Gulliver and the World Economic Forum
Klaus Schwab is the founder and chief executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), an organization known that defines the economic policies of the world in the upcoming years. What they discuss on their annual meetings at the end of January defines the next year’s They even discussed the name change of Macedonian on the last meeting in Davos (thx Teodora for the information, u rock ;). This morning on the session with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (check them out I am becoming regular on their meetups) Prof Schwab touched upon:
- Globalization 4.0/Forth industrial revolution, a term that he brags about that he coined, and the major impact it will have on warfare. For more information about the 4.0 industrial revolution check this white paper by the WEF on the WEF Forum.
- He stated that we are in the learning process of the blockchain process and how data will become important as oil and who owns the data will have an upper hand in the world economy. Someone needs to look at this issue but not him ;) (his words not mine )
- He touched on the issue of sustainability — he also kinda bragged about how Switzerland and his hometown Geneva is plastic free.
How we need a new approach to global democracy and governance because the multilevel stockholders’ approach doesn’t work anymore the world is oppressed with crisis management and is not addressing issues of global importance — Brexit a perfect example. - How we need to create sustainable future, which for me is the same as on Miss World contest when all the contenders say “ I care about World Peace”
All in all, I was so excited about this event and I m honored to have the opportunity to be part of such an event. I had to pull arm and leg to get in, the tickets were 1000$ and up but at the end of the day, it was kinda disappointing to me to hear who runs the world and where the world is going.
I mean, Professor Schwab and the legacy he is leaving are huge and will have a long impact on our lifetimes but his time is over. He might have all the emails and fast access to presidents and CEOs but he has not followed the change that is happening in the world (there were even questions will the WEF become the new UN? wtf?!). The whole atmosphere sounded as Gullivers travel to the East Indies where the WEF people leave in the clouds in the city of Laputa or in our case the Geneva lakes (the chosen ones 1–5% ) and everybody else down in reality the city of Balnibarbi.
One of the answers to where he sees the world in 10 years was beside the blah Bla blah we will progress with consumption and production, a model that we now realize doesn’t work as we consume more than we can produce or the Earth can sustain.
Furthermore, one of the greatest promises of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the potential that it has to improve the quality of life for the world’s population and raise income levels. and this is actually true but only for those in First World countries who already enjoy some of the benefits of a connected world as well as new products and services developed to take advantage of the technologies. The first world appreciates the efficiencies and conveniences provided such as booking a flight to getting movie recommendations. However what about the countries that have not entered the second industrial revolution, or who are about to enter the third industrial revolution. What about the developing countries which far outnumber by size, population, and number the counter of the first world. What about Africa where the internet penetration (usage of internet is in single digits ) or India where the official numbers are 1, 3 Billion people but only 120 million use internet on daily basis and 600 further have access to the internet(which is there is internet coffee in every city above 600 000 people.
Will the fourth industrial revolution create low-skilled and good paid jobs as well as highly skilled highly paid jobs? — questions like this will make the difference whether there will be a bright future for the world as a whole or only for the chosen ones.
Prof Schwab is ultra positive for the future and YES the fourth industrial revolution can not only broaden that gap between developed and developing countries — leapfrogging effect (jump from stage to stage really fast thanks to the innovations and technological improvement, China is a monumental example of leapfrogging ), but also do the world a really nice place to live in.
Wanna know more check izotovconsulting.co
