January 23, 2018 (All day) to January 26, 2018 (All day)
Davos-Klosters
Switzerland
The global context has changed dramatically: geostrategic fissures have re-emerged on multiple fronts with wide-ranging political, economic and social consequences. Realpolitik is no longer just a relic of the Cold War. Economic prosperity and social cohesion are not one and the same. The global commons cannot protect or heal itself.
Politically, new and divisive narratives are transforming governance. Economically, policies are being formulated to preserve the benefits of global integration while limiting shared obligations such as sustainable development, inclusive growth and managing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Socially, citizens yearn for responsive leadership; yet, a collective purpose remains elusive despite ever-expanding social networks. All the while, the social contract between states and their citizens continues to erode.
Photo Credits to World Economic Forum / Valeriano Di Domenico
The 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting therefore aims to rededicate leaders from all walks of life to developing a shared narrative to improve the state of the world. The programme, initiatives and projects of the meeting are focused on Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. By coming together at the start of the year, we can shape the future by joining this unparalleled global effort in co-design, co-creation and collaboration. The programme’s depth and breadth make it a true summit of summits.
Co-chairs
Sharan Burrow
General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Former President, Australian Council of Trade Unions. Member of the Board: Australia Institute; Global Reporting Initiative Stakeholder Council; Committee for Melbourne. Expertise: education, industrial relations, social policy.
Fabiola Gianotti
Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Fabiola Gianotti became CERN’s (first female) Director-General on 1 January 2016. She received a PhD in experimental particle physics from the University of Milan in 1989. Since 1994 she has been a research physicist at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. From March 2009 to February 2013 she held the elected position of project leader (”Spokesperson”) of the ATLAS experiment. On 4 July 2012 she presented the ATLAS results on the search for the Higgs boson in an historic seminar at CERN, which marked the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson. Dr Gianotti is the author or co-author of more than 550 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has given more than 40 invited plenary talks at major international conferences in the field. She is a corresponding member of the Italian Academy of Sciences, a foreign associate member of the French Academy of Sciences, of the US National Academy of Sciences and honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy. She received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Uppsala, the EPFL (Lausanne), McGill University (Montreal), Oslo University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Roma Tor Vergata. Dr Gianotti was awarded the honour of "Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell'ordine al merito della Repubblica" by the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. She received the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2013), the Enrico Fermi Prize of the Italian Physical Society (2013), the Medal of Honour of the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen, 2013), and the Wilhelm Exner Medal (Vienna 2017). Between 2014 and 2016 she was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon. She was included among the “Top 100 most inspirational women” by The Guardian newspaper in 2011, was ranked 5th in Time magazine’s Personality of the Year in 2012, was included among the “Top 100 most influential women” by Forbes magazine and was classed among the “Leading Global Thinkers of 2013” by Foreign Policy magazine.
Isabelle Kocher
Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE Group
First Frenchwoman to lead a company in Paris’s CAC 40 stock market index. 2002, joined the Suez Company (then GDF-Suez, now ENGIE) and held various key leadership positions within the Group, latterly as Chief Financial Officer, ENGIE and Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer; currently, Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE Group, a global energy player and an expert operator in electricity, natural gas and energy solutions. ENGIE operates in more than 70 countries, employs about 153,000 people and achieved revenues of €69.9 billion in 2015. Chairperson, Terrawatt Initiative (TWI), a global non-profit organization which aims at scaling up solar capacity in the world. Member of the Board: SUEZ; Axa. Ranked third in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women international list (2016).
Christine Lagarde
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
Christine Lagarde is the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She became the first woman to helm the IMF in 2011, following a career in international law and the French government. In 2005, she was appointed France’s Minister for Foreign Trade, and in 2007 became Minister of Finance. In 2008, she served as chair of the European Commission’s Economic and Finance Affairs Council. After spending the first part of her career at international law firm Baker & Mackenzie, becoming its head in Western Europe, Lagarde became the first female chair of its Global Executive Committee in 1999, and in 2004 was appointed chair of its Global Strategic Committee.
Ginni Rometty
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, IBM Corporation
BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Northwestern Univ. IBM: VP, Worldwide Transformation Consulting Business; Head, Insurance Solutions Development Worldwide; Manager, Global Insurance and Financial Services Sector; SVP and Group Executive, IBM Sales, Marketing, and Strategy; most recently SVP, IBM Global Business Services. Board of Trustees, Northwestern University; Board of Overseers and Board of Managers, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Chetna Sinha
Founder and Chair, Mann Deshi Foundation
Social entrepreneur; microfinance banker; economist; farmer; activist. Since 1986, works with marginalized communities. Founder and President, Mann Deshi Mahila Bank and Mann Deshi Foundation. Yale World Fellow. Since 2006, has partnered with global organizations to develop corporate community partnership programmes that allow the corporate sector in the US and Europe to gain a unique view of the impact that microfinance initiatives have on the local rural population. Recipient, honours and awards, including: Social Entrepreneur of the Year for India, Ministry of Finance of India (2013).
Erna Solberg
Prime Minister of Norway, Office of the Prime Minister of Norway
Since 1989, has held a seat in the Storting (Parliament), except during 2001-05 mandate as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development. Since 2004, leader of the Conservative Party. Oct. 2013, appointed Prime Minister of Norway. Re-elected in 2017. Leads a government formed by the Conservative party and the Progressive Party. Co-Chair, first of the Advocacy Group for the Millennium Development Goals, and from 2016 of the Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group, appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General.
World Economic Forum 2018 to Call for Strengthening Cooperation in a Fractured World
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 will convene under the theme, Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.
Bringing together over 2,500 leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia, media and the arts, the aim of the meeting will be to set an agenda that drives greater multistakeholder collaboration to address political, economic and societal challenges of our times.
Photo Credits to World Economic Forum / Manuel Lopez
The global context today has changed dramatically: geostrategic fractures have re-emerged on multiple fronts with wide-ranging political, economic and social consequences. With over 400 sessions, the programme is an unparalleled effort to engage leaders in a new shared narrative to improve the state of the world.
“Our collective inability to secure inclusive growth and preserve our scarce resources puts multiple global systems at risk simultaneously. Our first response must be to develop new models for cooperation that are not based on narrow interests but on the destiny of humanity as a whole," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.
With the World Economic Forum communities and organizational capacity dedicated to driving positive change through 14 distinct System Initiatives, participants at the meeting will contribute to multiple agendas:
The Global Agenda: Supporting efforts to improve global governance mechanisms and advance major multilateral processes; for example, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals The Geopolitical Agenda: Convening leaders and experts to prepare for and respond to a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape The Economic Agenda: Supporting multistakeholder efforts to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic development in the face of lower growth rates, declining productivity and skills gaps The Regional Agenda: Examining in depth the social and economic transformations occurring in all regions The Industry and Business Agenda: Contributing to the shaping of new industry ecosystems and helping industry and government leaders prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Future Agenda: Sharing the ideas, innovations and discoveries that will have the greatest impact in reshaping global systems
