the one in Paris in 1891 for which they built the Eiffel Tower. Warp is in Dubai for a week and arranges five events, participates in panels, and gives speeches at a number of other events.

We are invited by the Swedish pavilion and will report on the events we arrange ourselves or participate in, but of course, also visit other pavilions and events to report interesting things we find. I have already spoken to two exciting startups who are here and participated in the launch of Space for Wildlife. The Peace Parks Foundation uses space technology to stop the hunting of endangered animals.

At Expo 2020 (which was to be held last year), we do what we always do – spread fact-based optimism in order to make the future come sooner. Above all, we highlight Optimist’s Edge. This is the edge fact-based optimists have when they look past black headlines and naive pessimists and see reality for what it is. Huge opportunities often hide there.

We are arranging a Warp Institute Day with a focus on how we can make our future in space come faster. We will also talk about why we need space to fix problems on Earth, asteroid mining, global satellite internet and how you will be able to afford to go to space in just ten years.

About why we need space to fix problems on earth.

Dubai is an odd place. In the middle of the desert, the expansion of a super-modern city is embodied by dozens of skyscrapers. Among these is the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building that stretches almost a kilometer into the air. The buildings next door, which are maybe about 500 meters, look small in comparison. On the way to Expo 200, you see almost as many oil power plants, and it is from oil that both the cheap energy and the money come that built this city.

Something that is not the least bit modern is governance. Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates, which is a harsh dictatorship, ranked as Not Free by Freedom House and receives only 17 out of a maximum of 100 points for its respect for human rights. By comparison, the top countries – Finland, Norway and Sweden – get 100 points.

Warp is represented on site by me, Mathias Sundin, and Carolina Olsson.