The World Economic Forum has launched an ambitious initiative tagged Global Collaboration Village at the Annual Meeting 2022 in Davos to harness the power of the metaverse to grow and diversify participation in advancing the global public interest
The initiative launched in collaboration with Accenture and Microsoft will leverage new technology to shape innovative solutions for critical global challenges. It will also provide immersive spaces where stakeholders can convene, create and take action on the world’s most pressing challenges.
According to Klaus Schwab, WEF’s Founder and Executive Chairman, the metaverse will influence the way, people, governments, companies and society at large think, work, interact and communicate for the purpose of collectively addressing issues on the global agenda.
“The Global Collaboration Village will be an extension of the World Economic Forum’s public-private platforms and in-person meetings and will provide a more open, more sustained and more comprehensive process for coming together,” he explained.
The Global Collaboration Village will bring together key global stakeholders – international organizations, governments, partner companies and civil society organizations – to imagine alternative futures, explore ideas in an immersive way and envision what the future world could be. The Forum aims to be a pioneer within this new space and bring together others to co-create within it.
Commenting, Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture, said: “While the metaverse is only in its early days, it already holds great promise, not only for redefining how organizations work and interact but also for fostering effective public-private partnerships. We are pleased to collaborate with the World Economic Forum and Microsoft in creating the Global Collaboration Village and pioneering a trusted metaverse space. This will complement the Forum’s real-world collaborations and invite a range of diverse stakeholders to come together to address the world’s most critical challenges and innovate a more sustainable future for all.”
Key aims of the Global Collaboration Village
- Global cooperation – To create a new virtual space where global interaction can be enhanced and cooperative solutions found
- Interactivity – To provide immersive experiences to foster a better understanding of key global challenges
- Inclusivity – To offer a collaborative public space where broad participation in discussions about pressing global issues is both encouraged and enabled
- Impact – The platform and all of its goals are geared toward catalysing more effective individual and collective action following the Forum’s mission statement and commitment to improving the state of the world