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The Growing Influence of Social Networks

The World Economic Forum will explore the growing influence of social networks in a workshop at the start of the Annual Meeting 2010 in Davos. The discussion is moderated by Loïc Le Meur, Founder of Seesmic and will include, among others Gina Bianchini, CEO, Ning, George Colony, CEO, Forrester Research, Reid Hoffman, Founder, LinkedIn, Owen Van Natta CEO, MySpace.com and Evan Williams, CEO, Twitter.

Given the topic of the workshop it was natural to open it to input from the different social networks. We want to hear from you:

 

1.   “How are social networks changing society?”

2.   “What are the most important implications and risks for society?”

3.   “What should individuals and institutions do to leverage the power of social networks and improve society?”

 

You can reply on a umber of social networks and platforms.

1)       Leave a comment here on the Forum blog

2)       Become a Fan of the Forum on Facebook

3)       Join the Forum group on LinkedIn

4)       Befriend the Forum on MySpace

5)       Join the Forum network on Ning

6)       Reply to @Davos on Twitter

7)       Record and upload a video on YouTube

 

For all posts and questions please use the special hashtag #DavosSocial.

 

We are looking forward to hearing from you. A selection of the best comments and video contributions will be incorporated in the discussion at the workshop. You can follow the session live on Wednesday 27 January from 09.00 - 11.00 CET on Livestream.

Haiti on the agenda in Davos

The World Economic Forum will use the presence of so many global leaders at the Annual Meeting in Davos to assist Haiti in building a better future out of today’s devastation. The Annual Meeting programme will highlight the work being done to provide relief. However, we believe we can and must do more.

In Davos, a worldwide effort to integrate business into the reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti will be launched by the Forum in collaboration with the Clinton Global Initiative and the United Nations. The initiative will be introduced at a special plenary session with President Bill Clinton, UN Special Envoy for Haiti, and Professor Klaus Schwab.

Beyond today’s crisis, Haiti’s future will depend on economic security, jobs, growth and confidence in the future. Haiti has potential in agriculture, textiles, tourism, infrastructure and other sectors. The Rebuilding Haiti Initiative will leverage the power of the private sector, working in partnership with the public sector and civil society, to help Haiti realize this untapped potential – a direct example of corporate global citizenship.

We will use insights from our Members and Partners to identify actionable ways in which different sectors can assist in Haiti’s reconstruction. We will also engage our communities of Social Entrepreneurs and Young Global Leaders for their ideas on rebuilding Haiti.

The World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative believe that this present crisis challenges us all to work with the people of Haiti to help them build a better future, not just through immediate aid, but also through future economic growth.

Sloane Berrent is MySpace/Wall Street Journal Citizen Reporter 2010

Sloane Berrent, a 30-year-old resident of New Orleans, is the 2010 winner of the second annual “MySpace Citizen Journalist” competition. Berrent, who was chosen from a pool of contestants from the United States and the United Kingdom, will travel to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland as a special correspondent for MySpace, The Wall Street Journal and the World Economic Forum.

Sloane Berrent MySpace Journal Davos Submission

Berrent will join the Davos press corps and use the MySpace platform to report on conference news and interview world leaders about issues relevant to the global MySpace community. She will document her Davos experience via blogging/vlogging on MySpace, and on The Wall Street Journal online.

Berrent, who is the founder of Cause It’s My Birthday and creator of TheCausemopolitan.com, is a former Kiva Fellow and a young philanthropist. Through Cause It’s My Birthday – a fundraiser based on giving back versus giving birthday gifts – Berrent raised more than US$19,000 to purchase malaria nets for distribution in northern Ghana.

Berrent writes about her work in philanthropy and social entrepreneurship through TheCausemopolitan.com. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont and a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

YouTuber puts female genital mutilation on the Davos Agenda

Julia Lalla-Maharajh, founder of End FGM Now has won the Davos Debates 2010 on YouTube. Julia from London will pitch her cause to end female genital mutilation before the 2500 participants attending the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos from 27-31 January 2010. Julia was among the four finalists chosen by the independent jury and her pitch was voted on in a popular vote on YouTube. In her winning video Julia said: "Why send me to Davos? Because I want to ask those innovative and intrepid world leaders to put their hearts and minds and power behind ending FGM. Because it has existed in the margins for too long, it needs to be in the mainstream!" Watch her heart-tearing video appeal below. Julia will be defend her cause on a special panel with Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Managing Director of the Grameen Bank and Nicholas Kristof, Columnist of The New York Times. In the coming days you will be able to put your questions to the panel through the YouTube Davos channel. The panel will be streamed live on Saturday 30 January from 15.30 - 16.45 CET on Livestream and on the YouTube Davos channel.

Forum polls 130.000 people on Facebook about values

The current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values according to over two-thirds of the respondents of a World Economic Forum poll published in Faith and the Global Agenda: Values for the Post-Crisis Economy, a report on issues related to the role of faith in global affairs. Only 50% of the respondents think universal values exist.

The public opinion poll on values was conducted through Facebook and reached over 130,000 respondents in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

The poll results point to a trust deficit regarding values in the business world. Only one-quarter of respondents believe that large, multinational businesses apply a values-driven approach to their sectors, while over 40% believe that small and medium-sized businesses apply such an approach.

 

Almost two-thirds of respondents believe that people do not apply the same values in their professional lives as they do in their private lives. When asked whether businesses should be primarily responsible to their shareholders, their employees, their clients and customers, or all three equally, almost half of the respondents chose the option of “all three equally”.

 

When asked to identify the values most important for the global political and economic system, almost 40% chose honesty, integrity and transparency; 24% chose others’ rights, dignity and views; 20% chose the impact of actions on the well-being of others and 17% chose preserving the environment.

What are the key issues on top of the agenda in Davos?

Klaus Schwab and the co-chairs and partners of the World Economic Forum outline their key issues on top of the agenda of the Annual Meeting 2010 held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 27 - 31 January 2010.

TV documentary about 40 years of the World Economic Forum

The first German television channel ARD will has aired a 30-minute documentary about the 40 years of the World Economic Forum on Sunday 17 January at 13.15.

Reporters Axel Finkenwirth und Eckhart Querner were able to follow Klaus Schwab, the executive chairman of the Forum at numerous events in Davos, Jordan and in China. Entitled “Magnet der Mächtigen” (Magnet of the Powerful) the documentary will be is availble on demand for several weeks in the ARD Mediathek.

 

Update. The documentary will be aired in English, Spanish and Arabic on Deutsche Welle TV on Monday 25 January at 15.30GMT, Tuesday 26 January at 03.30 GMT and Wednesday 27 January at 09.30 GMT.

 

Forum Risk Report Warns About Long Shadow of Financial Crisis

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks 2010 report focuses attention on the legacy of the financial crisis. The basic message is that the interconnected risks might be largely the same as last year - fiscal crises and the threat of protracted unemployment, underinvestment in infrastructure - but that we are now living in a much more vulnerable environment where many countries may not have the funds left to prepare themselves for the complext risks ahead. Transnational crime and corruption, biodiversity loss and cyber-vulnerability have also become more apparent risks. In the above video Sheana Tambourgi, the head of the Forum's Global Risk Network outlines how timely the report is and how its findings will be fed into Davos

MySpace/Journal Competition - Meet the finalists

The MySpace/Wall Street Journal competition has entered its final stage and it is now time to decide who of the five finalistst should be sent to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 in Davos. Check out the videos of Olga, Sloane, Samantha, Deena and Carrie and decide who of them should get the assignement of a lifetime to be MySpace citizen reporter in Davos. Voting ends on 18 January 2010.

The Davos Debates 2010 - Vote for your candidate to go to Davos!

The jury of the Davos Debates 2010 has selected the five finalists. One of the five persons in the playlist below will have the unique chance to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland from 27 - 31 January 2010.

You can decide who will get to go! Go to http://youtube.com/Davos and vote for the candidate of your choice until 15 January 2010 (you can submit one vote per video per day).