Skoll World Forum: What will the world look like 50-100 years from now?

1. DARE TO IMAGINE

What will the world look like 50-100 years from now?

“We are quickly becoming a global neuro-network. The power of a correct idea in this interconnected age spreads so quickly that scale can happen on a never-before-seen pace,” says Premal Shah of Kiva.

In this futuristic short video created for the opening of the 10th Anniversary of the Skoll World Forum, we asked friends and members of the Forum community such as Elon Musk, Arianna Huffington, Sakena Yacoobi, Joi Ito, Shaifali Puri, Sarah Caddick, Geoffrey West, and junior genius Tanishq Abraham that very question. 

The problems facing our world are so large that they demand disruptive thinking. We don’t have time to think in incremental terms. It’s time to challenge the status quo, anddare to imagine what we can do.

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What did four people ‘dare to imagine’ ten years ago in a bar in Silicon Valley? Watch and find out how a napkin became ‘the Davos of social entrepreneurship’.

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Missed our live coverage from Oxford? Catch some highlights here. Please note, videos from all the sessions and plenaries will be uploaded here over the coming weeks. 

2. 178 DAYS LATER

Six months ago, we set out with the bold idea of taking a once-a-year event in Oxford, online and year-round. 175 articles, 1,300 curated links and 178 days later we’re asking “so what?”. We’d like you to help us answer that question.

What do you get out of Skoll World Forum Online as a reader? If you’ve written content or engaged in a debate, did it help you in your work? Would the community value being able to post jobs?

Your input and feedback will help shape the next 178 days of Skoll World Forum Online.
Click here to help answer this brief set of questions.

3. MEET THE CLASS OF 2013

Each year, the Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship to a select group of social entrepreneurs whose proven innovations had demonstrated impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Meet this year’s award recipients and learn WHY they are innovative:
Gopi Gopalakrishnan, World Health Partners 
Video introduction | Op-ed: “Connecting The Dots For Basic Healthcare” 

Chris Underhill, BasicNeeds
Video introduction | Op-ed: “An Economic and Social Approach to Mental Health”

Mushtaq Chhapra, The Citizens Foundation 
Video Introduction | Op-ed: “Overcoming the Odds: Children’s Education in Pakistan”

Salman Khan, Khan Academy
Video Introduction | Op-ed: “How to Bring Quality Online Education to a Global Student Population”

Carne Ross, Independent Diplomat
Video Introduction

Gemma Mortensen, Crisis Action
Video Introduction

4. HOWEVER LONG THE NIGHT

“The issue of female genital cutting is not one that many people are necessarily eager to discuss. In Western cultures, the practice is most commonly referred to as ‘female genital mutilation’ and is generally viewed as a heinous act of cruelty born from gender inequality that girls are forced to endure,” says author Aimee Molloy in her recent book that tells the story of Molly Melching, founder of Tostan.

“But I admit that it was not the issue of FGC that drew me to this story. It was Molly herself. How had a woman like her—a sixty-two year old single mother from Illinois—managed to devise a strategy to possibly bring an end to a highly entrenched and revered custom that has existed for nearly two thousand years?” Read an excerpt from her book, However Long The Night, here. 

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Watch for Fred de Sam Lazaro’s report on efforts to end the practice of female genital cutting on Thursday’s PBS NewsHour.

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Watch Molly Melching deliver her powerful keynote from the Thursday morning session of this year’s Skoll World Forum.

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In Senegal, nearly 6,000 communities have declared they were abandoning FGC and the government has a target to eliminate it entirely by 2015. 

5. DELIVERING SOCIAL IMPACT

How do we deliver healthcare, education, nutrition, financial inclusion and other social goods in a sustainable manner to the populations that need them most? As part of ananthology of essays published by McKinsey & Company in honor of the 10th Anniversary of the Skoll World Forum, we asked over 25 of the world’s leading thinkers, policymakers and entrepreneurs to share their views.

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Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, believes we’re on the verge of an emerging science of delivery.

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Tony Blair reveals three essential lessons about how to deliver real change in government.

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“If you’re reading this in the United States or the United Kingdom, then congratulations: you live in one of the unhealthiest nations in the world,” declares Jamie Oliver.

6. THE REST OF THE STORY

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What happens when you combine 140+ change makers, renowned photographer Robert Fogarty, and a black magic marker?

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A lot was said and done during the 2013 Skoll World Forum, but for those with shorter appetites, check out what was said, tweet by tweet (and don’t forget you can always find more of this @skollworldforum).

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What does it mean to be a successful country? Is it GDP? Or is it time to evaluate based on the well-being of the population with questions such as “Do I have enough to eat? Do I have shelter? Can I get an education?”

Using social and environmental outcomes for 50 countries, the Social Progress Index, launched at this year’s Skoll World Forum, allows examination of a country’s well-being independent of economic variables. What we find is that economic growth does help well-being, but it is just one factor. South Africa and Costa Rica, for example, have very similar levels of GDP but Costa Rica does much, much better on social progress. Similarly, Ghana has lower GDP than Nigeria but much better social progress. Economic growth alone is insufficient as an indicator of a country’s development.

Read more about the SPI from Executive Director, Michael Green and discover the data.
Watch Michael Porter deliver his remarks about the Social Progress Index during this year’s Skoll World Forum.