The theme for this year’s Forum is “The Implications of Exponential Technology for Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. Innovation has led to a vast array of new opportunities for companies and disrupted production chains around the world. To compete for investments, countries will have to go beyond the traditional approach of relying on research and development to boost economic growth, and instead turn their attention towards building strong entrepreneurship ecosystems, new skillsets, better partnerships with the private sector and competitive industries to maximize the potential of technology for growth.
The key objectives of the Forum include:
- Explore with developed and developing countries on how innovation can enhance manufacturing competitiveness, catalyze the development of new industries such as advanced manufacturing, facilitate the integration of economies into global value chains and promote economic development.
- Examine the disruptive impact of exponential technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, supercomputing, and advanced digital manufacturing, on manufacturing industries in developed and developing economies
- Serve as a platform to promote global dialogue between academics and practitioners, the public and the private sector, in developed and developing countries on their experiences in fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and improving institutional capacity to harness gains from technology.
The Forum will also include:
- Global launch of the World Bank Group’s framework on the Future of Manufacturing with a focus on implications for developing countries
- Global launch of the World Bank’s flagship report on “Building Firm Capacity for Innovation, When Does R&D Matter?” will take place during the Forum on 4 October.
- Global launch of INSEAD’s Global Innovation Index
Participants and partners will include international experts on innovation, government representatives from advanced and emerging economies, private sector leaders and entrepreneurs as well as innovation specialists from the World Bank and other development organizations.
For more information about the conference, please contact Amira Karim at akarim@worldbank.org.