Carnegie Mellon University
June 30, 2019

CMU Faculty Join World Economic Forum Meeting in China

By Jason Maderer

Jason Maderer
  • Marketing and Communications
  • 412-268-1151

A group of Carnegie Mellon University researchers will represent CMU on a global stage this holiday week in Dalian, China. They are attending the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of New Champions, marking the ninth consecutive year that Carnegie Mellon has participated in World Economic Forum events. The university has become a staple each summer in China and at January's annual gathering in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

A team of three researchers will form an all-CMU panel to lead what the forum calls an IdeasLab. Alessandro Acquisti and Pedro Ferreira from the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy will join Anita Williams Woolley from the Tepper School of Business to discuss trust, privacy and decision-making. Their conversation for international thinkers and policy makers centers around the forum's 2019 theme: Leadership 4.0: Succeeding in a New Era of Globalization.

A fourth member of the CMU community, Gabriel O'Donnell, will visualize large data sets on a billboard-sized display at the conference. EarthTime, which was developed in Carnegie Mellon's CREATE Lab, is a tool that allows international researchers to tell stories about global topics. This week's themes include sustainability, urban fragility and modern slavery. It marks the fifth time O'Donnell and the CREATE Lab team have brought EarthTime to China.

Finally, Mellon College of Science Associate Professor Po-Shen Loh will attend the conference as a member of the Forum's Young Scientists community. He was one of 40 international researchers chosen last year by the Forum for the two-year, professional development program. Loh is a mathematician who focuses his research on the intersection of discrete systems, probability and computer science.

The World Economic Forum brings together business, government, academic and civil society leaders from around the world to help shape global, regional and industry agendas. CMU faculty members have had an unusually strong representation in these meetings since 2011, leading discussions, giving talks, demonstrating technology and adding their distinctive expertise to those of other world leaders.

Carnegie Mellon is also one of only 28 universities in the world that make up the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF). GULF provides a unique platform for the world's top universities to discuss higher education and research while helping to shape the World Economic Forum agenda. GULF also fosters discussion on global policy issues between these universities, the business community and a broad range of stakeholders.

Carnegie Mellon University is committed to educating, empowering and aligning its community around the world to address the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, which aim to create a more peaceful, prosperous planet with just and inclusive societies. Recognizing the critical contributions that universities are making through education, research and practice, CMU publicly committed to undertaking a Voluntary University Review of the Global Goals. The 17 Global Goals cover wide-ranging issues, including reducing violence, ending extreme poverty, promoting equitable education, fighting inequality and injustice, advancing economic growth and decent work, and preventing the harmful effects of climate change by 2030.

The preceding story demonstrates CMU's work toward attaining Global Goal 17.

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