At Davos Ideas come forward and necessary collaborations are reinforced – Mark Foster

Mark Foster is guest blogging for the Forum. He is Group Chief Executive at Accenture and a member of the Global Health Advisory Council and a Strategic Partner with the Forum. He will be attending the Annual Meeting in Davos.

I am approaching my tenth Davos with the usual sense of anticipation of interesting conversations and new connections amid the mountains.  This year’s meeting is taking place in a fascinating “in between” macro environment with the world slowly moving back to growth, but at low levels and multiple speeds.  The corporate world is coming to Davos  in general good shape with regard to the performance of many organisations as they have navigated their way out of the downturn – but they come with very different levels of confidence about what to do next and how to place bets in a volatile and risk-laden world.  

The clouds of domestic government deficits in the western world and the increasing visibility of the impacts on citizens is creating environments of continued caution and risk-adversity.  While in the emerging markets growth continues and the issues are how to manage growth and expectations and avoid bubbles, crashes and polarisation among the winners and losers.  We are looking to discuss our latest research on “New Waves of Growth” which is particularly focused on helping companies and countries in the developed world find additional growth in what appears to be a low-growth environment.
 
I will also be looking to attend many of the sessions around the theme of Health in my capacity as Chair of the Global Health Advisory Board of the Forum.   As a Board, whose members are drawn from across the spectrum of corporate, government and third sector players with interest in this space, we have been exploring the pervasive, cross-sector impact of health on economic development.  We have been looking for ways to engage business leaders from all industries in the global challenges of both communicable and chronic diseases. 

I will be particularly looking forward to the session which is dedicated to a consultation preparing for the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Disease coming up in the autumn of 2011.  There is a real imperative to make sure that the voice and role of business is appropriately represented in this vital area;  the potential impact that corporations across many sectors can have on wellness, targeting major disease burdens, such as diabetes and heart disease, and acting as delivery vehicles for improvement in both the developed and developing world is huge.  I am looking forward to seeing the ideas come forward and the necessary collaborations reinforced.