President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Prof Tony F Chan was invited to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2013 in Davos, Switzerland, where he engaged in vibrant discussions with community leaders and global business leaders, as well as presidents from world-class universities on global science and technology outlook and emerging trends in higher education.
Prof Tony F Chan was invited to partake in a series of panel discussions in the Meeting, including a session themed 'Maximizing the Power of Science', where he advocated, together with prominent academics from his alma mater Caltech, a multi-disciplinary and multi-country collaboration model for universities to spearhead innovation and technology transfer. Prof Chan pointed out the scientific community should communicate the excitement of science as well as bring the technological innovation and public benefits to society. Moreover, science needs to earn the public trust so that it will be viewed as an independent and trusted voice in public debate and policy. Prof Chan also recommended treating basic research as critical as applied research, encouraging interdisciplinary research to tackle societal challenges, and promoting international collaborations.
At the Global University Leaders Forum, Prof Chan joined presidents from the world's top universities including Harvard, Yale, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, EPFL and ETH for a stimulating exchange of ideas on online education and entrepreneurship. Besides HKUST, Asia was also represented by University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University and Nankai University, Technion and CEIBS. Prof Chan also led a brainstorming session called 'Meeting the Innovation Imperative' to solicit input, insights and ideas from academics for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions be held in 2013 in Dalian, China, which is also known as the 'Summer Davos'.
Founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, WEF is a Geneva-based independent international organization with an observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Opening held earlier in Davos, Switzerland, the Annual Meeting of WEF attracted over 2,500 political and civil society leaders, academics, experts and global entrepreneurs to an in-depth sharing under the theme of 'Resilient Dynamism', where they delved deep into risks and challenges facing the world and put forward possible solutions. Among participants in the Meeting were German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank Group President Dr Jim Yong Kim, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and others.
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