The World Economic Forum is a project developed by Bill and Melinda Gates in the format of a grandiose web platform. The Gates Foundation is dedicated to drawing the attention of the majority to global problems and finding strategies to overcome them. The people behind the platform are clearly aware that the planet is in grave danger. At the same time, the Forum is trying to propose realistic plans for implementation to avoid the extreme consequences of the global crisis. It seems fundamental when speaking about the Forum’s strategies, to pay attention to the systemic features inherent in the structural side of their approach.
The concept of the Forum envisions the world as a complex system in which the principles of functioning are interconnected at the macro and micro levels. Accordingly, any effect produced on a separate section of this multi-level system indirectly affects several more elements. Changed elements in the chain further create a chain reaction and trigger a number of irreversible processes. So, it is easy to see that although the impact on the system is traceable to some extent, it clearly acts not only along the condescending hierarchy. The system works according to the principle of maximum ramification, it is decentralized, but that is why it is possible to trace its individual sections and try to correct these processes.
In light of the events of the global pandemic, particular attention should be paid to how the Gates Forum has responded to the global economic and spiritual shock agenda. The topics dealt with by the Economic Forum are presented on its official resource in the form of an interactive flash diagram (“Global Issue: COVID-19,” 2021). A registered Forum participant can interact with this diagram, informing himself about not only certain social problems and processes but also realizing their internal interconnection at a visual level. The problem of a pandemic and how society around the world should clearly respond to a global catastrophe, in the light of the Forum’s optics, receives worthy attention and multi-level coverage.
Flexibility should be considered the main factor in the successful distribution of pressure on the economy and society during a pandemic, as follows from the Forum’s concept. Agile governance capable of adapting to the immediate needs of society and economic demands is a priority strategy that, as follows from the diagram, should be followed by countries around the world. The flexibility of each government is also related to the ability of the states of each individual country to negotiate with each other and seek collective strategies to overcome the crisis (Appendix 2). The assistance of states and support of less economically developed countries, which are experiencing especially severe hardships, are extremely important. At the same time, the Global Government and dialogue within its space will be no less important in the near future, when the problems associated with global warming will require even more decisive measures after the end of the pandemic.
Special attention should be paid to the strategic support of the economy and business at a time when this branch of life is experiencing all sorts of complications. A separate place in the Forum’s diagram is taken by Supply Chain Management, the reform of which by 2021 contributed to overcoming the economic consequences of the pandemic (Nagem, 2021). There is improved transparency of access to information, more flexible strategies for the supply of goods and, of course, improved relations between agents of exchange. All this testifies to the effectiveness of the search for new economic strategies.
The World Forum website expresses full awareness of the fact that the world has been shocked since the first outbreak of the epidemic. The ability to remain confident and accurate when making decisions in a period when initiatives are less reliable should be considered not only as a problem of the state, as given in the Forum reference (Appendix 1). Attention should also be paid to how social and health workers are supposed to function. Until recently, their readiness to act decisively in an extreme situation on a global scale has been studied to a much lesser extent than their functioning in a regulatory environment (Boyce et al., 2019). This indicates that the search for generally acceptable communication models in the name of higher efficiency in a period requiring greater mobility is necessary at the level of awareness of each individual person.
At first glance, it is possible to say that the system requirements for the functioning of the global economic and social system set out in the Gates model relate to the powerful. But all these principles must be realized at the level of each social unit. It is important that a person realizes himself as a part of society, which as a collective organism is experiencing serious difficulties. It is this educational work that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does, providing an understandable and visual model by which society functions. At the same time, this model, developed by specialists, but as simplified and generalized as possible, points to structural deficiencies, the correction of which will help to build a much healthier society.
References
Boyce, M. R., & Katz, R. (2019). Community health workers and pandemic preparedness: Current and prospective roles. Public Health, 7(62).
Global Issue: COVID-19. 2021, Web.
Nagem, S. (2021). Pandemic lessons learned in supply chain management. Financial Management. Web.
Appendix 1
World Economic Forum Diagram for Pandemic Preparedness
Appendix 2
World Economic Forum Diagram for Agile Governance
