[Comment] Davos and the power of collaborative innovation

from The International Herald Tribune

By Klaus Schwab

On Wednesday, the World Economic Forum will convene 2,500 leaders from industry, government, media, civil society and international organizations for its 38th annual meeting. They will have travelled from 88 countries to arrive at this small alpine village. An obvious question to ask, particularly in an era of advanced communication, is why? What compels this diverse group to make this journey every year?

As the founder of the World Economic Forum, even I cannot provide a single overwhelming rationale. But I do believe that the theme for this year's meeting, "The Power of Collaborative Innovation," offers the most compelling answer.

A year ago, the "Shifting Power Equation" was the thematic framework in which the global agenda was examined in Davos. This power shift, driven by resource competition and capital flows linked to the rise of new economic powers, reflected growing unease about financial imbalances, job insecurity, regional rivalries and environmental pressures.

Despite an atmosphere of optimism that prevailed in Davos last January, it was clear that competing interests and scarce resources would remain the greatest obstacles to addressing such concerns. While the scope of many global problems, such as climate change, became more clearly defined, a commonly accepted approach to them was still not apparent.

A year later, we are confronted by much more economic uncertainty and a growing sense of global vulnerability. It is in this context that "the power of collaborative innovation" emerges as a timely, compelling and galvanizing idea.

Again why? To answer this, imagine plotting the world's key challenges along two lines, one vertical and one horizontal. Along the vertical, we place those issues that require only greater collaboration to resolve. My short list would include the Doha Round of Trade and peace in the Middle East, for example.

On the horizontal, we place those issues that will require a high degree of innovation to resolve. These include the aging of major industrialized societies and job creation in developing countries.

However, at some stage many of us would come to realize that the most critical global issues desperately need collaboration and innovation in equal measure. We can imagine finding at the intersection of collaboration and innovation such profound global challenges as climate change and nuclear proliferation as well as the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals.

Therefore, my intuition is that those leaders joining us in Davos this week understand that, in the current global context, collaboration and innovation are highly undervalued concepts - particularly in a world that is shifting from mono-polar, hierarchical structures to multi-polar, "flat" networks.

In a world where knowledge doubles every three to five years, a paradox has emerged. Information is ubiquitous and change rapid, but the absence of a common vision ensures that the status quo is maintained with respect to many global challenges.

Collaborative innovation will, I hope, help lift us above the level of simply defending selfish interests rooted in outdated perceptions, systems and tools. For the business world, the power of collaborative innovation should be incorporated into a management philosophy of Corporate Global Citizenship. This means engagement at the macro level on global issues. As much as nature abhors a vacuum, business cannot stand uncertainty - unaddressed global challenges make for a volatile global marketplace.

Although the primary responsibility for resolving pressing problems like climate change, water shortages, infectious diseases, disaster relief and corruption still rests with governments and international institutions, business can still play a role. By exercising the power of collaborative innovation, companies can ensure a consistent and sustainable framework for global engagement that adds value for both the companies and the global space in which they seek to nurture their businesses.

Admittedly, Davos does not function as a global crystal ball - nor as a kind of school of "appropriate manners" for global decision makers. But even our detractors will concede that the World Economic Forum, with its multi-stakeholder philosophy and interdisciplinary approach, captures the zeitgeist and often foreshadows the changes, challenges and champions that loom just over the horizon.

The annual meeting will be no different in this respect, but it will also be the same in another regard. Its participants, 2,500 leaders with different interests and agendas, will nonetheless climb the "Magic Mountain" with one common purpose - to work to improve the state of the world, not simply to be "do-gooders," but also because it is in their own enlightened interest to do so.

Klaus Schwab is the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum