WEF Annual Report 2014 15

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Annual Report2014-2015

www.weforum.org


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Contents

© WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, 2015 – All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, includingphotocopying and recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system.

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3 Executive Chairman’s Statement

6 Shaping the Global Agenda

12 Shaping the Regional Agenda

16 Shaping the Industry Agenda

20 Our Annual Meetings

20 Annual Meeting of the NewChampions 2014

20 Summit on the Global Agenda 2014

20 Annual Meeting 2015

21 Community Updates

26 Reports

27 Information Interaction

28 Governance and Leadership

28 Foundation Board

29 Managing Board

30 Executive Committee

32 Global Presence

32 World Economic ForumBeijing Representative Office

33 World Economic Forum Japan

33 World Economic Forum USA

34 Financial Results

The World Economic Forum is a comprehensive and

integrated platform to strategically shape global,

regional, national and industry agendas. The Forum

helps the foremost political, business and other leaders

of society to improve the state of the world, serving as

an independent and impartial partner and acting as the

officially recognized International Institution for Public-Private Cooperation.

Image of Dune, artist Daan Roosegaarde’s interactive landscape of energy-efficient LED,

presented at the Annual Meeting 2015


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3 Annual Report 2014-2015

This year, the World Economic Forum was confirmed as a new kind of internationalorganization, one fit to take on the challenges of a world changing at an unprecedentedpace.

In global governance, we see the post-war balance between nation states and theinstitutional framework that worked to manage it disintegrating. In its place, we see theemergence of new geo-economic competition, new regionalism and new actors.

Meanwhile, technological change is disrupting our economies and changing thenature of our globalized world in ways that are both unpredictable and complex. We

will witness more technological change over the next decade than we have seenin the past 50 years. Advances in all the sciences – from robotics and genetics tocommunications and the social sciences – will leave no aspect of global societyuntouched.

Around the world, a young generation is demanding to be heard. Young peopleincreasingly see decisions being made at the expense of their future.

Each of these factors requires a new kind of institution – one with the adaptability, theentrepreneurialism and the trust of all stakeholders – that can bring together peoplewho have the power to make change, to achieve mutual understanding and empathy,to come to common agreement and, where appropriate, push action forward.

In January 2015, the World Economic Forum was recognized through the signature ofa Headquarter Agreement with the Federal Council of Switzerland as the InternationalInstitution for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum is now deeply anchored in thepublic and private sectors. It is the only global organization serving this role, acting asan official bridge-builder between the public sector, business and civil society. This is inrecognition that the greatest challenges of our time can only be addressed through thecollaborative efforts of all stakeholders of global society.

Deeply conscious of the responsibility that comes with such recognition, we haveworked this year to ensure that our strategy and structure are fit for the role that westrive to fulfil.

Over the past year, I have led a restructuring of the institution which has developed

three centres of expertise, designed to shape the global, regional and industryagendas:

– The Centre for the Global Agenda is focused on nine Global Challenge Initiatives. To help guide the strategic direction and action of each initiative, we establisheda community of Global Agenda Trustees, a core group of the most committed

ExecutiveChairman’sStatement

Klaus SchwabFounder and Executive Chairman


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and recognized public- and private-sector leaders withineach respective Global Challenge area. The work of theseinitiatives will be supported by a secure digital platform –the Global Agenda Platform – to help leaders engage incontinuous, curated interaction and collectively developsolutions to the Global Challenges.

– The Centre for Global Industries enhances value delivery toIndustry Partners through the implementation of the new

concept of Industry Value Networks. They bring togetherIndustry Partners from leading global companies with keypolicy-makers, industry influencers and industry disruptorsto better understand the fundamental forces transformingindustries, generate insights, shape policies and catalyseaction. This effort includes a targeted approach to increasethe participation of the top companies within each industry.

– The Centre for Regional Strategies aligns regional meetings

with the nine Global Challenge Initiatives and the activitiesof the Centre for Global Industries. In addition, the Forumhas established National Strategy Days, bringing togethernational stakeholders (governments, our Partners and

Members, civil society and the best experts and leadersfrom the younger generation) for intense one-day dialogueson national policies within the fast-changing, geopolitical,geo-economic and social landscape.

In addition, the Forum has made significant changes to the wayit integrates its activities across the organization for the benefitof its Members and constituents. These include:

– The integration into one unit of all our knowledge-related activities, including the Global Agenda Councils, Transformation Maps, Global University Leaders Forumand Think Tank communities. This aligns with our strategy

of strengthening integration between content andtechnology to enhance development of content-rich digitalcommunities.

– The new Transformation Maps are designed to capturethe tremendous breadth of knowledge embedded inour network. Transformation Maps will improve strategicdecision-making among our constituents – augmentedby technologies such as machine learning and artificialintelligence. This undertaking represents the first effort tocapture knowledge in an interconnected way to analysetrends and patterns across industries, regions and globalissues.

– The development of a Government Engagement unitwithin the Centre for Regional Strategies will ensure thesystematic and sustained engagement of all relevantgovernment actors in Forum activities. Our new status asthe International Institution for Public-Private Cooperationplaces greater emphasis on working with governments andinternational organizations in a more strategic manner.

– We are establishing a second pillar of membership to serveglobalizers, game-changers and the next generation offamily businesses to meet their specific needs. This reflectsthe dynamics of the changing business context.

– A formal workstream on International Security will advancemultistakeholder dialogue and action to enable businesses,governments, international organizations and civil societyto better understand, plan for and collectively address newchallenges in international security.

– To enhance our impact on human and digital interaction andstrengthen the integration between content and technology,we are establishing a centre of “interaction” excellence,inspired by the latest developments in social sciences. The objective is to move towards a more integrated “flow”process for all our activities.

Even though we are a membership-oriented organization, it isessential for us to integrate a wider public audience into all that

we are doing. This year, we saw a nearly exponential increase inour presence in print and particularly in digital and social media. To share the ideas and insights emerging from the Forum’scommunities, we created Agenda. Based on visitor numbers, Agenda has already become one of the top global media sitesfor serious commentary and analysis of global affairs.

Other important outcomes this year include the inauguralannual Meeting of Chief Strategy Officers from our IndustryPartner companies to shape the development of the Forum’sindustry Transformation Maps and to advise on what dialoguesare necessary to allow each industry to reach its full potential.

We are extremely proud of our “generational” and sociallyoriented communities, designed to integrate the voice ofthe young (Young Global Leaders, Global Shapers, SocialEntrepreneurs), and have supported their active engagementin over 300 initiatives in 450 locations – optimally combiningglobal and local.

As the International Institution for Public-Private Cooperation,the World Economic Forum best serves the world not in a one-dimensional way – through the one-off delivery of conferences,research activities, community engagement, reports and such. A complex, fast-moving environment calls for an integratedapproach. Presently, only the Forum can provide this. We are

aware that this approach requires great aptitude to managecomplexity on our part, and needs, in addition, strongconceptual capabilities.

I am proud to say that with our Managing Board, executiveteam and staff, we have excellent human resources to meetthis challenge. What is even more important is that the Forumconsists not only of the 600 collaborators working in ourGeneva, New York, Beijing and Tokyo offices, but of the entireForum constituency. Whatever we do, we can rely on our fiveconstituent communities – governments and internationalorganizations, Partners and Members, leaders from civilsociety, the world’s key experts and the best young voices – to

work together to deliver on our commitment to improve thestate of the world.


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Shaping theGlobal Agenda

The centre reflects a strategic decision to align the Forum’s work toaddress several of the world’s most pressing global issues through theacceleration of progress on new or expanded public-private cooperation.

Some examples of the centre’s impact through its Global ChallengeInitiatives include:

– On food security: The engagement of over 1,000 agricultural sectorleaders across 450 organizations, companies and governments totranslate global commitments to food security into action through

public-private platforms such as Grow Africa and Grow Asia; over$10 billion of investment commitments have been mobilized in Africa

– On the future of the internet: Launch of a multi-year initiative topromote partnerships for governance, cyber-crime and expandinginternet access, among other issues; the initiative engages 50 leadingpublic sector, academic, business and civil society figures as trusteesfor this unique public-private global collaboration

– On infrastructure, long-term investing and sustainable development:Creation of the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership tomobilize $100 billion in private finance for development, launched atthe recent United Nations Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa in partnership with the OECD and a coalition of public

and private actors

– On economic growth and social inclusion: Launch of the newInclusive Growth and Development Report, which assesses thedrivers of economic prosperity and the extent to which countriesare exploiting the available policy space to foster higher levels ofproductivity and social inclusion

– On natural resource security and climate change: Mobilization ofthe Tropical Forest Alliance, a $10 million global partnership hostedby the Forum to help companies, governments and civil societyorganizations achieve zero net deforestation by 2020 in the supplychains of beef, palm oil, paper and pulp, and soy – currently drivers ofhalf of the world’s tropical deforestation

– On international trade and investment: Engagement of 350 ofthe world’s leading trade experts from across public, private andacademic institutions in the biggest-ever strategic brainstorm todevelop practical proposals that can unlock the world economy’s fullpotential for trade and investment

More information on the full set of current Global Challenge Initiatives isprovided below.

Each Global Challenge engages the Forum’s Partners, Members andnon-business constituents in an action-oriented agenda of projects andactivities. At least one activity per Global Challenge is undertaken inpartnership with international organizations. This creates an influentialnetwork for each Global Challenge – a core public-private “community ofpurpose”.

To support each core community, the Forum is developing a digitalcollaboration space – the Global Agenda Platform.

Strategic direction and influence in each Global Challenge will beprovided by an invited, informal leadership group – the most committedand recognized public- and private-sector leaders in the field of eachGlobal Challenge: Global Agenda Trustees. The inaugural Global Agenda Trustee meeting was held at the Annual Meeting 2015 in Davos-Klosters,Switzerland.

The Forum will act as a curator, catalyst, host and manager – whererequired – for each Global Challenge Initiative. An annual report will set

out progress on each Global Challenge Initiative and provide context andcommentary about the emerging role of public-private cooperation inadvancing global challenges.

As of June 2015, the Forum’s portfolio of nine Global Challenges

includes:

The Centre for the Global Agenda addresses key challenges on the global agenda


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Agriculture and FoodSecurity

1 2 Economic Growth andSocial Inclusion

The world needs greater equality to strengthen growth.How?

After one of the worst financial and economic crises in history,business leaders and policy-makers are aware of the need toreform business approaches and economic growth models. Atboth country and company level, the sustained ability to growhas become a clear necessity yet is ever harder to achieve.In addition, future political, economic and social stability havebeen placed at risk by widening income and wealth inequality.

How can business leaders and policy-makers embrace long-term competitiveness while strengthening the contribution ofgrowth to broad-based progress in living standards? Muchdiscussion has been devoted to diagnosing the problem, butlittle progress has been made in identifying concrete solutions.

The initiative presents analyses and insights on economicgrowth and social inclusion to inform decision-makers and

the public. The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economiesand the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. The reportseries is the most comprehensive assessment of nationalcompetitiveness worldwide and is published in September ofeach year.

Activities:

– World-class Analysis and Benchmarking Tools– Best Practices Compendium– Strategic Dialogues on Economic Growth and Social

Inclusion

Further details on each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at: http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ economic-growth-and-social-inclusion

The world must feed 9 bill ion people by 2050. How?

By 2050, a global population of 9 billion will demand 70%more food than is consumed today. Feeding this expandedpopulation nutritiously and sustainably will require substantialimprovements to the global food system. Major challengesmust be addressed, including volatility of commodity

production and prices; high levels of poverty and hungeramong rural and farming communities; and intensifying waterscarcity and climate change.

In this context, the private sector is striving to develop newmarkets and sustainable supply chains; respond to evolvingconsumer demands; manage risks and emerging challenges;and adapt to a resource-constrained world. This requires astrategic, long-term focus coupled with new ways of workingwith other stakeholders along the value chain.

Through the Global Challenge on Agriculture and FoodSecurity, the Forum helps world leaders align on shared goals,develop new partnerships and share innovations to solvechallenges. The Forum engages over 1,000 agriculture-sectorleaders in 450 organizations to translate global commitmentto action on the ground. The New Vision for Agriculture(NVA) initiative facilitates coordinated, market-based actionon food security, environmental sustainability and economicopportunity. In the past five years, the NVA has catalysedmultistakeholder partnerships in 18 countries that are drivingaction on 90 value chain initiatives.

Activities:

– New Vision for Agriculture– Grow Africa– Grow Asia– NVA India– NVA Transformation Leaders Network

Further details on each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ agriculture-and-food-security


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Environment andResource Security

4

The world needs to achieve inclusive economic growthwhile combating climate change and other natural resource challenges. How?

Forum-promoted partnerships for climate action includescaling up renewables and sustainable biofuels, and sector

initiatives in the oil and gas and auto industries. A CEOleadership group has been formed, with over 40 global CEOsannouncing their intention for action on climate change in theFinancial Times ahead of the World Bank spring meetings.

Following the success of the 2030 Water Resources Group– a global public-private initiative on water security that theForum incubated, now housed within the World Bank Group– the Forum’s water project has seen major developmentsthis year. This includes the launch of a partnership with theGovernment of South Africa (the G77 Chair for 2015) to buildan “Urban Water Alliance” – a platform for global public-privatecooperation to help address wastewater, pollution and watertreatment in key developing country cities, linked to delivery ofthe new Sustainable Development Goal for water.

Activities:

– Climate Change: Delivering Climate Solutions– Tropical Forest Alliance 2020– The Circular Economy initiative “Project Mainstream”– The Global Water Initiative

Further details on each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at: http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ environment-resource-security

Employment, Skills andHuman Capital

3

The world needs 470 million new jobs by 2030. How?

High levels of global unemployment coupled with the rapidlychanging nature of work present a growing labour marketcrisis, threatening livelihoods and exacerbating inequality andsocial tensions. In 2013, according to the International LabourOrganization (ILO), 213 million people were unemployedglobally. If current trends continue, global unemployment isset to rise further, affecting more than 215 million jobseekersby 2018.

At the same time, employers report difficulties in finding talentand many positions remain vacant, indicative of the growingmismatch between available and needed skills. Technology inparticular is disrupting fundamentally the nature of work itself,rendering obsolete entire sectors or major occupations withinotherwise thriving industries, while creating completely newand unexpected job categories.

The key to economic growth in any country or institution liesin the talent, know-how, skills and capabilities of its people –its human capital. Investing in human capital and innovatingfor education and employment is therefore critical to both thepublic and private interest. The Global Challenge Initiative onEmployment, Skills and Human Capital helps decision-makersbetter understand and proactively reshape the jobs, educationand skills landscape.

Activities:

– Human Capital Report– The Future of Jobs

– The Disrupting Unemployment Platform– Regional Collaborations for Jobs and Skills– Industry Collaborations for Jobs and Skills

Further details on each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ employment-skills-human-capital


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Future of the GlobalFinancial System

5

The global financial system needs to contribute to sustained economic growth and social development.How?

This Global Challenge Initiative aims to reinforce the financialsystem’s contribution to sustained economic growth and

social development through a deeper process of public-private cooperation.

In 2015, the initiative made good progress on issues such as:– The potential benefits and risks for financial stability

associated with the use of macroprudential regulatorypolicies

– The impact of technology-enabled innovation on thefinancial system

– The barriers to accessing financial solutions for 2 billionunserved or under-served globally

In the wake of the financial crisis and the great recession,

the regulatory debate has focused on reforms to enhancefinancial stability. A statement in support of macroprudentialpolicies published in May articulated the value of thesepolicies as a means of reducing the risk of another financialcrisis. The statement was endorsed by CEOs and chairs fromleading financial services firms, as well as representatives fromacademia and civil society.

The Future of Financial Services report was launched in June2015. It assesses how disruptive innovations are reshapingthe way financial services are structured, provisioned andused, and outlines the most relevant financial servicesinnovations to customers and business, the evolutionary path

of these innovations, and their potential effect on traditionalfinancial services providers.

Activities:

– Financial Stability, Innovation and Economic Growth– Promoting Global Financial Inclusion– Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services

Further details of each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at: http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ future-global-financial-system

Future of the Internet6

The internet has the potential to benefit all humankind, but this needs better global collaboration. How?

The internet has been a principal contributor to evolutionand growth in the global economy over the past decade.It continues to have the potential to propel societies, help

business leaders to develop innovative business modelsand help governments to address legitimate policy concernsrelated to a networked future as long as the essential integrityof the digital ecosystem remains intact. To address the mostpertinent policy and governance questions (i.e. cybercrime,data residency, privacy and big data, commercial liabilityand legal jurisdiction, access and adoption by marginalizedpopulations), the right balance needs to be struck, whichrequires establishing a certain level of mutual understandingand trust among stakeholders through open dialogue.

Activities:

– Governance on the Internet– Cyber-Crime– Internet for All– Improving Information for Decision-Makers– Digital Transformation of Business Models

Further details on each of the above can be found on theForum’s website at: http://www.weforum.org/projects/group/ future-internet


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9 Long-Term Investing,Infrastructure andDevelopment

The world needs to close its $1 trillion annual infrastructure investment gap. How?

Short political cycles, short-term investment horizons, a lackof viable financing structures, inappropriate risk assessmentframeworks and a lack of long-term vision mean that much-

needed investment does not flow to infrastructure anddevelopment – causing a $1 trillion annual shortfall towards a$4 trillion demand in infrastructure alone.

The initiative aims to address these issues through a mixof public-private dialogues, fundamental research andknowledge transfer. Roundtables were held in Poland andIndia, and at Forum regional meetings. A comprehensiverisk mitigation framework was introduced, allowing foractionable steps to close the risk perception gap betweenproject initiators and investors. The initiative on Africaninfrastructure acceleration completed its final phase and localimplementation was handed over to NEPAD at the WorldEconomic Forum in Africa in June.

In partnership with the OECD and a coalition of public andprivate actors, a Sustainable Development InvestmentPartnership (SDIP) to mobilize $100 billion in private financingwas launched at the July 2015 United Nations Conference onFinancing for Development in Addis Ababa.

The Impact Investing initiative launched several practicalguides on how organizations can get involved with thepractice. Particular focus was given to family offices, likelyto be a strong catalyst in these developments in the comingyears. To help family offices, a number of private workshopswere held and an education module designed. Work in all

areas was strongly supported by the Global Agenda Councilson Infrastructure, Sustainable Development and the Future ofInvesting.

Activities:

– Regional/Country Infrastructure Acceleration– Redesigning Development Finance– Mainstreaming Sustainable and Impact Investing– Global Agenda Councils on Infrastructure, Sustainable

Development and the Future of Investing

Further details on each of the above can be found on the

Forum’s website at: http://www.weforum.org/projects/ group/long-term-investing-infrastructure-and-economic-development


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Shaping theRegional

Agenda

The Centre for Regional Strategies has the dual role ofengaging the public sector with the Forum platform andbringing the Forum’s platform to the regions. This is achievedthrough communities such as the Regional Business Councilsand Global Agenda Councils, which shape the regionalagenda through strategic dialogues; regional projects, whichbuild multistakeholder partnerships to tackle some of the mostchallenging issues that regions face; and meetings, whichoffer the platform for public-private collaboration on pressing

issues and for interaction between business leaders andpublic figures.

This year, the Centre for Regional Strategies deliveredregional meetings across five continents, engaging some10,000 Partners, Members and constituents from business,government and civil society in ongoing dialogue and actionrelated to regional challenges in the global and industrycontext. This year again, the Forum’s regional activitiesunderscored our role as a trusted and acknowledged partnerof government leaders and the major intergovernmentalplatforms and dialogues.

This year, the Centre for Regional Strategies restructured itsoperations to deliver regional meetings aligned with the nineGlobal Challenge Initiatives and the activities of the Centrefor Global Industries. The Centre also established NationalStrategy Days, bringing together the Forum’s nationalstakeholders (governments, our Partners and Members,civil society, and the best experts and leaders from theyounger generation) for in-depth, one-day dialogues onnational policies within the fast-changing, geopolitical, geo-economic and social landscape. The Centre also establishedCountry Briefings to develop strong initial engagement withnewly elected governments and to facilitate public-privatediscussions.

Examples of the Centre’s impact include the commitment ofthe Regional Business Council for the Middle East and North

Africa to skilling 100,000 young people by 2017 throughthe New Vision for Arab Employment Initiative. With the fullendorsement of all 10 ASEAN ministers of agriculture andthe ASEAN Secretariat, the Centre launched the Grow Asiainitiative at the 2015 World Economic Forum on East Asia inJakarta to improve the livelihoods of 20 million smallholderfarmers by 2020 and increase their productivity, profitabilityand environmental sustainability by 20%.

At a time when the Middle East is in turmoil with crises inIraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen and the threat of ISIS, the 2015World Economic Forum on Middle East and North Africa inJordan featured a special programme on addressing violentextremism. Through extensive discussions, the participantscommitted to advance multistakeholder momentum, includingbusiness and civil society, to counter violent extremism.

These discussions will be on the agenda of the UN General Assembly in New York in the autumn.

The Centre also welcomed the Cuban government forthe first time at the 2015 World Economic Forum on Latin

America in Mexico and facilitated an interaction betweenseveral businesses and Cuban officials. Additionally, theForum pledged to help the Cuban government in its processof updating its economic model and attracting foreigninvestment.

The Centre for Regional Strategies shapes regional and national strategies in the globalcontext


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Africa

The Forum is actively engaged in Africa with governments of20 countries, more than 60 companies from the continent,over 100 Young Global Leaders and 80 Global Shaper Hubs.

The 2015 World Economic Forum on Africa, held on 3-5June in Cape Town, South Africa, marked the 25th year ofForum commitment to Africa. Under the theme Then and

Now, Reimagining Africa’s Future, the meeting welcomed over1,000 participants from almost 80 countries and 53 meetingsupporters. This was a meeting that took “talk to action” onmany fronts.

The Forum’s Strategic Infrastructure initiative identified 23infrastructure implementation projects, which require thepublic and the private sectors working together to answer thecontinent’s needs.

The Grow Africa Partnership, founded at our Africa meetingfour years ago, is now benefiting 8 million smallholder farmersand creating 58,000 jobs. Over 200 companies within the

Grow Africa Partnership have together committed $10 billionin investment to agriculture in 12 African countries. On health,our discussions advanced solutions to leapfrog healthcaresystems and make sure that systems are more resilient tofuture pandemics.

Asia Pacific

The 24th World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta,Indonesia, was the first event of the Forum under its newlyaccorded status as an International Institution for Public-Private Cooperation. President Joko Widodo of Indonesiainaugurated the meeting exactly six months to the day afterhe and his new cabinet of ministers took office. It was thefirst major international gathering in Indonesia of PresidentWidodo’s administration. Under the theme Anchoring Trust inEast Asia’s New Regionalism, the meeting brought togethermore than 700 participants from over 40 countries.

Additionally, the Grow Asia Partnership was formallylaunched to strengthen sustainable and inclusive agriculturaldevelopment and food security in the ASEAN region.

The partnership, catalysed by the World Economic Forum incollaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat and involving over

100 organizations, aims to reach 10 million farmers by 2020,increasing their productivity, profitability and environmentalsustainability by 20%. Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and thePhilippines have launched national initiatives as part of Grow

Asia, mobilizing 28 value-chain projects and reaching over100,000 farmers to date. Grow Asia will support expansion ofthese efforts and engage additional countries in the region.

China

One of the year’s highlights was the participation of ChinesePremier Li Keqiang in the Annual Meeting 2015 in Davos-Klosters and the outlook on the impact of China’s economic

development on the world.In March 2015, the Forum Beijing Representative Officehosted its annual business roundtable for some 100 businessleaders from Chinese Global Growth Companies, foreignForum Partner companies in China, Young Global Leaders

and academic experts. Discussions focused on the challengesand opportunities of Chinese companies going global, inparticular in relation to their capacity to innovate and competeglobally. Research highlighted in the Forum’s third report onEmerging Best Practices of Chinese Globalizers: Develop theInnovation Model served as the basis for discussions.In September 2015, we will again convene over 1,500 globalparticipants in Dalian for our ninth Annual Meeting of the NewChampions, focusing on science, technology and innovation.

China-specific issues such as infrastructure investment andthe one belt, one road strategy, e-commerce, and upgradingof manufacturing value chains, will also be integrated into thehighly diverse programme.

Eurasia

The Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin inSeptember 2014 marked the culmination of an initiativespanning 18 months: Scenarios for the South Caucasusand Central Asia involved over 500 individuals exploring neweconomic development pathways for the region in a changingglobal landscape. Launched in Tianjin, a report on this workhighlighted the potential of the region to establish a freshidentity as a centre of economic activity in the 21st-centuryeconomy. With the international community closely following the crisisin Ukraine, the Forum hosted the Geneva-Ukraine Initiative on14 September 2014, bringing together select global businessleaders with equal representation from Ukraine, the RussianFederation, Europe and the United States. In a spirit ofdialogue and search for common ground, participants agreedto 10 points to help resolve the conflict and made a firmcommitment to public-private cooperation to help de-escalate

tensions in the region.

A second round of discussions took place at the AnnualMeeting 2015 in Davos-Klosters, where an expanded group ofbusiness leaders advanced the conversation beyond sharedprinciples towards establishing an actionable agenda forbusiness to promote peace and security.

The Annual Meeting 2015 also saw the launch of the Global Agenda Council on Russia’s latest project, Unknown Russia:Powered by Entrepreneurs. The Council explored successfulRussian companies and their strategy to become globallycompetitive in difficult economic circumstances. Meeting

in Davos, business leaders discussed a way forward forthe Russian economy in the context of low oil prices andfluctuating macroeconomic conditions. Building on these initiatives, the Forum contributed todiscussions and demonstrated its thought leadership atthe Open Innovations Forum in Moscow, Kyiv Post TigerConference, Astana Economic Forum, and the St PetersburgInternational Economic Forum.

Europe

Over 600 leaders, including 60 ministers and other public

figures from Europe, MENA and Eurasia convened in Istanbulfor the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on UnlockingResources for Regional Development (28-29 September2014). Participants discussed many issues – from shiftingenergy dynamics in the region, to the threat posed by


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geopolitical and humanitarian crises, to the role of internationalcooperation, to the opportunities offered by young, innovativeentrepreneurs.

The Annual Meeting 2015 saw high-level participation ofmembers of the new European Commission discussingflagship initiatives such as the Capital Markets Union, theDigital Agenda for Europe, the European Energy Union,and closer security cooperation in Europe. Political leaders,

business leaders and experts – as well as members of the Turkish G20 and B20 leadership – gathered in Davos tofocus on three issues: Inclusiveness, Implementation andInvestment for Growth. The Forum has actively supported the

Turkish Presidency of the G20 and B20 through substantivecontributions to the Task Forces on Anti-Corruption andInfrastructure Financing, SME and Entrepreneurship andEmployment.

The year 2014-2015 saw the importance of innovationas a driver of growth. The final report of the project onCollaborative Innovation Transforming Business, DrivingGrowth highlights the strategies and challenges thatentrepreneurs and large firms face when they seek to worktogether.

Members of the Global Agenda Council on Europe arebound by a shared purpose to catalyse ideas that will leadto change in the region. This year the Council focusedefforts on advancing the Transatlantic Trade and InvestmentPartnership, influencing the EU innovation and digital agenda,and discussing proposals towards a diplomatic solution to theUkraine crisis and the future of European integration.

India and South Asia

The India and South Asia community is the Forum’s second-largest membership base with 115 Indian companies, a strongGlobal Shapers community of 329 young people spreadacross 30 Hubs and the third-largest group of Forum YoungGlobal Leaders, at 71.

The Indian Regional Business Council met at the AnnualMeeting 2015 to shape the programme for the India RegionalPartnership. The India Economic Summit held in New Delhi

in November 2014 was an important milestone in deepeningengagement with the government and furthering our projectsand initiatives towards greater impact in the country.

The community has been working on a range of initiatives,including the New Vision for Agriculture, Skilling India,

The Future of Urban Development Initiative, The Future ofElectricity and Financial Inclusion.

The Global Agenda Council on India works to develop a newframework of public-private cooperation in India to bridgethe skills-opportunity mismatch for greater employment andsocial equity, to promote entrepreneurship in select sectorsto improve India’s competitiveness and to promote broaderdialogue between India’s policy-makers, business and civilsociety.

Japan

The Japanese community, both public and private sectors,continued to engage actively in Forum activities throughoutthe year under review.

Supported by the bipartisan Davos National Diet MembersCaucus, this year’s Japan Meeting was held on JapaneseNational Diet (Parliament) premises. Japanese communitymembers and key cabinet members participated in interactivediscussions facilitated by the Forum, both in person and in ahigh-tech virtual format.

Several projects were launched, including the Japan Vision for Tomorrow project, a gender parity task force and a regionaldialogue series. The Global Agenda Council on Japan andthe Regional Business Council also led private gatherings atForum events this year.

Latin AmericaLatin America continues to offer multiple opportunities forour institution to strengthen public and private cooperation.

This year, the Forum made valuable contributions in responseto the productivity challenges in the region, opening newspaces for dialogue and collective action in areas such asinfrastructure finance, financial inclusion and institutionalstrengthening. Through the Competitiveness Lab initiative,


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the Forum proposed a series of recommendations for policy-makers to close the skills and innovation capability gaps inLatin America.

Participants called for increased collaboration on the deepstructural reforms needed to preserve economic and socialgains and to ensure sustained growth amid challengingexternal conditions. Cuban officials participated for the firsttime in a successful World Economic Forum on Latin America

(Riviera Maya, Mexico, 6-8 May 2015) and the meeting alsowitnessed the consolidation of the Regional Business Council,the definition of the regional transformation map, and a strongpresence of Latin American youth. This year’s meeting, underthe theme Advancing through a Renovation Agenda, broughttogether over 800 leaders and 45 nationalities from industry,government, academia and civil society.

Middle East and North Africa

The Forum’s MENA community includes 125 companies,over 70 Young Global Leaders, 39 Global Shaper Hubs, andengagement with the governments and administrations of21 countries. In the context of major shifts and transitions inthe region, the Forum’s efforts focused this year on enablingpublic-private cooperation on critical socio-economic issuesthrough the New Vision for Arab Employment and the GlobalStrategic Infrastructure Initiatives. Both were featured at the2015 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North

Africa in Jordan (21-23 May), which also provided a timelyplatform for dialogue on key geopolitical issues, includingSyria, the role of Iran, addressing violent extremism and thefuture of Israeli-Palestinian relations. Under the theme Creatinga Regional Framework for Prosperity and Peace throughPublic-Private Cooperation, the meeting brought together

more than 1,000 leaders from 58 countries.

North America

We welcomed dozens of North American public figures to ourglobal and regional meetings this year, including congressionalleadership, governors, premiers, four US cabinet secretariesand five Canadian ministers to the Annual Meeting 2015 inDavos-Klosters. To align with the focus areas of the Global

Challenge Initiatives, the Forum also hosted numerousmeetings and roundtables in North America on issues rangingfrom infrastructure to energy to climate change, amongothers. The Global Agenda Council on the United Statescontinues to explore the shifting role of the United States inthe world.

In 2014-2015, Global Shaper activity in the United Statesgrew from 37 to 59 Hubs and from 495 to 743 Shapers.

On a regional scale, Shapers launched the After FergusonInitiative, a multi-year effort to identify what North AmericanShapers can deliver to improve race relations, beginning withworkshops on Improving Leadership through Understanding.


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Shapingthe Industry

Agenda

Fundamental transformations are reshaping industriesat an unprecedented pace, making collaboration acrossstakeholder groups more important than ever. The Centrefor Global Industries focuses on bringing together the mostinfluential global companies, key policy-makers, industryinfluencers and industry disruptors in Industry Value Networks,to systematically shape industry priorities and agendas. Itis our mission to be the trusted partner for shaping industrytransformation.

This year, over 470 companies were involved with the Forumas Industry Partners across all industry sectors. Together,these Partners identify, discuss and address each sector’scritical issues through industry-specific initiatives, task forcesand targeted sessions.

Industry Partners engaged in over 25 initiatives during the2014-2015 fiscal year; many of these initiatives were tightlylinked to the Global Challenge Initiatives and regional agendas.

Looking ahead, it is clear that intense industry transformationwill continue to accelerate, largely driving by digitization andinnovation. We recognize that such times of rapid changegive leaders a unique opportunity to influence the future oftheir industries and rethink entire value chains beyond currentindustry boundaries. To support this, our annual IndustryStrategy Meeting brings together senior strategists fromour Partner companies to share perspectives on industrytrends and help focus our efforts on the most importanttransformation drivers. The Centre for Global Industrieswill further strengthen our efforts to offer the most relevantplatform for convening public- and private-sector leaders toshape industry agendas and policies in ways that are good forboth business and society.

Basics & Infrastructure

Infrastructure & Urban Development

The Infrastructure & Urban Development communitycontinues to drive a number of significant initiatives. TheFuture of Construction Initiative addresses issues, risks andopportunities in a new environment where lean manufacturing,automation, robotics, prefabrication, modularization andmass-customization have the potential to drastically reducethe life-cycle cost of assets, and will contribute to upliftingeconomies and social well-being. The Future of UrbanDevelopment & Services Initiative serves as a trusted partner

in the transformation of cities around the world as theyaddress major urban challenges. The Building Foundations for

Transparency Initiative aims to tackle specific corruption risksin the infrastructure, engineering, construction and real-estatesectors.

Mining & Metals

For much of the sector, the last year has continued to bechallenging. Regional economic weaknesses and instability,significant price declines, slowing of growth in China and otheremerging markets, and Ebola in West Africa have resulted

The Centre for Global Industries is a trusted partner for shaping industry transformation


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in the prioritization of efficiency and capital constraint. At thesame time, expectations of governments, communities andother stakeholders continue to grow. These realities are wellreflected in the community’s continued Responsible MineralDevelopment Initiative. In addition, the Mining & Metalscommunity contributed significantly to work on public-privatecooperation in response to epidemics in West Africa. Activitiesalso focused on the role of mining and metals in realizing thepost-2015 Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

Chemistry & Advanced Materials

This sector is seeing disruption by activist investors and inover-capacity. The oil price decrease has put pressure on thebiotech area, especially for fuels and bio-based materials. TheChemistry & Advanced Materials community’s BiotechnologyEcosphere platforms in China, North America and Brazilcontinue to successfully generate key insights and policyrecommendations.

Consumer

Over the past year, food security and environmentalsustainability have steered the Consumer Industrycommunity’s agenda. The Grow Asia regional partnershipwas launched to support active partnerships with more than100,000 farmers in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar, andthe Grow Africa platform implemented $1.8 billion of the $10billion in commitments towards the sustainable agricultureagenda. Regarding environmental sustainability, the EffiePositive Change Award was launched in collaboration withEffie Worldwide Inc. to reward marketers for effectivelyengaging consumers through sustainability-focused marketingprogrammes. A new digital media platform, Collectively (www.collectively.org), was created to inspire and empower young

people to make more sustainable living the “new normal”.Looking ahead, the community is exploring the future ofconsumer industries and how technology and digitization areenabling industry transformation.

Energy

Electricity

After decades of stability, the electricity sector has entereda period of ground-breaking transition with rapid growthin distributed energy from renewable sources, significantregulatory change and the emergence of new businessmodels and actors along the electricity value chain. Digital

technologies are making their way into the electricity sector,providing new opportunities for system optimization andefficiency. In this context, the Future of Electricity initiative,started in 2014, continues to provide the platform for leadingactors to shape the electricity value chain transformation andenable needed investments in coming years.

Oil & Gas

The oil and gas value chain is changing. Frontiers ofexploration and production have boosted the scale, risk andcomplexity of projects. The demand for oil and gas as well asthe drive towards sustainability impacts the industry. In 2014,the Future of Oil & Gas Initiative developed recommendationsfor tackling the cost-related challenges of large-scalecapital projects and is now assessing opportunities forimplementation. The community is also working on strategies

to tackle human capital and gender gaps in the industry,and on defining benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gasemissions

In addition, the fourth Energy Architecture Performance indexbenchmarked 125 countries on how well their energy systemdelivers economic growth, environmental sustainability, energysecurity and access.

Financial Services

The Financial Services community focuses on key industry

challenges such as systemic stability, financial inclusion anddisruptive innovation. Over the past year, meaningful strideswere made towards analysing and addressing a number ofissues, including the impact of technology-enabled innovationon the financial system, and the value of macroprudentialpolicies as a means of reducing systemic risk. Moreover,through the Financial Inclusion Initiative, a partnershipwas established between the World Economic Forum, theGovernment of India and USAID to expand financial servicesaccess to the traditionally underserved population. Theindustry community also addressed challenges related tocatalysing private capital investment for strategic infrastructureprojects, SME financing and retirement security. Risk

mitigation practices related to catastrophic events, self-drivingvehicles and cyber-risk were additional areas explored. Thecommunity will continue to focus on the stability and efficiencyof the global financial system and the disruptive forcestransforming the ways in which finance can facilitate variouseconomic activities and growth.


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Global Health & Healthcare

Across the globe, health delivery systems are radicallytransforming as capital-intensive, hospital-centric systemsprove both unsustainable and ineffective. It is increasinglyrecognized that, with the advent of genomics-enabledprecision medicine and the consumerization of healthcare, nosingle company, international institution, NGO or government

can provide the entire range of services required to delivervastly improved health outcomes. Therefore, our vision forthe future of health and healthcare resides in cross-industry,cross-sectorial collaborations, rooted in high-touch, data-enabled delivery systems that are integrated across thecontinuum of care – from prevention to diagnosis, caredelivery and recovery.

The Global Health & Healthcare community agenda isspearheaded by two initiatives to help shape the global healthagenda. The Future of Healthy Initiative aims to positionhealthy populations as a driver for socio-economic growth.It is focused on identifying key opportunities for investments

in healthy populations. The Health Systems LeapfroggingInitiative develops public-private partnerships supportinghealthcare innovation in emerging economies. This approachis currently being implemented in multiple African countries.

Investors

The investors industries continue to be affected by the currentmacro-economic environment, coupled with low interestrates and increasing demands for social protection systemsin many developed economies. Driven by those trends,institutional investors look for appropriate destinations to

deploy their funds with an appropriately long-term horizon.With this in mind, we have continued to analyse the futureevolution of alternative investments, explored engagementmodels between institutional investors and fund managers,and worked with relevant stakeholders on improving modelsfor infrastructure financing. The Investors community has alsocontinued long-term work on mainstreaming impact investing,with a particular focus on creating “how to” manuals forinstitutional investors and families that want to deploy capitalin this space. In collaboration with the Financial Servicesindustries, we continue to explore solutions to accelerate thedevelopment of local capital markets in emerging economies,helping to fund the sustainable growth of local business,

social protection systems and infrastructure.

Information & Communication

Technologies

As the internet has evolved from an occasional-use resourceto a pervasive, always-on broadband ecosystem, thenetworking technologies underpinning it have developed fasterthan legal and regulatory frameworks can adjust. This hasled to complex policy challenges that must be overcome toensure that networks of the future can develop to their fullestpotential. As every sector of the global economy and nearly

every facet of modern society undergo digital transformation,the Information & Communication Technologies industrycommunity is focused on opportunities that spur not just thedevelopment of ICT innovations, but more importantly, theiradoption and use throughout the economy.

The discussion of opportunities, risks and challengesdriven by digital transformation has become central to thestrategic dialogue across almost every industry, region andpolicy domain. Building on the Future of the Internet GlobalChallenge Initiative, the community explores best practices foraddressing the common challenges and opportunities of thedigital hyperconnected world.

Mobility

Mobility – the movement of people and goods – has entereda period of profound transformation. The industries thatenable mobility – automotive, supply chain & transportation,and aviation & travel – are reacting to and shaping thistransformation through innovative technologies and businessmodels. New champions such as Uber and Airbnb, as wellas non-traditional mobility companies such as Google and

Amazon, are profoundly and rapidly shaping the mobilityecosystem. Our Mobility community collaborates tounderstand and shape the opportunities of technology, thechallenges of security and sustainability, and the massive

shifts under way in global travel and global value chains.Key topics include self-driving vehicles, secure travel, tradereforms and responsible value chains.

Media, Entertainment & Information

We are witnessing transformative shifts across the media,entertainment and information industry, impacting everythingfrom content creation, distribution and consumption tofreedom of speech and security. In collaboration with ourPartners, the Media, Entertainment & Information communityexplores the opportunities these shifts are creating throughprojects such as A New Vision for Education, which addresses21st-century skills gaps and the role that technology andmedia innovations can play in facilitating teaching andlearning. In addition, The Human Implications of Digital Mediaproject examines how the ubiquitous use of digital media isshaping the behaviours, habits and values of individuals andsociety.

Professional Services

Digital transformation, talent sustainability and responsiblebusiness highlight the key issues explored by the ProfessionalServices Industry community. In addition, the community

continued its Leadership, Trust and Performance project,created in 2013 in response to the increasing need tobuild trust for the business community. While the projectphase I (2013-2014) focused on making a clear businesscase for building trust and understanding the barriers toimplementation, its phase II explored how trust issuesmanifest at the industry level and how organizations canbetter translate the learning into building trust. Workshopsconducted at World Economic Forum events in China,

Turkey, the US, India and Indonesia each attracted 150-plusdiverse executives and culminated in the publication of thewhite paper on Decoding the Complexity of Trust IndustryPerspectives.


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Our AnnualMeetings

Annual Meeting of the New

Champions 2014

Convened under the theme Creating Value through Innovation,the eighth Annual Meeting of the New Champions, held in

Tianjin on 10-12 September, engaged over 1,900 participantsfrom 90 countries in the world’s premier gathering on science,technology and innovation. Premier Li Keqiang of the People’sRepublic of China opened the meeting and participated in aspecial session for Forum Members.

The meeting introduced numerous programme innovationsdesigned to enhance creative thinking through experientiallearning. Participants enjoyed a unique environment fordiscussions based on the impact of science, technology, thechanging nature of innovation, and its impact on business,governance and society. The dynamic nature of the gatheringwas amplified by record participation from the Forum’s NewChampions communities, including the Young Global Leaders,Global Growth Companies, Global Shapers, the SchwabFoundation and the Young Scientists. In addition, Beijing and

Tianjin were the venues for the 2014 Young Global Leaders Annual Summit, integrating the programme with that of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

Summit on the Global Agenda

2014

The Summit on the Global Agenda 2014 convened in Dubai,United Arab Emirates, on 9-11 November. The “world’s largestbrainstorming session” brought together over 1,000 membersof 88 World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils frommore than 80 countries. The summit marked the start of a two-year term for each Council, during which they will work withForum teams to define challenges, shape purpose and driveaction on the global, regional and industry agendas.

In partnership with the Government of the United ArabEmirates, the summit also convened global experts and topnational decision-makers around key objectives of the country’s

Vision 2021.

Annual Meeting 2015

This year’s Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, on 21-24

January, marked a milestone for the World Economic Forumas the occasion of the signing of a Headquarter Agreementwith the Federal Council of Switzerland, which led to the officialrecognition of the World Economic Forum as the InternationalInstitution for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Annual Meeting theme – The New Global Context –provided the backdrop for more than 2,500 participants fromover 140 countries – including six heads of state from G20countries and seven heads of international organizations – tocome together for strategic dialogues on the major challengesfacing the world. Among the many global initiatives andannouncements, the programme provided the anchor for the

design and development of the Forum’s Global ChallengeInitiatives and the first meetings of Global Agenda Trustees(see Shaping the Global Agenda, page 6). The meeting alsoprovided the platform to shape the Forum’s collaboration onthe United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, to belaunched later in 2015, and with the French government on theCOP21 climate convention in December.

Annual Meetings and Programming enable leaders to define and advance crucial issues, andenhance contextual and emotional intelligence


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CommunityUpdates

Partners and Members

At the heart of the World Economic Forum’s community ofcommunities are our Partners and Members – the Forum’sinstitutional membership comprising 1,000 of the world’sforemost global companies. This year, engagement of ourbusiness communities grew both in terms of quantity andquality. As a membership organization, our ambition is to have

all our institutional Members engage with us at the partnershiplevel, deeply involved and working with us to shape global,industry and regional agendas. This year, the number ofPartner companies increased to 513, from 489 at the end ofJune 2014.

This increase corresponds to an important institutionalrestructuring that was completed this year: establishing adedicated team to integrate our Partners and Members in themost relevant and meaningful ways with the Forum’s global,regional, industry and community activities. The new structureoptimizes the way in which a central team can best engageand serve them and most effectively shape agendas throughongoing projects, events and insight generation.

This year, the Forum developed an entirely new modularapproach to engaging Partner companies, providing ourbusiness communities with the ability to engage across globalchallenges, regional and national agendas, industry strategiesand directly with Forum communities. This modular proposaloffers Forum Partners the opportunity to engage where Forumactivities align most closely with their strategic and corporateglobal citizenship objectives.

From 1 July 2015, Partner companies can choose the

depth and breadth of their engagement across four distinctpartnership offerings:

Global Challenge Partnerships The Forum’s Centre for the Global Agenda (see page 6) hasdefined and consolidated its activities around nine GlobalChallenge Initiatives – significant institutional efforts oncomplex issues where acceleration of progress is contingentupon new or expanded public-private cooperation. EachGlobal Challenge Initiative is comprised of activities designedto make a measurable difference. They are guided by a coregroup of the most committed public- and private-sectorleaders, known as Global Agenda Trustees. Companies that

engage as Global Challenge Partners can participate in allprojects and activities under the Global Challenge Initiative inwhich they are involved, are eligible for invitation to the GlobalChallenge Initiative Trusteeship, and work with other GlobalChallenge Partners and stakeholders on a dedicated high-level digital platform, the Global Agenda Platform.

Regional PartnershipsIntroduced in 2013-2014, Regional Partnerships foster deeperinsight and greater collaboration on the major transformationsfacing the regions of the world. The Forum’s Regional Partnersare the foremost companies and international institutions –global citizens committed to leading regional economic and

social development by collectively addressing complex topicsand framing regional solutions. Each Regional Partner joins aRegional Business Council, a high-level advisory body madeup of the most committed leaders from the region. RegionalPartner programmes are active in Africa, East Asia and South

The Forum integrates leaders from all walks of life into collaborative communities to improve the state of the world


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level of trust and established a premier peer group, asdemonstrated by the record participation at the AnnualMeeting 2015 in Davos and quality of the discussion.

As the community begins its fourth year, it will strengthenlinks with the World Economic Forum’s new Global ChallengeInitiatives, leveraging the collective experience and expertiseof the community to contribute key content from the point ofview of the global chair. Firmly embedded in the work of the

Forum, the Community of Chairmen will continue to contributeinsights on topics ranging from responding to crisis and therole of activist investors to exploring governance models andsuccession planning. Creating a diverse and dynamic mix ofmembers who represent the richness of the global businesscommunity will be another focus.

Family Business Community

In December 2014, the Forum convened over 100 next-generation family business owners from 25 countries fora three-day peer-led workshop in Miami, Florida, USA.Discussions focused on the challenges and opportunities that

next-generation family business owners are facing as theyforge their path towards maximizing their ability to positivelyinfluence their family businesses, investments and impact-focused activities in driving economic and societal value.

Over 100 top family businesses gathered at the FamilyBusiness Retreat in April 2015 in Monaco, aligned on thetopics of social inclusion, impact investing, sustainabilityand education with a deliverable of proposals and impact tothe G20 in 2017. Building on the discussions of the FamilyBusiness Community at the Annual Meeting in Davos, theForum will continue to work with family business ownersto identify clear and practical ways in which they can drive

systemic change in national, regional and global economicand societal systems to foster more inclusive growth.

Foundations Community

Recognizing the rising influence and notable expertiseof foundations, the World Economic Forum launchedthe Foundations Community. The community has grownremarkably, with a highly respected and diverse membershipconsisting of the most prominent and most forward-leaningPartners in the philanthropic landscape. Foundations bringexpertise and a wealth of experience through their networkof practitioners to contribute to the global, multistakeholder

dialogues on today’s greatest challenges and transformationssuch as climate change, impact investing, health andinfrastructure.

Civil Society

In 2014-2015, the Forum Civil Society communities wereprofiled more than ever as trustworthy Partners of public-private cooperation.

High-level cross-sectoral interaction took place throughout theyear, building increasingly collaborative relationships between

top civil society executives and chief executive officers fromindustry. Key conversations with the consumers industry,mining & metals sector and family businesses enhancedmutual trust and opened the door to genuine interest for moreeffective and courageous action on critical issues.

Asia, Eurasia, Europe, Japan, Latin America, and the MiddleEast and North Africa. Engagement on a regional level isintense throughout the year across the series of regionalmeetings, National Strategy Days and Country Briefingsconducted by the Forum.

Industry PartnershipIndustry Partners leverage the Forum’s multistakeholderplatform to shape the future of industries in a strategic andsocially responsible way. Deeply engaged with the Forum’snetworks and experts, they bring insight to strategic decision-making on the most important industry and cross-industryissues. This year, over 470 companies were involved with theForum as Industry Partners across 23 industry sectors. (SeeShaping the Industry Agenda, page 16.)

Community Partnership The World Economic Forum is a community of communities,including participants from across business, governmentand civil society. Several World Economic Forumcommunities, including the Technology Pioneers and

those of the independent foundations linked to the Forum– the Community of Global Shapers, the Forum of YoungGlobal Leaders and the Schwab Foundation for SocialEntrepreneurship – integrate the voices of young and dynamicgenerations and those who are developing new modelsfor business to produce value across society. CommunityPartners work with these communities to amplify and extendtheir voices, developing unique projects and activities, andworking to understand how their business operations canspeak to the needs of the relevant demographic and outlook.

Through 2015-2016, the Forum will focus on enabling theglobal business community to become an agent for change

and delivering a strategic, deep, broad and systematicengagement, to become a trusted partner for businessworldwide.

We actively integrate our Partner companies in the strategicdevelopment of the Forum through Partner Advisory Groupmeetings in the spring and autumn, and provide regularupdate communications on the activities of the Forum throughquarterly updates from Klaus Schwab and the Agenda Weeklynewsletter.

Community of Chairmen

Technology is creating change at record speed, leading to amore hyperconnected and ultra-transparent world. In parallel,geopolitical issues are constantly challenging assumptionsand redefining markets. As such, business has never beenmore highly scrutinized, with so much at stake. Demandson companies and boards are also intensifying, with anincreasing call for leadership able to reconcile the mandateto run good businesses with the need to benefit society andrebuild trust. The role of the global chair has never been sopivotal, and there is a significant opportunity today to findalignment between the two and drive real change.

Having completed the third annual Community of ChairmenRetreat in Villars-sur-Ollon (17-19 April 2015), the communityhas a core of dedicated members who have built a strong


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By including three NGO executives representing civil societyas Co-Chairs at World Economic Forum annual and regionalmeetings, the Forum provided a high-level platform for expertand solutions-oriented dialogue on inequality and socialexclusion. Civil society leaders provided valuable supporton issues of economic growth, inclusive social policy, globalgovernance and security.

In 2014-2015, the evolving global societal landscape inspired

the launch of a year-round dialogue on civic participation andsocial movements, where civil society actively interacted withpeers from the public and private sectors to analyse the latesttrends in civic participation, technology empowerment andrelated implications for governments and businesses.

Additionally, major innovations were introduced in thecommunity governance framework to reflect an increasinglydiverse and ever-growing membership. The new CivilSociety Global Advisory Group, comprised of top-levelcommitted community members, deepened the engagementof constituents and mobilized change in the work of the

Civil Society communities. Finally, a substantial numberof innovative and disruptive voices joined the Civil Societycommunities and enriched them with new approaches,perspectives and intellectual leadership.

Global Agenda Councils

The Network of Global Agenda Councils brings togetherthought leaders and global experts who study the mostpressing issues facing the world. Each Council is made upof 15-20 experts, who are invited to share and strengtheninterdisciplinary thinking, stimulate dialogue, drive initiatives

and provide intellectual input for the key projects andinitiatives of the World Economic Forum. Council membersmeet annually at the Summit on the Global Agenda, theworld’s largest brainstorming, which is hosted in partnershipwith the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

Key highlights of Council work over the past year include amajor effort across the network to identify sustainable andscalable solutions to foster inclusive growth, to complementthe Forum’s forthcoming inclusive growth index and theGlobal Challenge Initiative on Economic Growth and SocialInclusion.

The Council on Emerging Technologies established its annualranking of top 10 emerging technologies, raising awarenessabout the high potential of these innovations to addressglobal challenges such as public health, energy efficiency,food security and climate change.

At a regional level, the Global Agenda Council on Africa andthe Council on Migration worked on one of the key issuesfor Africa: barriers to talent mobility. Eliminating visa-relatedobstacles in many African countries could significantlyimprove talent mobility. The Council brought this issue to theattention of African leaders at the World Economic Forum on

Africa 2015, where discussions were focused on talent and

skills.

Academic, Policy and Research

Networks

The Academic, Policy and Research Networks engage agrowing number of experts from leading universities, thinktanks and other policy research organizations through twohigh-level communities – the Global University Leaders Forum

and the newly created Think Tank Leaders Forum.

Via interaction with the Global University Leaders Forum, theForum has been identifying the key trends affecting highereducation and helping set the agenda in areas such asscience, technology and research. The Academic, Policy andResearch Networks also offer leaders a platform for vigorousdialogue on the future of the sector, currently challenged bysuch developments as technological innovation, reducedresearch funding and demand for access to specialisteducation.

Global Leadership FellowsIn today’s interconnected, complex and volatile world it isincreasingly necessary to collaborate to ensure sustainablebenefit for society. To support the World Economic Forumin promoting and facilitating public-private cooperation, theGlobal Leadership Fellows Programme aims to developleaders who have the skills and experience to manage tri-sector, multistakeholder initiatives.

The Forum serves as a unique on-the-job learning platformas it strives for collaborative solutions. Fellows learn aboutpublic-private cooperation and leadership through tailored

academic programming, including: innovative modulescreated and delivered jointly with the London Business Schoolto sharpen leadership skills in VUCA (volatile, uncertain,complex and ambiguous) situations; immersion in designthinking and discovering how it can be applied to boost socialinnovation (Columbia University); and system thinking atWharton Business School. Fellows also learn how to influencedifferent types of stakeholders to align their agendas and findcommon purpose to address societal challenges; examine theemotional, hidden aspects of leadership, group dynamics andthe importance of self-awareness (INSEAD); and challenge theassumptions and perceptions regarding China and its role inthe global context at the China Europe International Business

School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

Since the inception of the Global Leadership FellowsProgramme in 2005, many of the Fellows have becomedriving forces for the tri-sector approach, either at the Forumor in major corporations, international organizations and socialenterprises. Ultimately, Fellows are equipped to support theForum’s core mission: serving the public good and improvingthe state of the world.


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A few highlights this past year include:

– About 300 of the nearly 450 Hubs are activelyimplementing local projects. The most commonthemes include: education, environment (sustainability),entrepreneurship and employment. Activities also includeearthquake relief support by the Kathmandu Hub in Nepal.

– In January 2015, in collaboration with the Forum, theGlobal Shapers Community connected 40 cities to

conversations during the Annual Meeting in Davos afterhosting local conversations in each city on 10 selectedtopics. Topics ranged from disrupting classrooms,religion, the role of youth in post-conflict areas as well asgovernance in social media. The initiative took the “spiritof Davos” to local communities as diverse stakeholderscame together, often for the first time. The initiative hadover 200 million impressions on social media and reachedover 20 million individuals.

– The Global Shapers Community launchedwww.shapesustainability.org, a flagship global campaignto mainstream sustainability in collaboration with the Officeof the Secretary-General of the United Nations. SinceMay 2015, the Community has hosted 10 “SustainabilitySundays” (local conversations with stakeholders) aroundthe world, reaching 10 million impressions on socialmedia, and 3.1 million individuals while mobilizing over800 others.

Social Entrepreneurs

Thirty-one social entrepreneurs from 25 organizationsoperating in nearly 20 countries were presented with aSocial Entrepreneurs of the Year 2015 Award and featured

in a global social media campaign with a viewership of over10 million. Of the 2015 awardees, 44% are women, and forthe first time, social enterprises from Lebanon, Palestinian

Territories and South Korea were invited into the network. InMarch 2015, the Schwab Foundation launched two innovativecourses: an online education module on Social Innovation forBusiness Results aimed at strengthening corporate executiveability to apply social innovation principles and approaches,and the first-ever executive education course at the HarvardKennedy School for late-stage social entrepreneurs on socialentrepreneurship as system change.

Global Growth Companies

The World Economic Forum Global Growth Companies(GGC) community brings together over 400 of the world’smost dynamic, influential and high-growth, medium-sizedenterprises, including some of the top innovators and marketshapers, and supports their potential for impact in their region,sector and around the globe.

At regional and annual Forum meetings this year, chiefexecutives of GGCs engaged in peer-to-peer exchange andexplored, for instance, how to scale and expand organizationsin regions such as Latin America and South-East Asia;contribute to the leapfrogging in technology in Africa; andto a new vision for education. At Forum meetings in Africa,East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, GGC chiefexecutives and some of the most renowned global businessleaders discussed how to continue their growth path in asustainable and responsible way.

Young Global Leaders The Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs) is an enterprisingcommunity of 950 people from 102 countries. There is also arobust and growing alumni network with 294 active members.

The community is made up of leaders from all walks of life,from every region of the world and from every stakeholdergroup.

Through initiatives and collaboration, YGLs engage in thethree main pillars of the community – collaboration, learning,and action – to create positive impact. During the course thecommunity’s first decade, its collective initiatives – notably

Table for Two, Deworm the World and Global Dignity –reached over 100 million beneficiaries. In recent years, the

YGL Community has seen a number of significant newinitiatives emerge that are tackling global challenges. Thirst4 Water has now impacted over 300,000 young peoplethrough workshops and education modules in its drive toraise awareness of the global water crisis and reached over250 million with ad campaigns. Another new YGL effort, theCircular Economy Initiative, launched the Circular Awardsin 2015 – the world’s premier circular economy awardprogramme, recognizing all individuals and organizations fromcommerce and civil society around the globe that have madea notable contribution to driving circular economy principles.

YGLs are also driving a number of important initiatives, in

concert with World Economic Forum projects, for 2015 andbeyond that will influence the important global gatheringson the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the COP21gathering on Climate Change.

Global Shapers Community

The Global Shapers Community is a global network of Hubsdeveloped and led by young people between 20 and 29years of age, who are exceptional in their potential, theirachievement and their drive to make a contribution to theircommunities. The Shaper Community’s city-based structure

ensures that Shapers can contribute to improving the stateof the world, one community at a time. Today the Communityis present in nearly 450 cities in 169 countries and territorieswith over 5,300 members.


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In 2014-2015, the Schwab Foundation launched multipleinitiatives to support its mandate to equip global leaders, fromthe private sector in particular, with the knowledge and toolsto innovate in the global public interest. At the Forum’s AnnualMeeting 2015 in Davos, the Schwab Foundation launchedthe Corporate Social Innovation Project to engage corporateleaders in the Forum’s network to advance social innovationwithin their firms.

Technology Pioneers

In June 2015, 50 new Technology Pioneers were selected– renowned experts from a variety of fields and sevencountries – bringing the community to 125 members. Amongthe newest Technology Pioneers are companies that aresignificantly improving diagnostics and health treatment;providing electricity to the off-grid underprivileged; pioneeringlow-cost computing; developing new visual, audio and sensortechnologies; and embedding Internet of Things services.

At the second Technology Pioneers CEO CommunityWorkshop on 25-26 June in San Francisco, USA, 25

Technology Pioneers and 15 experts explored leading-edgeconcepts and models, and developed practical tools thatCEOs can scale with their leadership teams.

Young Scientists

The Young Scientists community brings together the world’smost forward-thinking and advanced young scientific minds.

They are selected from all regions and a wide range ofdisciplines, and have a track record of advancing the frontiersof science, engineering or technology in areas of high societalimpact. In their work, they exhibit exceptional creativity,thought leadership and high growth potential. Aged under40, these individuals have demonstrated their commitmentto public service and actively play a transformational role inintegrating scientific knowledge into society for the publicgood.

Cultural Leaders

In 2014-2015, cultural leaders were more present than everin the Forum’s global programmes. They enabled reflectionon the major cultural shifts of our time. They also collaboratedwith the Forum to create artistic experiences intended tohumanize the statistics and provide a critically neededemotional understanding of key issues. The 21st AnnualCrystal Award, which honours personalities in the arts whohave a long-standing commitment to improving the state ofthe world, recognized architect Shigeru Ban, tenor AndreaBocelli and singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo.


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ReportsIn 2014-2015 the World Economic Forum published 74reports, led by six major index-based reports – The GlobalCompetitiveness Report 2014-2015, The Global GenderGap Report 2014, The Human Capital Report 2015, GlobalRisks 2015, The Global Information Technology Report 2015and The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015.The Africa Competitiveness Report 2015 was produced incollaboration with the World Bank, the OECD and the AfricanDevelopment Bank. Most other Forum reports are published

as an outcome of an industry project or by a Global AgendaCouncil.

Forum reports provide the foundation for fact-baseddiscussions in Forum interactions and are a primary sourceof insight and intelligence for policy-makers, business,government and civil society leaders.

In addition, high-profile, index-based research provides a richsource of data stories for the world’s media. For example, TheGlobal Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 was mentionedover 25,500 times in media stories around the world in theweek following its publication, and the Global Gender Gap

Report 2014 was mentioned some 16,150 times.

Reports published as an outcome of Industry Projects includeThe Future of Electricity, the Industrial Internet of Things,Maximizing Healthy Life Years: Investments that Pay Off , andData-Driven Development Pathways for Progress.

Reports published by the Forum’s Network of Global AgendaCouncils included Geo-Economics: Seven Challenges toGlobalization, Hedging Risk by Combating Human Trafficking:Insights from the Private Sector and A Framework forSustainable Security Systems.


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InformationInteraction

The World Economic Forum is at heart an interactionorganization – the value we create for our Members, Partnersand constituents, and our ability to improve the state of theworld are enhanced through the quality of interaction betweenthose who engage in the Forum. Today, the most powerfulinteraction often happens online, in virtual communities. Itis crucial for the Forum, as the International Institution forPublic-Private Cooperation, to host virtual interaction at thesame level, with the same dynamism, and with the highest-

quality content and insight foundations as in our face-to-face meetings. To that end, the World Economic Forum hasinvested significantly throughout 2014-2015 in its informationinteraction capabilities.

TopLink is our proprietary interaction platform. This year, theplatform invested in:

– Interactive programme functionalities, enhancingparticipation in Forum events

– Digital networking, matchmaking and messaging servicesto improve community building

– Project management and engagement tools to supportMember and Partner participation in Forum initiatives andprojects

– Data analysis and benchmarking tools

Transformation Maps are the Forum’s proprietaryinteractive contextual intelligence tool designed to capturethe knowledge of the Forum’s communities and present it indigestible formats for high-level decision-making. Launchedat the Annual Meeting 2015, Transformation Maps visualizeinterlinkages between topic areas, ingest insight updatescaptured at Forum events and elsewhere, and provide awealth of knowledge articles and insights of contextual

understanding of the forces driving change. TransformationMaps are hosted on TopLink, and integrate technologies andtechniques from fields such as machine learning, artificialintelligence and advanced network analytics.

This undertaking represents the first effort of its kind tocapture knowledge in an interconnected way to analysetrends and patterns across industries, regions and globalissues.

This year, the Forum aligned the activities of its Global Agenda Councils and other knowledge networks with this Transformation Maps effort, ensuring that the collectiveintelligence of these high-level knowledge networkssystematically informs the institution’s events, projects andother activities.

The Global Agenda Platform is a proprietary collaborationsystem that enables closer cooperation betweenmultistakeholder communities with top decision-makers andexperts working on specific global challenges. Hosted by theCentre on the Global Agenda, it aims to serve the internationalcommunity by providing more efficient means to combinethe expertise and resources of government and non-stateactors, This platform is made available to Partners, Membersand constituents to manage initiatives under their ownresponsibility.

TopLink is the collaborative intelligence platformfor global leaders


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Governanceand Leadership

Foundation Board

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and headquartered inGeneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartialand not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or nationalinterests. It is under the supervision of the Department of theInterior of the Swiss Federal Government.

The Forum strives to model world-class

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WEF Annual Report 2014 15

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