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World Economic Forum: What Is It?
The World Economic Forum will have its Annual Meeting on January 16 to 20, 2023, in Davos, Switzerland, involving government leaders, businesses, and civil societies from all around the globe. This year, they aim to build “Cooperation in a Fragmented World” between the public and private sectors by discussing the priorities for the year ahead. Here’s what you need to know about the World Economic Forum.
What is the World Economic Forum?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent non-governmental and lobbying organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. On January 24, 1971, a business professor from the University of Geneva Klaus Schwab founded WEF under its former name European Management Forum.
Klaus first founded the European Management Forum with western European firms to introduce them to American management and economic practices through annual meetings. Members included business leaders from all over Europe, and the nonprofit organization was built from there by then.
In 1987, they renamed the group as World Economic Forum, seeking to expand to include international conflicts and concerns and finding ways to resolve them in the subsequent meetings they have yearly. They also included political leaders in their conventions later on. The Forum tackles different political, business, cultural, and other leaders of society to shape the changing global sphere in industries and societies.
What Does the World Economic Forum Do?
Mission
From its website, the World Economic Forum aims to improve the state of the world by engaging leaders and to shape global, regional, and industrial agendas. The group aspires to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance with moral and intellectual integrity. They work independently, are impartial, and not tied to any special interests.
Activities
The Annual Meeting is the flagship event of the World Economic Forum. Only the members of the WEF are invited to attend the discussions, which include its member companies, selected politicians, representatives from academia, NGOs, religious leaders, and the media.
At the annual meeting, the members of the WEF discuss key concerns all over the globe and the solutions for those issues, not limited to:
- Globalization
- Capital markets
- Wealth management
- International conflicts
- Environmental problems
In 2018, more than 3,000 participants were present in the different sessions of the forum that year. Nearly 110 countries participated, in which participants included public figures, heads of state and government, heads of international organizations, media partners and representatives, and cultural leaders from around the globe. Around 500 journalists from online, print, radio and television also took part in the annual meeting.
Initiatives
The World Economic Forum devised its Global Action Plan to mobilize the international community toward driving change in the five action areas identified:
- Increasing education
- Improving security
- Driving positive impact
- Combatting inequity
- Strengthening collaboration
Through these five action points, the organization is actively implementing hundreds of initiatives and projects worldwide. These large-scale initiatives aim to shape technology governance and transform sectors globally, led by various public and private organizations they work with.
What does it mean to be a member of the World Economic Forum?
Membership in the World Economic Forum
Around 390 firms from over 60 countries are currently members of the WEF. Membership is only by invitation after qualifying for selection criteria. These members usually have a track record of leadership and best business practices and are interested in a role as global citizens.
The selected Forum Members are representatives of many outstanding firms from around the globe that are among the world’s top innovators, market shapers, and disruptors, including niche market leaders and regional champions.
The foundation’s funding is from annual fees collected from its hundreds of member companies – typically global enterprises ranking among top companies within their industry and/or country and playing a leading role in shaping the future of their industry and/or region. They may be stratified as an “Individual Member,” “Industry Partner,” or a “Strategic Partner” depending on their participation in meetings, projects, and initiatives.
What Do the Members Get from the Forum?
Forum Members are a key group worldwide engaging in public and private cooperation with education, government, and civil society. As members, they benefit from the following to support their goals of improving the state of the world:
A Multistakeholder Community
The World Economic Forum is a multistakeholder community that enables the members to combine the spirit of entrepreneurship with the need for social responsibility to address global and regional challenges.
Interaction
The global Chairs and Chief Executives of Institutional Member Companies are invited in different meetings and gatherings for opportunities to exchange ideas and contribute to the initiatives of the Forum.
These activities include face-to-face meetings – Annual Meetings of New Champions, Regional Meetings, Annual Workshop with Technology Pioneers – and online platform TopLink to communicate the Forum’s Regional, Industry and Global Challenge initiatives and projects.
Insight and Knowledge Exchange
Forum members have access to expert advice and opinion from different networks with public offices, faith communities, nonprofit organizations, and education sectors. The Global Agenda Councils and virtual sessions offer multiple opportunities for the exchange of insights and perspectives about the most current events globally.
Impact
Through the Forum’s mission of addressing global issues from a multisectoral perspective, Forum Members participate in this goal by actively participating in Regional Meetings, helping foster solutions for Global Challenges, and adding to Industry expertise. They contribute to the impact by engaging in the Forum’s different industry projects and initiatives on education, digital transformation, gender gap, and other initiatives.
What is the Annual Meeting 2023 About?
Global Risk Report
In this year’s Global Risk Report, the Forum described the recent events worldwide as a “polycrisis” – one catastrophe is related to and affecting another. They emphasized that solving these economic and civil crises needs cooperation to solve the different climate and humanitarian concerns of global leaders. Today’s world challenges include:
- Energy Transition
- 4th Industrial Revolution Technology
- Climate Action
- Overcoming mineral resource scarcity
- Cybersecurity
- Fixing global health systems
- Circular economy innovation
- Food security
Objectives of This Year’s Forum
The Annual Meeting 2023 aims to view the various world problems as interconnected factors that affect the global transformation caused by lapses of the industries in society. Through the theme “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” the meeting will address the current issues:
- Energy and Food Crises in the context of a New System for Energy, Climate, and Nature
- High Inflation, Low Growth, High Debt Economy in the context of a New System for Investment, Trade, and Infrastructure
- Industry Headwinds in the context of a New System for Harnessing Frontier Technologies for Private Sector Innovation and Resilience
- Current Social Vulnerabilities in the context of a New System for Work, Skills, and Care
- Geopolitical Risks in the context of a New System for Dialogue and Cooperation in a Multipolar World
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