On January 19, the website of Time magazine published an article entitled "How to Solve the Global Crisis of Trust - An Interview with Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum", and the reporter is Edward Fersenthal, editor-in-chief of Time magazine. The full text is excerpted below:
Edward Felsenthal asked: Recently you interviewed Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet. You ask him about working remotely. "We live on borrowed time," he said. What do you think of this and the need to get along face-to-face?
Klaus Schwab: I think remote work sometimes works well for exchanging information and learning from each other, but it doesn't really build trust between people. You need face-to-face contact and some moments off the screen.
Q: What do you think are the main points of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26)?
A: First of all, I think the whole discussion around COP26 has made the world realize how serious the problem of climate change is. This focus on the problem has been a great success. Secondly, COP26 didn't meet all expectations, but I think the point of Glasgow is to show how the business community is at the forefront. Some of these initiatives were created or promoted by the World Economic Forum. The Viable Mission Partnership brings together more than 400 companies, including Aluminium Steel. The third is about nature-based solutions. This is the "1 trillion trees" plan, that is, 1 trillion trees to be planted in the next 10 years. Or, more broadly, a radical transformation of agricultural biodiversity.
Q: What is the theme of this year's Davos? How do you see climate playing in Davos?
A: I've had countless meetings here just to get a feel for what our political and business communities expect, but we need a slogan. The slogan is "Working together to restore trust". Because we believe that the focus should be on working together to make an impact. And the credibility of working together comes from the results achieved.
Q: Before this COVID-19 pandemic, we were clearly in some sort of global crisis of trust. Do you think the pandemic will deepen this crisis?
A: Yes, definitely. Even at the national level, global cooperation has slowed markedly. I think there are two reasons. First, the pandemic has polarized society. In a polarized society, it is much more difficult to make decisions, because decisions, especially political decisions, are usually based on compromise. The second reason is that much of the government's energy is devoted to crisis management. Day-to-day affairs blind you to the longer-term outlook.
Q: Criticism of Davos has been its elitist nature for years. How do you view and address the lack of trust among stakeholders who may not participate in Davos?
A: We have opened our doors to the media. This is more important than ever; almost all meetings are streamed so that the public can participate. We managed to get out and reach out to the public; the Forum established a very strong youth organization. I am convinced of the need to incorporate young voices, as more than 50% of the world's population is under the age of 30.
Q: How do you see the impact of the pandemic on the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
A: I believe that the pandemic has greatly accelerated the technological development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We see this in the field of artificial intelligence, in the field of medicine, in the field of genes. One area of particular interest to me is quantum computing, where there has been considerable progress. My biggest concern is that because these technologies are evolving so fast, policies will need to be put in place to ensure that they serve people and society. All the discussions we have about issues like social media now illustrate that we need to regulate this technological advancement. The danger of this pandemic is that governments are so preoccupied with fighting the pandemic that they don't have much energy to draw the boundaries necessary to ensure that new technologies are truly human-centric.
Source: Reference News Network
![Warmed by Wang Shiyue and Liu Xinyu! [Shy] Wang Shiyue is playful and cute, full of vitality, Liu Xinyu is tall and looks like a star, and she laughs with a sense of idolism. Wang Shiyue and Liu Xin[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)