The World Needs Smart Growth

By Jeong Kim*, President, Bell Labs and President of Corporate Strategy, Alcatel-Lucent

With each passing day – as the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions at Dalian draws near, I find that I’m spending more and more time thinking about the dimensions of this year’s theme: “Mastering Quality Growth.” I’ve wondered what exactly is it that we want to “grow?” Is it our objective economic performance, and if so, which criterion of economic growth should we use? Employment? Income? Capital? Non-poverty? Does growth in one imply growth in all?  What is the role of innovation in economic growth?

Or perhaps it is social growth? For example happiness or satisfaction – I suspect that we could even consider other growth objectives such as “our capacity to achieve relevance” and making a difference.
 
One of the sessions where I will be speaking on Thursday Sept 15th will examine the role of “Growth through Science”. Some of the questions that the panel will need to consider include how can science and innovation help increase life expectancy?  Is quality growth related to longevity?

In my preparation, I’ve thought about the mechanisms through which science will either convert into growth or function only to increase knowledge for its own sake.  With today’s population growth, particularly in emerging and developing countries, we are beginning to encounter resource constraints.  Some may say the world is getting flatter.  Some may see this as a challenge, but I believe it is an opportunity.  An opportunity where the real question is “how can we have smart growth”? What role does science and innovation play in achieving smart growth? How can we increase life expectancy through, for example, the distribution of clean water or personalized medicine?  How can we ensure this growth is sustainable, inclusive and green?
 
I am excited about debating these questions with Young Scientists, Tech Pioneers and all stakeholders at next week’s World Economic Forum Summer Davos and also with you.  Send me your thoughts.  And I look forward, as a global community, to finding the answer on how do we master quality growth through “smart growth”.

*Jeong Kim is President, Bell Labs and President of Corporate Strategy, Alcatel-Lucent. He is attending the upcoming World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions held in Dalian, China 14-16 September 2011.