Tag: economy

The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation joins Webit to discuss how to re:Invent Europe’s Future!

Burrow underlines the necessity of female participation in organized labour

Sharan is well known for her international advocacy on labour standards, corporate responsibility, climate change, investment in infrastructure and the green economy, investment in the care economy, women, equality and diversity, global migration and employment. She has represented workers and civil society groups in global policy discussions in United Nations bodies, including ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council), on the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization as well as at the G20, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The world of work has to refocus on the fundamentals

On the matter of the priorities for governments and social partners to build the future of work Sharan Burrow thinks that we must repair the foundations and social partners have to say what will work for business and for people. We can reshape the world of the economy and the world of the future of our children and our grandchildren. Burrow is one of the B Team leaders, a commissioner on the Global Commission on Business and Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. She was a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos for 2015, 2016 and also joined this year’s all-women co-chair team. The ITUC is a supporter of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). Under Sharan's leadership the ITUC's Workers’ Capital Committee has been strengthened. More than US$ 13 trillion of retirement funds are under joint trustee management and the ITUC and its affiliates are active in both trustee education, corporate governance and shareholder activism.

"We have a vital role to play to protect jobs in existing workplaces and industries by demanding and bargaining for industrial transformation, to organize new quality jobs in the emerging green economy and to fight for the ’Just Transition’ measures that ensure we leave no one behind. This means work for our pension funds too. It means investing for the long term."

Here you can see a full list of the confirmed speakers at Webit.Festival Europe 2018, while here you can get all the information you need about the tickets for the event.

Sriram Prakash, the Global Lead for Innovation M&A and Venturing Services at Deloitte was one of the speakers at Webit.Festival Investments Summit who shared his insight about fueling growth through innovation M&A.

 

Living in an economy of expectations

An innovation can come from anywhere.It can come from a small unknown town in India, it can come from a booming city like New York, it can come from anywhere. If you want to turn your innovation into a billion dollar business though, you need some extra things than the idea itself.  You need an ecosystem, you need entrepreneurs and corporates, you need the governments and different policy makers. And in fact, there are very few cities and ecosystems allowing you to do that but this doesn’t mean that your ideas can’t travel. Ideas have no boundaries anymore and that’s become quite an advantage for all market players. Markets are full of uncertainty today, they are getting saturated and there’s a backlash against globalization. For the past three years revenue growth rates has been on the decline but the share price are on the rise. That’s why innovation has become such a strong priority for companies to grow. Mergers & acquisitions is one of the ways for companies to tap into innovations happening outside of their private ecosystem rather than trying to focus on purely growing organically.

More and more non-technological companies are investing in and acquiring tech companies

This means that a nowadays startup has the option of not just one but more exits and more than one sectors that could be interested in its particular innovation. The process is not one-way only. It’s not only old companies trying to go into digital. Startup companies are also buying some old style companies depending on their needs. Most of the disruptors under the scope of corporates are AI, Robotics, Big Data, Analytics and IoT, finally coming to a stage where the commercial potential can be realised. Venture capital & investment companies trying to get their way through the field should be better in the way of trying to find what people want rather than trying to invent the next Facebook or Uber. The biggest battle is for the future of consumers and the consumer industry as changing as it is. Companies of different sectors are merging and acquiring others out of their area of business and specialization. We see healthcare industry mixing with Fintech, IoT with Data and all together. For the first time there’s a genuine convergence between non-traditional sectors converging around a particular opportunity.

The events in Europe over the past few years draw a bleak picture for the overall future of the continent. The refugee crisis, combined with rise of nationalist movements and Britain’s decision to leave the EU expanded the risk factors for the European project. But The Old Continent can again become the economic juggernaut it once was, as long as it starts using its full potential. One of the main missions of Webit.Foundation during the last 9 years is creating new opportunities for business and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Central and Eastern Europe region. This year’s Webit.Festival Europe will again become a platform for discussion between top level policy makers and business leaders from all over the continent. The Digital Economy Leadership Summit will be chaired by the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and co-hosted by the Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria Ognian Zlatev. The summit’s discussions will focus on the topic of intelligent specialization of the countries in CEE region, that was recently analyzed by Webit’s Executive Chairman Dr. Plamen Russev on his blog. Meanwhile, the high ranked guests of the event will share their thoughts on topics, such as Cyber Security, Well Being, Ageing and Biotech, Disruptive Legislation and Digital Democracy, Boosting EU Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Digital Transformation. On Webit’s stage you can see some of the people, that are shaping the global agenda of World Economic Forum. The head of WEF for Europe and Eurasia Martina Larkin will speak about the Fourth industrial revolution and the way it will alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. Her colleague at WEF and Project leader for Fourth industrial revolution Thomas Philbeck will focus on automation and its role on the changes in employment. The President and Global brand director of Havas Worldwide Jason Jercinovic will share his thoughts about the role of artificial intelligence in modern politics and how AI will be shaping the voter’s profiles in the years to come. In the Disruptive Legislation Session the EU Commission’s Adviser Ilias Lakovidis will speak about addressing the societal challenges through digital innovation, while the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau within the Federal Communications Commission Travis LeBlanc will tell us what kind of legislation we need in order to build a better future. The Investment Director of 3TS Capital Partners Marius Ghenea will share his experience about seizing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls both from the point of view of and investor, but also from a founder’s perspective. Here you can see a full list of the confirmed speakers at Webit.Festival, while here you can get all the information you need about the tickets for the event.

The global economy becomes increasingly digital and decentralized and only those, who adapt best, will be able to survive in the new world economic order. Over the next decade the world will have to deal with problems, such as manufacturing automation and changing labour market, rising cyber crime, overpopulation of the planet and the aging population in developed economies. For the last 12 years European Union’s percentage of the global GDP has fallen from nearly 32% to only about 23%. The main reasons for that are the outsourcing of production and the better position of countries like China and India had for managing the effects of the global economic crisis. But EU still has the tools to remain a leader of the civilized world and to be the engine of the new digital economy. As long as it starts using the full potential of its member states and expand their economic capabilities in the best way possible, while maximizing their human capital. This can happen through smart specialization and shared goals and vision. Two years ago the commissioner for digital economy Andrus Ansip forecasted that Europe can achieve a 10% rise in its e-commerce with a digital single market. The former Estonian prime minister was one of the top guests during Webit’s CEEDS event, which was focused on the digital perspectives for the Central end Eastern Europe region. The idea for a digital single market has become one of the top missions of the European Commission for the years to come and can boost the block’s economy with an annual growth of €165 billion and 1.3% of continent’s GDP. This year Webit continues its mission of hosting top level policy discussion about the digital future of the continent. The Digital Economy Leadership Summit of this years Webit.Festival will again become a platform for presenting the best ideas for the future development of European industry with a focus on the most disadvantaged regions. The event will gather some of the most influential policy makers and top level experts, that shape the global agenda of the World Economic Forum, like the Global Leadership Fellow at WEF Thomas Philibeck, the Head of Europe and Eurasia at WEF Martina Larkin,the President & Global Brand Director of Havas Worldwide Jason Jerinovic and the Director General of Digital Europe John Higgins. They will share their vision and experience in topics, such as automation technologies and the changing balance of the social contract between governments, employers and individuals, how AI is shaping up the profile of the voters and what are the things Europe must do to defend its leadership position under the growing pressures from internal and external events.

One of Webit.Festival Europe's most important summits, the New Economy Leadership Summit, is invitation only highest level event, gathering political leaders (e.g. Presidents, Vice Presidents and top European political leaders), top entrepreneurs and founders, Nobel Laureates, scientists and innovators along with top enterprise executives from Europe and rest of the world. During the 25th and the 26th of April, Webit.Festival 2017 is the place to be in Europe if you want to hear about the latest views of political leaders on some of the major challenges the humankind faces in today's Digital age, well being, ageing, innovations, cyber security, digital transformation, disruptive legislation and many other topics.

We have 3 new top-flight speakers in our lineup for the NELS! They include one of the top executives of World Economic Forum, the mayor of Tirana and a highly respected professor of Economics.

 

• Martina Larkin, Head of Europe and Eurasia, World Economic Forum.

Member of the Executive Committee of World Economic Forum (WEF), Martina Larkin is definitely one of the professionals who fit on the New economy leadership summit scene. Her career starts as a marketing manager at Nestlé, continues with world of banking and consulting and ends up so far with the Swiss nonprofit foundation officially recognized as the international institution for cooperation between the public and the private sectors. Martina’s WEF professional story starts in 2004 as a Senior Project Manager of The Forum of Young Global Leaders - a gathering of 800 selected enterpreneurs. Since then, she has been heading different departments in the international institution for cooperation between public and private sectors, till the moment she became Head of Europe and Eurasia of the WEF two years ago. What connects her professional roles is the work with thousands of experts and leaders representing all the stakeholders involved in creating projects for public goods. In 2011, Martina becomes part of Yale University’s signature leadership development program as a Yale World Fellow helping creative minds to work on world’s contemporary problems. Besides WEF, she is part of several non-profit boards.  

• Prof. Fátima Barros, BEREC Chair 2015, President of the Board, ANACOM Portugal.

Barros is Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for 2015 and Vice-Chair for 2014. Since May 2012, she is the Head of the Portuguese National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANACON). Prior to that, she was a Board Member of several international academic and business institutions. Currently professor of Economics and former Dean of Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics (2004-2012), Prof. Barros holds Ph.D. in Economics from Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and a BA in Economics from the Catholic University (Portugal). Her numerous publications in the area of regulation, competition and contract theory can be read in leading international scientific journals.    

• Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana.

Erion Veliaj is the current, 42nd elected mayor of Albania’s capital Tirana. Prior to that, he was Member of the Parliament for the district of Gjirokastra and Minister of Social Welfare and Youth. During his minister’s mandate, he has worked on much needed reforms, concerning pensions, employment, social welfare payments and professional education. In the period of 2015’s elections, his team created a crowd-sourced multi purpose smartphone application, giving easier access to information for Tirana’s citizens and visitors and a platform for real-time signals and feedback straight to the government on problems or issues in their neighborhoods. This same smartphone app brought to the city of Tirana the 2016 Award from the Ljubljana Forum Future of Cities. It also won the reputation of a tool that "offers an instant access from the mobile phone to all real-time information related to road traffic, urban transport, tourism and many more things of interest".  Mr. Veliaj believes in leading by example - and as the current mayor of Tirana, he works for a notable change in the city. His political career starts in 2003 by founding a civic organization which gained popularity as a youth movement.   The main topics of the summit are the urgent need of the best cyber security solutions, the well being of the whole human kind, digital transformation and the ways for boosting the EU entrepreneurial system. So far speakers at the NELS have been top level executives and innovators like Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, Rossen Plevneliev, President of Bulgaria, Markku Markkula, President, European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Andrus Ansip, Vice President European Commission, Binali Yildirim, Prime Minister Turkey. So, don’t waste time, these are all the important links you need: To buy your tickets for Webit.Festival Europe 2017 (EarlyBird expires soon), click here. To apply for speaking, click here. To apply for partnership, click here. To apply for exhibiting, click here. StartUP? Apply for the Founders Games Challenge by Webit.Foundation and get an opportunity for free festival tickets (500), free exhibition table (100) and opportunity to win 200 000 EUR (only 1), click here. To see the video gallery from Webit.Festival 2016, click here. To learn more about the events that are part of the festival, click here. To see pictures from our previous events, click here. For more information on the Global Webit Series and our events in Dubai, Singapore, New Delhi and Istanbul: www.Webit.Org.