A lot of business deals are taking place here, but the Congress Center isn’t where they are happening. The hotels surrounding the Congress Center are where most of them are clinched. The businessmen who are here are smart operators. They want to make the most of their time in Davos and networking is certainly part of that. They do their homework before coming here and are very clear about who they are going to meet.
Hundreds of journalists from print, radio and TV are taking part in connecting the wider world with the political and business bigwigs here. Many journalists participate in both established and new media, such as weblogs, audiocasts, videocasts and podcasts. Journalists doing quick informal recording with small HD videocams are a common sight. The restaurants are important places where media veterans of Davos meet after 10 every night.
All plenary sessions are open to journalists but reporters aren’t allowed to ask questions during the sessions. They can ask as many as they want during the numerous press conferences. Interactive sessions, workshops and working meals are off the record and reserved for participants. Reporting press are not allowed to attend these sessions, so it is really important in understanding the events at Davos to find someone who is willing to discuss what happened on those occasions — no names mentioned of course.
It may seem that everything in the world is made in China, but at Davos, English is still the dominant language. The Chinese are poor speakers of English and this puts them at a disadvantage here. The Indians speak English well and they capitalize on their knowledge. The time when people switch into their native languages here at WEF is when they are talking on the phone. Everyone keeps an ear open for nearby conversations and someone speaking in Urdu, Punjabi or whatever has the effect of attracting attention from individuals who speak the same language. That is when I discovered Geeta Rao Gupta. She is the president of the Washington-based International Center for Research on Women. She is here to moderate a session on issues concerning adolescent girls! Yes, that is correct. She was speaking on the phone to her daughter in Washington in their native Marathi language.
India is heavily represented at WEF. We bumped into Azim Premji of Wipro, Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, Ministers P. Chidambaram and Kamal Nath. This is excellent networking for India. Young Arabs and Pakistanis are sadly not a part of WEF. Seeing that so many young people from Western nations have come to Davos to speak out on issues of importance to them and their world makes one aware that young Arabs and Pakistanis are not playing any role in this forum. “Because our nations don’t work at having a presence at Davos, both they and their issues are relegated to the dark corners of the event,” said Ikram Sehgal, a Pakistani columnist. The few Saudi businessmen that we met yesterday have suggested that the Saudi delegation should be even more robust. A lot of Saudis need to come here, they say.
Now a little about the dress code. The WEF organizers discourage men from wearing ties. This is mentioned in all WEF literature. “The idea is to make all this look very informal. We want everybody to relax and feel at home,” said one official manning an information desk at the Congress Center. That ruling still did not stop many from wearing neckties. And people seem to be wearing half the clothes in their suitcases at any one time. This is understandable. As I mentioned yesterday, as long as you are in the Congress Center it is warm and cozy. The moment you step outside, a blast of Arctic air hits you with full force knocking you off the ground.
One of the interesting sessions yesterday was the one moderated by Riz Khan on how to adapt to different civilizations. The session included insights from current cultural shifts and raised important questions about how such shifts will affect human interaction. For example: Does the world have one or multiple civilizations? Is humanity itself the sole civilization with multiple cultures interspersed within it? Do cultures have boundaries? The delegates were of the view that the challenge for human civilization is maintaining civility. "The heart of this rests in the difference between information and knowledge. Information leads to knowledge and then knowledge leads to sensitivity concerning the human condition. This sensitivity must then be transformed into a commitment to improve the condition of humanity. Human civility is also a response to our own conscience — if we accept this, civilization will offer a promise instead of a threat.”
One avid reader of this diary has asked me not to obsess with the weather. I have, therefore, omitted it from this column except to observe that last night, the temperature dipped to minus 14 degrees Celsius.
