Distinction in travel journalism
Is independent travel journalism important to you?
Click here to keep it independent

9 Nov, 2017

World Economic Forum Launches Platform to Map Global Transformation

Dubai, 9 November 2017 (WEF media release) – Today the World Economic Forum opens access to its Transformation Maps – a dynamic knowledge tool covering more than 100 industries, countries and issues shaping the modern world.

The Forum’s Transformation Maps were first developed in 2015 as a tool for understanding and visualizing industries, countries and issues, and how they interact with and disrupt each another. Since then, 125 maps have been created and used to inform work across the Forum’s 14 System Initiatives as well as strategic decision-making by governments and businesses around the world.

In making the maps public, the Forum seeks to foster wider understanding of the complex forces shaping the world in the early stages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also aims to encourage more people to contribute ideas and solutions to the critical challenges the world faces.

Most of the maps are co-curated by a leading university, think tank or international organization. The Forum has also developed its own proprietary advanced network analytics and artificial intelligence technologies to further enhance its knowledge-curation capabilities.

“We will only solve the challenges we face by first understanding individual issues and how they influence each other. We hope such ‘system thinking’, aided by the expertise of some of the world’s leading establishments and the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, will help our collective effort to build a future that is inclusive and human-centred,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Head of Knowledge and Digital Engagement, Member of the Managing Board, World Economic Forum.

Examples of some of the interconnections highlighted by the Transformation Maps:

“Bold action to address global challenges requires the understanding, support and mobilization of all members of society. We hope that by making available the collective intelligence of the Forum’s expert networks – captured in our Transformation Maps – as a public good we can inspire creativity and fresh thinking,” said Stephan Mergenthaler, Head of Knowledge Networks and Analysis, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum.   

Many of the Transformation Maps have been developed or co-curated with experts from leading universities, think tanks, international organizations and other research institutions around the world, including: Bocconi University, Centre for Policy Dialogue in Bangladesh, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ETH Zurich, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Georgetown University, Global Initiative against Transnational and Organized Crime, Imperial College London, Indiana University, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, KAIST, Keio University, Lagos Business School, McGill University, National University of Singapore, Nesta, Smithsonian Institution, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, University of Oxford, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.

The announcement that the Transformation Maps were to be made open access was made at the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Forum’s Global Future Councils have played a major role in developing the Transformation Maps.

For further information:

  • Watch live webcasts of sessions and get more information about the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils at: https://wef.ch/gfc17