This 12th edition of our annual flagship event, the 2016 Women's Forum Global Meeting, builds on the question “Is the sharing economy a sharing world?” We will consider the implications of the sharing economy mega-trend for traditional businesses and international corporations. What will be the impact on international policies, workforce, innovation, ethics, entrepreneurship, urbanism, international business, climate change…? Are we using this trend to make sure we live in a sharing world, or to increase inequalities? We will examine how we work and how we consume. The sharing economy has been heralded as a business mega-trend, with global revenues set to rise from USD 15 billion today to USD 335 billion by 2025. And it’s not in just the United States where “collaborative consumption” and “P2P exchanges through technology” have taken hold. In Europe, Brazil (indeed, much of Latin America), and even China, people are proving happy to hop into strangers’ cars, welcome them into their homes, eat food in their dining rooms, and rent them clothing, cars, boats, and power tools.

The 2016 Women’s Forum Global Meeting takes up the implications of the sharing economy mega-trend for traditionally-organized sectors and industries and for how we work as well as consume. There’s a clearly apparent difference between sharing economy business practices and visions of collaborative societies, though. So our theme for this 12th edition of the Global Meeting -- Is the sharing economy a sharing world? – and the three pillars we have planned around this theme:

1. The sharing economy and the sharing world: A critical exploration of the sharing economy, what’s sharing and not about it, why it has quickly became so popular and how does it work, how is it transforming work and destabilizing industries and sectors, and how are traditional businesses reconfiguring themselves in response. Also featuring sharing economy unicorns and new applications of note.
2. The collaborative cutting edge: Debates on collaborative policies and on developments and trends of consequence for political, social and environmental collaboration. Including sessions on global warming and refugees, science and technology in the sharing space (agriculture, energy, health), and new collaborative urban designs. 3. Leading for new economic opportunities for women: The latest on efforts to advance equal opportunities for all in our economies and societies, and how we can better collaborate for further progress for women and girls. Featuring the CEO Champions, engagement with Gen Y women and men leaders, the opportunity to discuss with members of the Women’s Forum delegations from Canada and the Philippines, and sessions bringing to the Global Meeting speakers and insights from our regional Forums in Dubai, Mexico and Mauritius.
3. Leading for new economic opportunities for women: The latest on efforts to advance equal opportunities for all in our economies and societies, and how we can better collaborate for further progress for women and girls. Featuring the CEO Champions, engagement with Gen Y women and men leaders, the opportunity to discuss with members of the Women’s Forum delegations from Canada and the Philippines, and sessions bringing to the Global Meeting speakers and insights from our regional Forums in Dubai, Mexico and Mauritius.

The spotlight will be on our groundbreaking Women’s Forum Initiatives: CEO Champions, Rising Talents, Women in Media and Women in Sport. We are also creating a series of Women’s Forum Happenings. And in 2016 we are welcoming two Special Delegations, from Canada and from the Philippines.

Canada Delegation