Photo by Ana Rold
Davos 2019: Key Takeaways
This year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos was an incredible success. We forged relationships with key stakeholders in education and blockchain, and had great discussions about the whole of education. Learning Economy CEO Chris Purifoy was our main point of contact in Davos. Here’s what we learned:
A successful transition of the global economy will require coordinated effort between all key stakeholders
Greater global issues will only be solved through global collaboration. One of these issues, climate change, can be solved by shifting to a climate-conscious economy and investing in actions that lift up those most impacted by the effects of climate change. Not only is it a moral imperative, argues World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, it’s good business. Other issues, such as youth unemployment in Africa, can be solved by a global perspective shift. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, says that instead of viewing youth unemployment as a problem, view a young population as an opportunity and a resource.
Nations and cities can foster entrepreneurial talent in the era of digital transformation
One great highlight from Davos was the Global Talent Index. This study analyzes global issues in talent, and comes to some great conclusions about the role of entrepreneurial talent in solving global talent inequalities. We also heard from an amazing lineup of speakers at the Female Quotient lounge, dedicated to female empowerment. One of our favorites there was a panel on how to cultivate success through mentorship in the workplace. We also heard about the global cost of inequality. Famed conservationist Jane Gooddall highlights the immense environmental cost of poverty, in that impoverished communities prioritize survival over conservation.
Emerging technology is poised to solve global problems
The ConsenSys Ethereal lounge was the highlight of our experience in Davos. It became our home-base all week long. It featured a great session on the Future of Blockchain with the three Kings of Crypto, from Hyperledger, Ethereum, Ripple. Every session there we learned something profound and new.
The Salesforce lounge, the Global Business Blockchain Counsel, and Rockefeller Foundation SDG lounge also had timely talks about progressive ways to collaborate and use new technologies to solve some of our hardest human challenges.
WorldQuant University had a remarkable series of private panels that discussed progressive ways of making social impact with data science. At those panels, we learned about how WorldQuant is doing some amazing with student equity. We also witnessed MasterCard announce its data science for social impact fund. The Rockefeller Foundation shared some fascinating information about artificial intelligence and data science for collaboration and open innovation.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also highlighted the way AI & blockchain can help catalyze economic growth in the African continent, a place where mobile phone adoption has already spurred massive activity.
