Singapore (25 July 2019) – Over 300 individuals and leaders from 16 different countries convened at the Shape the World Summit held at the National Design Centre in Singapore from the 20th June 2019 to the 21st June 2019. The 2-days creative summit served as a platform to discuss new ways and solutions that would shape a more equitable world governed by socio-economic rules that enable inclusiveness and sustainability.
The event was co-organised by Consulus and CPG Consultants, and supported by DesignSingapore Council, the Economy of Communion (EoC), New Humanity and the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBSC).
The panel of 18 speakers have backgrounds in different industries and come from 12 different countries. They spoke about issues regarding the economy, business, leadership, cities, healthcare and education.
In his opening speech, Mr Shiraz Latiff, CEO for Consulus Sri Lanka, urged leaders to take action toward creating a more human-orientated economy.
“This is the time for us to take the initiative to create a movement for sustainable capitalism with more humanitarian effort and equality in rewards. This requires us to devise innovative ways to find solutions to create that equitable economy. We need to reimagine every aspect of the economy and come up with innovative methods to empathize, empower and emancipate this universal human being with equality in rewards,” Mr Latiff said.
Mr Tan Shao Yen, Chief Innovation Officer at CPG Consultants, defined what the term sustainable development meant and how leaders should work to achieve it.
“To achieve global sustainability, we need design solutions that extend to not only more people but also different groups of people, in more diverse communities. By seeking greater participation and engagement across levels, the ultimate goal is to benefit people from more if not all communities across the world; not only the wealthy and small selected groups of people,” Mr Tan said.
Many speakers shared ideas on the changes that could be made to shape a more equitable and sustainable world. Professor Anouk Grevin, Associate Professor at the University of Nantes, made a case for businesses that understand the value of giving back.
“Gift dynamics will be the key asset for industry 4.0 businesses. A more equitable economic system will be one that invests in relationships of reciprocity and mutual giving. It will make the difference for reaching a global performance and building a more inclusive society. Tomorrow economy will be an economy based on gift dynamics or it will not be sustainable,” Professor Grevin said.
Professor Annette Pelkmans-Balaoing, Senior Economist at the Partnership Resource Centre, called for leaders to imagine an economic system built on trust and solidarity, a collaborative economy rich with partnerships and economic growth is driven by social capital, social innovation and resilient social relationships. She tasked the youths to shape this future.
“They will be the generation that will transform empathy into real change if they can draw deep into that innate generosity and open up to the awareness that we are one human race, living in one single planet, depending on nature and on each other for our common survival,” Professor Pelkmans said.
Other speakers shared about current issues and specific solutions that are urgently needed today.
Dr Abdul Bari Khan shared his commitment to providing accessible healthcare to the people of Pakistan and how he managed to build a large network of hospitals providing free healthcare to thousands of people.
Mr Abhineet Kaul from Frost and Sullivan talked about the challenge of low-skill trap and called for a systemic approach to raise incomes by for example certifying skilled construction workers who have worked for years in Singapore so that they can get professional work back home instead of going back into subsistence farming.
During the design thinking labs organised in the afternoons, participants were taught the 6-steps of design thinking and collaborated to design and propose methods and solutions that could help address the challenges of today and shape a more sustainable future. The workshops were topic-specific, each focusing on 6 different areas, including the economy, leadership, business, healthcare, cities and education.
The content gathered during these labs will be consolidated into an ebook that will serve as a thought-provoking and ideas generation toolkit, to encourage leaders, professional and citizens at different levels to help shape an equitable economy.
About Shape the World Conference
Shape the World conferences have gathered more than 5,000 delegates from around the region since 2005. The conference was launched in Singapore and has since been introduced to fast-growing economies such as Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The conferences seek to raise consciousness among companies about their role and responsibilities in shaping a New World through building better global companies. It serves as a platform to not only discuss the issues and challenges of today but to also collectively design solutions that could bring about real change.www.shapetheworldconference.org/conferences/
About Consulus
Consulus is a global innovation consultancy with multidisciplinary business and design capabilities. Since 2004, their UNIFY methodology has helped companies gain new capabilities and competitive advantage by redesigning their business models, organisational cultures and brand experiences. This enables them to sharpen their capacity to innovate and meet the challenges of Industry 4.0.
The custom-built solutions that Consulus offers have allowed their clients to increase revenue by over 138%, expand to overseas markets, develop new products and intellectual property and prepare the next generation of leaders to drive and sustain high-growth. Today, Consulus is present in Singapore (World Centre), Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, India, Italy, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States of America, and Vietnam. Consulus is a member of the Economy of Communion business network.
www.consulus.com
About CPG Corporation
CPG Corporation (CPG Corp) is in the business of shaping enduring spaces for today and the future. As the corporatised entity of the former Public Works Department of Singapore, CPG has played a part in shaping Singapore’s skyline with landmark developments such as Singapore Changi Airport, Gardens by the Bay, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, National Gallery Singapore, as well as the National University of Singapore (NUS) campus.
Together with more than 1,500 talented individuals in the CPG group of companies, CPG Corp is one of the leading development professionals in the Asia-Pacific region, providing a full spectrum of infrastructure and building development and management services. Today, the company operates in seven countries and has established a presence in four key regions including Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. www.cpgcorp.com.sg
