Davos Day Two. Three times today I saw how old ways – in technology, business and society – have to make room for new ways if we hope to move this planet ahead. 

Technology first, specifically nanotech, since that’s my field.  It was a revelation to a large group in one session that nano-based products are not just future think. They’re on store shelves now — or, in the case of Nanofilm, even sold next to books, CDs and electronics at Amazon.com.  Nanotechnology is, really, mainly a revolution in materials science, similar to that which occurred in the middle of the 20th century when plastics were introduced. And while there’s more work to be done, including understanding any hazards, nanotech’s potential for very positive and, oftentimes, eco-friendly impact on society makes its development an inevitable benefit. Old. New. Here. Now.

A business-focused session was the second light bulb for me.  Compare and contrast the chief executive of a multinational corporation with an entrepreneur. Big company CEOs need to be coaches, advisors, and cultural champions, keeping energy in a culture they inherited but didn’t create. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, have to, first, be single-minded visionaries if their ideas are going to become businesses.  A new culture grows out of that fire.  Old. New. Here. Now.

Lesson three – simply looking at the faces on the stage and around the tables.  Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Richard Gere, Michael Dell, Congressman Barney Frank, Angelina Jolie, and Senators Bill Frist and John McCain.  The WEF lets the voices of traditional power and new views be heard.  It brings together respected business leaders with entrepreneurial upstarts like the Technology Pioneers. Presidents and rock stars. The world’s oldest nations and youngest states.  

Old. New. Experienced. Fresh. Head. Heart. The ying and yang that builds the future. Here. Now.

– Scott Rickert, Tech Pioneer Award Winner