Davos: New Realities and Managing New Global Risks – Don Tapscott

Don Tapscott is guest blogging for the Forum. His new book is Macrowikinomics and he will be attending the Annual Meeting in Davos. Twitter: @dtapscott

I’ve attended the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos for over a dozen years and I can’t recall a more important session than the one that starts Wednesday, because — let’s face it — the world is broken.

The Forum’s theme, Shared Norms for the New Reality, is timely. It’s true that world is increasingly complex and interconnected, and as institutions from banks to newspapers increasingly fail to meet society’s needs, there is an erosion of common values and principles, undermining the public’s trust in leadership. In my view, the industrial age is finally coming to an end and to achieve economic development and social justice we need to rebuild civilization around a new set of norms and values. 

The Davos focus on managing new risks is also on the money, because there are new and profound threats to the global economy, society and even the very existence of humanity. Failure of the financial system, weapons of mass destruction, new communicable diseases, collapse of environmental systems, water security and 20 other topics make the world a volatile place subject to significant and possibly catastrophic risks. 

As old approaches collapse it’s understandable that myriad new systemic risks would arise.. We haven’t come to grips with what it means to live in a networked and increasingly interdependent world. Consider something as seemingly mundane as the global supply chain.  The vast networks provide the world with food, clothing, fuel and other necessities could handle an Iceland volcano and one other catastrophe like the failure of the Panama Canal.  But according to experts, a third simultaneous disaster would collapse the system. People around the world would stop getting food and water leading to unthinkable social unrest and even a disintegration of civilized society.

It is against this backdrop that this year the Forum will inaugurate a Risk Response Network. The Network is designed to help global decision-makers better understand and respond to complex and interdependent risks.  Its goal is to help corporate, government and civil society leaders to better mitigate risks and capture associated opportunities.

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of Forum initiatives like this and I look forward to participating.  Not to mention meeting face to face with some of my closest collaborators and friends, perhaps even over a glass of wine!