Davos 2023 Day 1 - hear the podcast

It’s Day 1 at Davos 2023. And on the first of the daily podcast shows that dropping every morning this week, we hear from the president of the World Economic Forum on what to expect, we hear about artificial intelligence that can prevent wildfires, we take a peek into the metaverse and hear music played on an instrument with a 1,000 year history.

Subscribe on any podcast platform: https://pod.link/1504682164.

Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum:

“We have 1,700 of the leading business people. We have almost 400 public figures, ministers, head of states and also civil society. And what we need to avoid is that the world goes into a new recession. We need to recreate global growth. It has to be inclusive, it has to create jobs. But without growth, there will be no prosperity. And we also know that we have to stop the fragmentation that we are currently seeing of the global economy. We have to continue to trade with each other, to invest with each other. That's the only way to also make sure that we will revive economic growth.

“For me, it is so important that we continue to have a dialogue with each other that we also try to find solutions to global challenges. Global challenges need global solutions, be it economic growth, be it trade, but also on biodiversity, but also on climate. We really are in the same boat and we have to act accordingly. Lately we have seen wars, we have seen conflicts, and all this is also leading to a situation where there is less likely that we can solve the global challenges if it ends with confrontations and wars. What we need is to use this opportunity to come together and find areas where we can cooperate, even in the world with competition.

“What we need is to use this opportunity to come together and find areas where we can cooperate, even in a world with competition.”

Kay Firth-Butterfield, Head of Artificial Intelligence, World Economic Forum:

“At the moment, wildfires are a huge plague to the planet. Or in 2021, they emitted 1.76 billion tons of carbon. And of course, you know, there’s the huge damage to the environment, to property and sadly, loss of life. And so what we hope is that because the algorithm at the moment is set for the Mediterranean area, we will see it in the Mediterranean this summer, and we're already working with other geographies like Brazil, South Africa, California, Australia, to see whether when and whether we can bring it to those areas as well.”

Cathy Li, Head of Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment & Sport, World Economic Forum:

Cathy Li: “The definition of interoperability: it is founded on the ability for users to participate across environments and technologies, for data to circulate freely and securely, for systems to exchange information seamlessly. So, a very straightforward and easy to understand example is email, that we're using today. The fact that I can send a email to you from my Gmail account and you can receive it on your Yahoo account is a perfect illustration of how protocols and standards could be put in place and enable this type of interactions [in the metaverse].”

The opening concert: I Sea You

Joseph Tawadros, musician:

“It's really quite a privilege to be playing here and hopefully reach some ears that weren’t ready for it and you know there's a lot of focusing on other things and we know that, but it's great that there is an artistic focus this year and a cultural focus and a nice, diverse programme for the attendees.”

Welcome to the age of the polycrisis: the Global Risks Report 2023

What does the future look like for energy, and for our jobs?

The metaverse: how to build something we can all gain from

Subscribe on any platform: https://pod.link/1504682164

Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club. Follow all the action from the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023 at wef.ch/wef23 and across social media using the hashtag #WEF23.