17 must-read stories for the weekend

To fight unemployment, teach young people to be entrepreneurs. Teaching the disadvantaged about entrepreneurship is reaping dividends and needs to be scaled up.

Which ASEAN nation is the most competitive? Remarkably, there’s only one Asian tiger left in the world top 20.

Why climate challenges are an opportunity for Africa. They’ve created an opportunity to leapfrog the fuels that caused the problem and move straight to clean energy. 

5 global health issues you just can’t ignore. Harnessing smartphones and treating disease prevention as a form of investment are among the health megatrends.

Which nations are top for digital? An Asian nation grabs the top spot but Europe dominates the league table.

14 charts on the Asian economy. Chinese investors are looking overseas and the rest of Asia looks attractive.

Why the digital economy is key to growth in Indonesia. Jakarta sends more tweets than any other city in the world — a sign it’s poised for digital-led growth.

An open letter to world leaders urging concrete climate action. 43 CEOs call for public private cooperation to help lead the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient global economy. (Medium)

Business heads need neuroscience. Brain science talks were oversubscribed at this year’s World Economic Forum, making some management academics nostalgic for the days when they were the crowd-pullers. (Financial Times)

Unpacking the 2015 Global Information Technology Report. The Forum’s Thierry Geiger is interviewed on the key points of the study of digital competitiveness. (CNBC Africa) One major talking point: the diverging paths of Hong Kong and Singapore. (South China Morning Post)

India faces $110 billion dollar gap for urban infrastructure development. The funding requirement comes from the Forum’s Urban Development Recommendations for the Government of India report. (Economic Times)

Global spotlight on Indonesia at WEF in Jakarta. The country’s private sector sees the meeting as an opportunity to claim a larger voice in the regional and global community. (Jakarta Globe)

No gain without pain. Worries over a permanent growth slowdown are misplaced, argues Barry Eichengreen. Digital technology is still gaining traction and about to spur a surge in productivity.

How to create skilled US workers with higher-paying jobs. American training and wages tend to get caught in a low-level equilibrium. So how come foreign companies in the United States are investing more in their people?

The genetics of geo-politics. An academic paper argues for the influence of prehistory in shaping today’s conflicts.

California’s new era of heat destroys all previous records. The temperature change is in line with forecasts and the damage being wrought could soon be seen as the ‘new normal’.

A breakthrough in 3D printing. “Why couldn’t a 3D printer work like what we saw with T-1000 in Terminator 2, where you have a 3D object rise from a puddle in essentially real time with essentially no waste to make a real object?”

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Author: Adrian Monck is Managing Director and head of Public Engagement at the World Economic Forum.

Image: People are reflected in mirrors at an entrance of a shopping complex in Tokyo September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai