Think Week on "The Digital Economy – Pathways for the Global Sustainability Agenda"
Digital Solutions for Sustainability
Economic Policy Forum (EPF) hosted this year’s Think Week from October 31st – Nov 3rd, 2016, in Beijing, focusing on ‘The Digital Economy – Pathways for the Global Sustainability Agenda’.
During two days of roundtable discussions sustainability-related challenges and benefits of the digital economy were debated. The participants discussed about equal distributions of digital dividends and overall societal effects, regulatory challenges and necessities, along with environmental aspects that need to be factored in. All was rounded off with perspectives from leading Chinese digital companies.
The workshop drew on the topic’s importance in the light of the G20 leaders at the Hangzhou Summit committed to jointly promoting the digital economy as a positive force for sustainable development, as well as the topic prominently featured during the G20 German Presidency. All that while the evolving digital economy will directly impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Think tanks, policy experts, academics, and business representatives developed themes for continued joint research in order to put forward key messages and policy recommendations to international policy processes. Following the two days of roundtable discussions, participants visited two key players in China’s and the world’s digital economy – Huawei and Alibaba. The visitors were introduced to the companies’ digital strategies and discussed upcoming digital developments and respective effects.
For further information on this year’s Think Week please see the interactive agenda containing all material presented during the event and the Think Week Handbook.
Please also refer to last year’s documentation of the annual event here.
