World Economic Forum Annual Report 2006/2007

World Economic Forum Annual Report 2006/2007The Forum remains an effective catalystfor global change. To support our missionwe have launched a number of significantprojects that support our strategic vision,and ensure that we continue to engageour members and partners. In the past yearthe Forum has focused on two primarystrategic endeavours: the identificationand development of a new generationof global leaders, the ‘New Champions’,and the launch of WELCOM, an advancedelectronic communication system, whichwill serve as an invaluable tool for membersand partners to help shape agendas.The New Champions‘The Shifting Power Equation’ was the frameworkfor discussions in Davos, but it is also thestrategic imperative behind the creation ofthe Community of Global Growth Companies.Power shifts occur only when ‘New Champions’succeed in both challenging the status quo andforcing change. Therefore early engagement ofsuch leaders and innovators is critical if the WorldEconomic Forum is to retain its leadership inshaping global, regional and industry agendas.The new Community of Global GrowthCompanies comprises the ‘New Champions’from industry that will in fact be shaping thefuture. Its members will interact with currentfoundation members to understand, and toleverage, the forces transforming the businessworld, reordering societies worldwide andcreating fast-growth economies.The designation of the city of Dalian, China,as the host of the Inaugural Annual Meeting ofthe New Champions symbolizes the growingeconomic influence of Asia globally. In additionto the top 500 emerging companies, themeeting in Dalian includes leaders from theworld’s most competitive cities and fastestgrowing regions. The future will also berepresented as the Community of Young GlobalLeaders will gather for their annual meeting.With a strong international media presence,coupled with innovators from the Web 2.0world, the rise of these New Champions willbe explored across all its dimensions.WELCOMThe World Economic Forum firmly believes inthe power of collaborative wisdom and actiongenerated by combining face-to-face and virtualinteraction. WELCOM – the World ElectronicCommunity of the World Economic Forum –creates a unique online community whichfunctions as an advanced collaborative platformfor 10,000 of the world’s top leaders. It is basedon the latest videoconferencing capabilitiesand will provide a unique global governancetool to address the challenges of our globallyinterconnected, fast-paced world.It offers business, government and intellectualleaders a powerful resource to shape global,regional and industrial agendas through a stateof-the-arttechnology platform. Developed ona Web 2.0 basis, in partnership with the world’sleading technology companies, the platformwill provide an unprecedented opportunityfor both established companies and the NewChampions to learn from each other andestablish ties of cooperation and partnership.The initiative is the latest milestone in theForum’s history of embracing technologicalinnovation to improve its offering to members.