Insights

Investment in health, particularly in innovation-led digital health, is essential for economic growth and social stability. India exemplifies this with initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, leading to significant healthcare improvements and economic benefits. Evidence shows that investing in digital tools for non-communicable diseases could save millions of lives and generate substantial economic gains. Collaborations in the public and private sectors can enhance health outcomes and productivity, while reducing system waste. However, disparities remain, with billions lacking essential services and significant financing gaps in poorer regions.
Africa | Financial services, ICT, Health
How India proves health and digital health are the world’s best investments
The latest Chief Economists’ Outlook reveals a cautiously optimistic view of the global economy, with over half of chief economists indicating a view of weakened conditions, a decrease from 72% in the previous report. Strong market performance is attributed to an AI-driven investment boom, promising productivity gains primarily in the US and China, although concerns about job losses and a potential AI stock bubble persist. While many economists anticipate increased bilateral and regional trade agreements, there are fears of rising global debt levels, with nearly half predicting a sovereign debt crisis in emerging markets.
Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, China, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe | Financial services
Vigilant anticipation and a ‘good’ bubble: Chief economists read the global economy’s mixed signals
Wildfires are increasingly destructive and costly, with recent incidents like the $40 billion in insured losses from the January 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires highlighting their severe impact. Current strategies focused mainly on suppression and post-disaster response are inadequate. The paper emphasizes the need to shift towards prevention and planning, advocating for long-term wildfire resilience through measurable and financeable risk reduction. It stresses coordinated actions involving finance, technology, nature-based solutions, and community engagement to lower losses and enhance community resilience globally.
Financial services
From Wildfire Risk to Resilience: The Investment Case for Action
Design choices in emerging technologies significantly influence children's development, often prioritizing profit over well-being. The unchecked growth of social media has already led to rising mental health issues among children, including addiction-like behaviors linked to excessive screen time. The advent of generative AI introduces further risks, as devices produce personalized content that can distort children's perceptions and erode essential human interactions. It is critical to embed child-centered safeguards in AI to prevent these outcomes and foster responsible innovation, ensuring that technological advancements support rather than harm children's development.
ICT, Health, Education
How can we centre children’s best interests with safe and responsible innovation
The AI supercycle requires robust infrastructure to effectively support its growth, transitioning intelligence from devices to real-world applications. Current AI technologies have demonstrated significant productivity gains, but they are not the final development. To address escalating compute and power needs, a shift to distributed AI architectures is essential, allowing for efficient movement of intelligence across various locations. This necessitates AI-native networks that prioritize reliability and low latency, transforming how critical systems like factories and energy grids operate. Ultimately, network integrity will become integral to safety and security as AI evolves.
ICT, Education
Power, connectivity and the next phase of the AI supercycle
The integration of AI and human capabilities is essential for addressing real-world challenges, as highlighted by discussions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026. AI’s growing role reshapes industries, emphasizing collaboration rather than a competitive dynamic. Combining AI's data-driven execution with human judgment fosters innovation and problem-solving. Organizations must adapt their structures to promote trust and collaboration, while leaders must manage these human-AI integrations effectively. Cultivating a skills-oriented culture is vital, as adaptive skills and supportive environments enhance competitiveness in an evolving landscape shaped by technology.
Education
Why AI without humanity is incomplete
AI performance varies significantly due to how it is utilized, leading to "workslop," which is inefficient AI output that appears polished but lacks substance. There are two user mindsets: "pilots," who engage thoughtfully with AI, and "passengers," who use it as a shortcut. Leaders play a crucial role in shaping AI usage through effective communication, fostering a culture of clarity and collaboration. Training in relational skills improves AI interaction, enhancing productivity and innovation. Addressing mindset, skills, and communication can mitigate workslop and boost organization-wide performance.
Education
Workslop: Why AI performance depends on how we think, talk and lead
Researchers from Kellogg’s Center for Science of Science and Innovation developed SciSciGPT, an AI model designed to enhance scientific research efficiency. SciSciGPT outperformed human researchers in tasks ranging from statistical analysis to data visualization and could answer complex questions in minutes. The model consists of a large language model (LLM), five specialized AI agents for workflow management, data processing, analysis, and evaluation, and access to a comprehensive science database (SciSciNet). In pilot studies, SciSciGPT demonstrated superior effectiveness, clarity, and depth of analysis compared to human researchers, emphasizing its role as an augmentation rather than a replacement for human creativity in research.
Can a New GPT Accelerate Human–AI Collaboration in Science?
Brunei Darussalam is enhancing its health system through the BruHealth digital platform, initially used for COVID-19 contact tracing. With 63% of the population utilizing it, renewed focus includes expanding cancer and cardiovascular disease screenings and implementing AI-informed health guidance. Collaboratively with EVYD Technology and the Novartis Foundation, Brunei aims to leverage real-time data to shift from reactive to predictive healthcare, improving early risk detection and targeting interventions. The approach is informed by successful frameworks like CARDIO4Cities, demonstrating the need for multidisciplinary partnerships to develop effective, data-driven health systems.
Barbados | Financial services, Education, Health
What Brunei's innovations can teach us about data-driven health systems
Egypt's general budget debt decreased from nearly 96% of GDP in June 2023 to approximately 85.6% by June 2025 through innovative debt management strategies. External debt reached around $156 billion in 2024, highlighting ongoing fiscal pressure. Proposed measures for addressing debt issues include reshaping debt profiles through conversions and swaps, aimed at lowering repayment burdens. Successful examples, such as debt-for-climate initiatives, link debt management to social outcomes. Egypt's experience could serve as a valuable model for other developing economies grappling with high debt levels.
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Namibia, Philippines, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe | Health, Financial services
How Egypt tackles its debt could be an example to other debt laden economies
Social entrepreneurs are transforming economic systems to enhance sustainability and inclusivity, compensating for anticipated declines in development funding of $67 billion by 2026. Enterprises like Drinkwell in Bangladesh, which provides safe drinking water, exemplify this movement. There are approximately 10 million social enterprises globally, generating $2 trillion in revenue and creating nearly 200 million jobs. These enterprises promote social procurement, improve government services, and encourage collaboration. With increased corporate interest in ethical sourcing, social enterprises like VEJA demonstrate the potential for combining social impact with profitability, thus redefining market dynamics amidst rapid change.
Financial services, ICT, Education, Health
The business of impact in a changing world
In a rapidly changing world marked by AI advancements, geopolitical uncertainty, and climate challenges, dialogue and collaboration have become essential for effective leadership. The World Economic Forum's 2026 Annual Meeting emphasizes "The Spirit of Dialogue" as critical for bridging divides and fostering trust among nations, sectors, and generations. Two perspectives highlight this approach: one advocates for Africa's role in a cooperative, people-centered AI initiative, prioritizing development over dominance; the other illustrates the successful synergy between human intuition and AI in chess, underscoring the potential of combined strategies to tackle complex global issues.
Africa | Health, Education
Redefining leadership: Why we need dialogue more than ever in a changing world
Securing an escalating supply of critical minerals is essential to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, as demand for these minerals—used in clean energy technologies—is projected to surge more than 3.4 times by 2040. The mining industry must collaborate with governments and technology leaders to mine these resources responsibly. Innovations in AI and advanced processing can increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact in mineral production. As reliance on critical minerals grows, so do expectations for environmental stewardship and social impact, making trust paramount in the minerals economy.
Education
Critical minerals: Why innovation begins beneath the Earth’s surface
Effective AI governance is crucial for driving sustainable growth by enhancing customer confidence, regulatory compliance, and long-term competitiveness. Early integration of governance prevents risks like siloed data and inefficient processes, allowing AI initiatives to scale responsibly. The three pillars of effective AI governance—Responsible, Ethical, and Trustworthy AI—focus on minimizing harm, reflecting stakeholder values, and ensuring reliable, bias-free systems. Organizations can achieve business value alongside social responsibility by clarifying accountability, promoting fairness, and fostering transparency. Establishing governance frameworks, such as dedicated review boards and strategic blueprints, enhances operational effectiveness and innovation.
Why effective AI governance is becoming a growth strategy, not a constraint
Labeling AI as "actors" blurs the line between human creativity and automated systems, complicating accountability for harm. AI lacks genuine lived experience and emotional depth, risking a flattening of culture and storytelling. This may lead audiences to mistake abundance for originality, diminishing the value of human work. The responsibility for any issues arising from AI should rest with its human creators, not the synthetic systems. To mitigate these risks, industries should maintain clear distinctions between synthetic media and human roles, ensure human accountability for AI outputs, and provide truthful representations at all user interfaces.
Education
Why labelling AI an ‘actor’ creates real-world risks and how to avoid them
The design of social robots must prioritize ethical considerations and public acceptance as they become integral to various sectors like healthcare and education. A survey conducted in Dubai revealed that people prefer anthropomorphic robots over highly human-like designs, with acceptance varying by context and cultural background. Key priorities for effective robot design include incorporating local social norms, allowing for public feedback to refine designs, and establishing regulatory frameworks that promote innovation while ensuring accountability. Ongoing discussions address the preservation of human identity and the necessity of governance to manage biases and uphold public trust in these technologies.
Education
How can we design social robots in the most ethical and equitable way?
Space-based data centres are emerging as a solution to the energy and infrastructure demands of the AI revolution, which is straining Earth's resources. Traditional data centres consume about 1.5% of global power, a figure expected to rise, leading to an impending energy crunch. Space offers a sustainable alternative, leveraging uninterrupted solar power and natural cooling without consuming fresh water. Orbital data centres can be efficiently scaled in modular designs, enabling rapid deployment. This approach presents a viable means to support the future of AI while minimizing environmental impact, necessitating discussions at major forums like the World Economic Forum.
How data centres in space sustainably enable the AI revolution
China's trade surplus reached a record US$1.2 trillion in 2025, defying expectations that US tariffs would hamper its export growth. Although exports to the US dropped by 20%, significant gains were made in exports to Africa (26%), ASEAN (13%), and the EU (8%), as China diversified its trade routes. This “great reallocation” has led to increased imports from third-party countries like Vietnam and Mexico, effectively allowing the US to continue purchasing Chinese goods through intermediaries. China's success in high-value sectors highlights its shift from a manufacturing hub to a high-tech supplier, even as domestic demand weakens.
Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, China, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Have US tariffs failed to bite? China’s trade surplus hits a record US$1.2 trillion
The discovery economy is fueled by technology platforms enabling users, particularly small creators and businesses, to showcase their skills and fill critical workforce gaps. Trust, equitable access to resources, and investment in digital education are essential for these platforms to operate responsibly. MSMEs play a pivotal role, utilizing platforms like TikTok to reach broader audiences and inspire new skills in others, contributing to economic growth. For example, creators have generated significant revenue and community engagement through innovative content sharing. Technology companies must prioritize trust-building and resource accessibility to harness the full potential of the discovery economy.
ICT, Education
The discovery economy: How small creators could be driving economic growth
Power plants in Ukraine have faced hundreds of attacks due to the ongoing conflict, emphasizing the need for enhanced energy security. Distributed renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, provide a resilient alternative to centralized fossil fuel systems, which have proven vulnerable. Significant investments are being made into decentralized energy resources and battery storage to bolster infrastructure resilience. Collaboration among governments, financial institutions, and private entities is driving the revitalization of Ukraine's energy system, transforming energy into a strategic asset in the face of threats.
Russian Federation, Ukraine | Financial services
Energy is the new frontline of security: Lessons from Ukraine’s battle-tested system

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