World Economic Forum Annual Report 2006/2007

World Economic Forum Annual Report 2006/2007 23Community of Global GrowthCompanies (GGC)Our Community of Global Growth Companies –or New Champions – is a cross-industry groupof businesses with the clear potential to becomeleaders in the global economy.Such companies have demonstrated leadershipin a particular industry and have the aspirationand ability to become leading international players.They are expanding outside their traditionalboundaries, have demonstrated leadership ina particular industry and are experiencing stronggrowth rates, have outstanding executiveleadership and typically have revenues betweenUS$ 100 million and US$ 5 billion depending onthe industry and region.The Inaugural Annual Meeting of the NewChampions in Dalian, China, is the community’sflagship event. It brings together the CEOs ofGGCs, World Economic Forum members andpartners, international government leaders andthe heads of the world’s most competitive citiesand fastest-growing regions. It also includesWeb 2.0 experts, members of the Forum’sCommunity of Young Global Leaders andinternational media representatives.Throughout the year a portfolio of tailor-madeevents based on “Experience Exchange andConversation” with a leading global CEO bringsthe community together with world leaders.Often held in conjunction with the Forum’sregional meetings, these occasions allowtoday’s global industry leaders to share insightsand experiences with rising corporate powerson key business issues such as branding, talentmanagement and leadership.International Business Council (IBC)The International Business Council (IBC) isa well-established community of 100 highlyrespected and influential chief executives fromall industries and regions. They come togethertwice a year for informal, private exchangeson key global issues.The business case for engaging in public–privatepartnerships was the main theme of thesummer meeting in August 2006, providingIBC members with the opportunity to sharetheir experiences in this critical area.At the winter meeting, in January 2007, therewas an in-depth discussion on the implicationsand economics of climate change. It wasfollowed by two individual dialogues with DmitryMedvedev, First Deputy Prime Minister of theRussian Federation, and Gordon Brown, thenUK Chancellor of the Exchequer, now BritishPrime Minister.On the first day of its winter meeting, the IBCunanimously endorsed the Doha developmentround. They said the move underlines theresponsibility of all decision-makers and politicalleaders for relevant, constructive and timelyaction to deliver a successful Doha round.In November 2006, IBC members weregiven the opportunity to meet with GermanChancellor Angela Merkel and in June 2007 theymet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at theForum’s CEO Roundtable in St Petersburg.Technology Pioneers‘The Shifting Power Equation’, the main themefrom the Annual Meeting 2007, continues todrive our Technology Pioneers programme,with a significant change in innovation models.We moved away from a vertically integratedmodel in favour of a more open and flexibleapproach, where organizations with differentskill sets can participate in innovation networksto co-develop new products and services.As the Technology Pioneers ‘class of 2007’showed, this new model is enabling innovationto become more geographically dispersed.We witnessed a huge increase in nominations,especially from India, China and ASEAN nations.Our final group included 13 nations, resultingin perhaps the strongest-ever group ofTechnology Pioneers.In 2006, we welcomed two new partners –Accel Partners and BT – to the TechnologyPioneers programme. Together with fellowpartner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the threecompanies were instrumental in increasingglobal awareness of the programme.Partnering against corruptionNow in its third year, the Forum’s PartneringAgainst Corruption Initiative (PACI) continuesto win corporate support towards its goalof ending global corruption and bribery.PACI now has the backing of more than 120signatory companies. In 2007, the heads of themultilateral development banks, the InternationalFinance Corporation and the Inter-AmericanInvestment Corporation agreed to work withPACI on individual pilot programmes to advanceour global anti-corruption efforts.Together with its signatories, the initiative hasmade substantial progress in achievingcorporate commitment to the PACI Principles.It has developed a set of tools to support theexecution and evaluation of anti-corruptionprogrammes by companies and strengthenedits members’ platform for sharing theirexperience of the implementation process.PACI plans to launch another mechanism tohighlight those signatories that have advancedtheir programmes and monitoring mechanismssince becoming involved.The initiative showcased its work in high-levelsessions at the Forum’s Annual Meeting inDavos. It also presented to the OECD WorkingGroup on Bribery, the International Chamberof Commerce Commission on Anti-Corruption,and the State Parties Meeting of the UnitedNations Convention Against Corruption.