FINDINGS

The new reality of our global society has led to the need for unprecedented communication and collaboration. Investments in information technology can power transformative impact for the private sector, the public sector and the civil sector. Acceleration and improvements in governance, productivity, creativity, participation and innovation are all possible. Many of the technological tools may already exist, but may not be in a form useable by people looking for a lightweight, inexpensive yet agile solution.

YGL RESPONSE

In collaboration with the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer community and other leading technology organizations and individuals, our initiative in this area focuses on extending accessibility to these technologies to as many people as possible by developing, sharing and promoting platforms and applications to the global commons. We will unite all relevant, existent open source resources and projects to create the building blocks needed by organizations around the world. We will also raise awareness around the solutions available, and assist with solution deployment.

Key technical areas of focus will be on open source software hosted on cloud infrastructure. We will provide guidance and documentation for the consumption of public clouds and blue prints for the construction of private clouds. In these clouds we will utilize open source software for web presence and communication and collaboration tools that we will curate, localize and provide documentation for.

We will achieve development of vertical solutions through a combination of funded development, community integration and stakeholder alignment. Segments such as eGovernment, eEducation, eHealth and others will have technical solutions coming out of our collaborative creation processes.

GOALS

Our goal is to achieve reference implementations of our lightweight, highly agile technical solutions by the end of the year.

Finding

Traditionally, cross-border capital tended to flow from developed to developing countries, while today emerging economies are becoming both the source and destination of cross-border flows. The tri-party relationships between the recipient countries, traditional investors/donors and the new emerging market investors have become dynamic and sensitive.

YGL Response

This task force seeks to understand the key issues related to investments between emerging economies and promote sustainable capital flows from economic, financial, social and environment perspectives. The task force covers a wide range of activities carried out by YGL members, including promoting best practice on sustainability in specific investment transactions, organizing programmes and events to deepen understanding among the three parties and developing thought leadership analysis on this topic.

Key 2010 Accomplishments

First workshops held (during World Economic Forum on Africa and Annual Meeting of New Champions), third-party consultations held (e.g. Goldman Sachs meeting in China) and concept finalized.

Next Milestones

To define what success measure they should be aiming for. What strategic opportunities should they get attached to?

Leadership

Kevin Lu, Martyn Davis, Hafsat Abiola, Karim Wade

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Finding

Economic development in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) faces a critical challenge in the 21st century: the region’s youth bulge. With 65% under the age 30, the region has one the youngest populations in the world and one of the highest youth unemployment rates – over 25% (in some countries it is over 50%). The long-term prosperity and stability of the region hinges on the opportunities afforded to this generation. This is a dire situation that requires immediate action. So far, actions taken by government have not come close to creating the jobs required, and every year millions of young people attain working age with no hope of employment. As things stand today, the MENA region lacks several key components critical for a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem.

YGL Response

The Arab YGL community will draw on its collective work in various spheres of the entrepreneurship ecosystem – including education, awareness, mentoring and access to funding – to influence entrepreneurship-friendly policy decisions of Arab governments.

Key 2010 Accomplishments

First workshops held (during World Economic Forum on Middle East) and concept finalised.

Next Milestones

White paper to be developed with recommendations. Country dialogues to be organised to discuss and refine policy recommendations.

Leadership

Pawan Patil, Habib Haddad, and Soraya Salti leading the way. Others involved to a lesser degree: Emile Cubeisy, Abdulsalam Haykal, Khaldoon Tabaza, Zainab Salbi, and Sheik Mohammed Al-Khalifa

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