Six Degrees at Davos

Davos-Klosters                                                           Andy Mettler, World Economic Forum/Flickr

The World Economic Forum, whose motto is "Committed To Improving the State of the World," is holding its 45th annual meeting January 20-23, in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. "The Forum," according to its website, "engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas." This year's theme is the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which the Forum describes as the technological revolution, following, as it is, the first, being of water and steam; the second, electric power; and the third, electronics and information technology. It is, basically, about the connections that technology is affording us, and how they will affect business, government, and our everyday lives. But while the participants may be talking about connections, they are also living them, as this chart shows. The Forum is, as one might expect, a meeting of the well-connected. There's Kevin Spacey's political connection with John Kerry, Bill Gates's business one with Oprah Winfrey, and Charlize Theron's philanthropic one with Ban Ki-Moon and Angela Merkel, just for starters: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160115-who-are-the-most-connected-at-davos-2016
   You can check out the Forum's daily agenda and read or watch excerpts from the talks here: http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2016