By Limabenla Jamir
The 46th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos 2016 begins today at Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The summit will bring together 40 heads of state and government, 300 public figures, and over 2500 business leaders, policy makers, social entrepreneurs, Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers, representatives from International Organizations and thought leaders from across the Globe with the goal to strategize and achieve the objective of the World Economic Forum and avoid the dangers of digital age. The World Economic Forum is the world’s foremost multi-stakeholder community with the mission ‘to improve the state of the world.’
The theme for this years’ conference is, ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution’. This fourth Industrial Revolution refers to ongoing transformation of our society by the advances in the abundant digital technologies, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, 3-D Printing, nano-technology, robotics, biotechnology, and other areas of science. Professor Schwab, the Founder of the World Economic Forum, in his recently published book, “The fourth Industrial Revolution” argues, this revolution is disrupting every industry in every country and it’s time for humanity to buckle up and steer it in the right direction. He expresses his concern about how decision-makers are too often caught in traditional, undeviating (non disruptive) thinking or too absorbed by immediate concerns to think strategically about the forces of innovation shaping our future. This years’ meeting will address these challenges and how the advancements, intersections and promises can benefit humankind and positively affect every industry and society.
At the Davos 2016, a noteworthy attendance in the discussions is the presence of Global Shapers. 50 Shapers are at the event representing the voice of the youth and to shape the agenda across national, regional and global issues.There are 5000 shapers worldwide across 450 cities. Shapers are young individuals between the ages of 20- 30 years of age from different walks of life with great potential for future leadership roles in society.The Global Shapers Community created by the World Economic Forum provides an opportunity for young leaders across the world to interact with global, industry and agenda leaders. The WEF has initiated three hubs in North East India, Kohima hub, Imphal hub and Shillong hub to provide young people the opportunity to contribute to the discussions and ensure that all communities have the chance to move issues affecting them forward locallythrough the opportunities provided by the different WEF Forum meetings.
The forum has curated over 300 debate sessions for major big areas of concern: inequality, security and identity. The four days debate will range from focus on the rise of robots, the relentless rise of automation and even more intelligent machines and seek to address Global Security Issues keeping in mind the increased terrorist attacks and refugee crisis and migration. The apparent worry of Chinese economy and the crude oil prices falling below $30 a barrel will be discussed at length and its impact on the economies around the world. Though the success of the Paris Climate deal 2015 is divided, the meeting at Davos 2016 seeks to build upon the existing deal. The attendees face a steadily divided world with significant wealth gaps widening at a pace faster than we could imagine. There is an unexpected increase in a widening trust gap between the population and the political leaders and these are some of the biggest challenges to be addressed at the Annual World Economic Forum 2016 from 20th– 23rd January.
120 sessions will be live-streamed to a global audience and can be participated through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+. Discussions and questions are welcome to the Global Shapers through #ShapingDavos.
(The author is Global Shaper, World Economic Forum)