We live in a deeply connected – and deeply divided world. We have found a way to put man on a moon, but accepted massive starvation and social exclusion. Half of the world population is disconnected from the global economy – and it is about time we have that taken care of.
Ready to bridge the gap between rich and poor, and connect the entire world to real prosperity? Have idea on new rules of the game in business? Excited to fast forward to the world that works for all?
For the First Round of the competition, the challenge is to propose an original idea that re-invents the Future of Prosperity for a sustainable world that works for all. Acceptable ideas include:
* A new policy, new law, new regulation,
* A new partnership, organization,
* A new collaborative network,
* A new product or service, or a new way of using existing products and services
* New networks, projects or initiatives.
p>Imagined as a multi-year open innovation competition, each year Challenge: Future focuses on one specific theme, a universal challenge to be re-imagined and re-invented. We are delighted to announce that the theme of the inaugural 2009-2010 academic year is the Future of Connecting.
The global economic crisis of 2008-2009 has brought about many surprises and many discoveries. Among the countless losses, failures, struggles and confusions, one discovery stood out with a surprising clarity: never before did the world experience such depths of our global interconnectedness. Penetrating boundaries of countries, industries, social sectors and cultures, thoughts and actions of a small group of decision makers rippled throughout the world, making exceedingly visible the myriad of ties that connect us to each other. It may not have been the most positive experience of interconnectedness, but, without doubt, one of the most powerful. The question is: do we see this discovery as a mere side effect of a global economic turmoil, or do we take it as an immense opportunity to re-imagine – and re-design – the future of connecting?
Challenge: Future 2009-2010 Theme of the Year, the Future of Connecting, offers a number of angles and layers to be explored. From most obvious issues of communication, information technology, internet, marketing channels, tourism and transportation, to more subtle issues of disease transmission, knowledge transfer, and border control, the 2009-2010 offers many questions to be answered. What does a future of mobile phones look like? How do we create events and learning experiences that truly connect? Can we sustain the climate change costs of the current transportation solutions? Will the need for paper disappear in the near future?
The Future of Connecting is for us to create.
