There are times when traditional ideas are enough to solve problems lay out the way forward. There are times when analysis, judgement and further information are enough to generate ideas. There are times when all this is not enough and there is a real need for new thinking and new ideas.

We do not need to wait for chance to produce a new idea in the mind of an individual. There are now formal methods of creative thinking that can be used deliberately to generate new ideas around a defined focus. These methods are already in use with major corporations around the world. The methods have been successfully used for thirty years. They are based on an understanding of the brain as a self-organising information system that forms asymmetric patterns. That is why any valuable creative idea will always be logical in hindsight but cannot be obtained by logic in foresight. These methods have been endorsed by many people such as Nobel Prize laureate Professor Murray Gel-Mann who is the leading physicist in the world.

These new methods were designed by Edward de Bono who has written sixty-eight books with translations into thirty-nine languages. He holds five doctorate and professorships at five universities. He has worked with such organisations as Siemens, IBM, DuPont, Ericsson etc.

WORLD CENTRE FOR NEW THINKING

Representative bodies like the UN and democracies cannot easily put forward new ideas because they are new and therefore do not represent current thinking. Putting forward such ideas is a high risk – because they are new.

There is therefore a world need for a platform for new ideas so that they can be generated and made visible – in order that they may be considered.

The World Centre will also provide an organising focus to set up task forces, round tables and conferences to generate and consider new ideas.

FOCUS AND AGENDA

The first step is to pinpoint those areas which seem to need new thinking: those areas where existing thinking does not seem to have provided the needed answers. In such areas there is a real need to generate new ideas. These ideas would be additional to existing ideas. Even if such a new idea is not adopted in its totality, the idea can influence current thinking. Such area may range from pension problems to World Trade, from juvenile crime to terrorism.

Different nations are being invited to take part in the setting up of this Agenda of areas that demand new thinking. The Agenda meeting is taking place in Malta on November 24th and 25th, 2005.

The November meeting will be chaired by Edward de Bono who will also introduce the new methods of formal creative thinking. The Hon. Dr. Louis Galea, Office of the Prime Minister, will jointly chair the meeting.

The World Centre for New Thinking is fully endorsed by the Government of Malta. The placing of this Centre in Malta is influenced by three factors.

1. Malta is a small and neutral place without its own political intentions.

2. Malta is the oldest civilisation in the world (the stone age temple at Ggantija is the oldest man made structure in the world).

3. Malta is the birthplace of Edward de Bono.