QI Group is proud to be a partner and active community member of the World Economic Forum, an independent international organization for public and private cooperation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging the foremost leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Since joining the WEF in 2010, the QI Group has consistently participated in global conversations and shared examples of innovative solutions to some of today’s biggest challenges: diversity in society, future-proofing our education system, and building a future-oriented and entrepreneurial company.
2019 Annual Meeting
The 49thWorld Economic Forum Meeting took place January 22-25, 2019 in Davos, Switzerland. This year’s annual meeting brought over 2500 global thought leaders from government, business, civil society under one roof to discuss new opportunities in global cooperation, sustainable development, economic outlook, diversity and disability inclusion, mental health and wellbeing, challenges and solutions to building a shared future. The theme for the meeting was “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Learn more about the 2019 WEF Annual Meeting.
QI Group’s thought leadership on the future of work and the need for a more effective delivery of the education system was reflected throughout the meeting. This year, QI Group Executive Chairman, Vijay Eswaran was a panelist on a session titled The Demographics of the Gig Workforce.I his remarks, Eswaran pointed out that the concept of the gig economy has been around for over a century, but it’s only in recent times it has become popular under this new term. In its current shape, it is a transient economy, yet to be fully defined and millennials seem to fit perfectly into it.
Some of the other important points discussed on the panel highlight the need for a new type of education requirement to help in creating a new architecture for the gig workforce. Employers are increasingly looking for employees with a certain type of skillsets, not academic qualifications and yet universities today fail to prepare the students for this new world of work. Eswaran observed that our educational institutions were designed in the 19thcentury, staffed by people from the 20thcentury, but are expected to create a workforce for the 21stcentury. More flexible and inclusive schools may prove more beneficial in upskilling the next generation of workers.
Please read a summary of Vijay Eswaran’s remarks from this panel here.
Ongoing Engagements
As a partner of the World Economic Forum, the QI Group is actively engaged in several multistakeholder projects and events to advance the progress of critical issues.
Shaping the Future of Education and Work Initiative
QI Group is committed to address how talent can be developed, trained and deployed to ensure that people fulfill their potential. To address the challenge, QI focuses on the key issue of closing the skills gap.
Business plays a vital role in equipping future workforces. QI Group in collaboration with the WEF, its partners and experts in the Closing the Skills Gap projectaim to create global and national platforms and tools to address existing skills gaps and to redesign education and training for the future. Specifically, the platforms include task forces which have established to promote cooperation to close the skill gaps, the task of compiling the latest knowledge and insights to help leaders make informed decisions and gathering measurable commitments from companies to train, upskill and reskill present and future workforces.
ASEAN Region
The QI Group has been an active member of the ASEAN community. With 630 million people and economic growth averaging 5% a year, ASEAN is of the world’s most exciting regions. But could ASEAN potentially grow higher and stronger? QI is working closely with the WEF’s ASEAN community of leaders to unlock the region’s outstanding potential and ensure the economic growth is sustainable and inclusive.
In particular, as an e-commerce company, QI is contributing to the Digital ASEAN projectin which the goal is to shape the ASEAN digital economy by harmonizing digital policy and regulations, improving digital talents and human capital and tackling cyber-risks.
In addition to the WEF Annual Meeting, QI also takes part in events throughout the year. These events include the Sustainable Development Impact Summit, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions and the World Economic Forum on ASEAN.
