The World Economic Forum is investing heavily in Social Media and has rolled out its new social networking and online collaboration platform for participants at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Davos. WELCOM, the World Economic Leaders Community, is a private online communication and collaboration space designed specifically for the world’s top decision-makers to continue the discussion well beyond the Forum’s physical meetings.
Featuring a range of collaborative tools, premium content and with 24/7 access, WELCOM enables participants to unlock the power of the Forum’s network and content, broaden their network of personal contacts and work together online to address major global issues by exploring issues and exchanging ideas.
The World Economic Forum is once again making full use of the major social media platforms at the upcoming Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland giving unprecedented access to the wider public. The general public can actively participate in a number of sessions through video submissions, blog comments, tweets and quick polls.
For the first time participants are invited to leave their comments on a dedicated Twitter account: http://twitter.com/Davos_2010. The official hashtag of the meeting is #WEF. The short URL to the Forum’s meeting website is http://tr.im/Davos10. To show your support for the Forum why not put a Twibbon on your Twitter avatar: http://twibbon.com/join/Davos.
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos 10 years ago on January 31, 2000 with the aim to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries. Watch the highlights of the session below:
Bill Gates, then chairman of Microsoft tells a plenary session why he chose immunisation as his first major investment in global health. World Health Organization’s Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, James Wolfensohn of the World Bank, Carol Bellamy from UNICEF and Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique, all stress the importance of this public-private partnership and what they hope it will achieve.
Since 2000, the GAVI Alliance has provided funding to immunise more than 250 million children in developing countries against life-threatening diseases and prevented nearly four million deaths. Watch Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of the GAVI Alliance on the achievements of the GAVI Alliance and the objective at the upcoming meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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, Don Tapscott, NGenera, 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.
7)Record and upload a video on YouTube (See Loic's appeal below)
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. Sorry no livestream in that room but it will be available on YouTube afterwards
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.
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.
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.
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.
