IMD World Competitiveness Center

MBA students, under the guidance of our Director Arturo Bris, this week presented an in-depth analysis of the smart city capabilities and opportunities in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. It was part of their  IMD MBA International Consulting Project (ICP);  an intensive, seven-week consulting assignment for MBA teams. (https://lnkd.in/ekHSPcDq) Using the IMD Smart City Index (https://lnkd.in/e69Mh5XF) and our smart city Case Studies as a foundation, the team benchmarked Manama against best practice peers such as Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. They highlighted a series of key initiative recommendations from their in-depth strategy report. In parallel, case studies have been written by the center’s researchers on different types of smart cities, to illustrate various stages of development and diverse experiences in each, with the purpose of showing the relevance of the index to the real world. So far three volumes have been published. (https://lnkd.in/e5MgXSjK) Arturo expects that the ICP will lead to Manama’s inclusion in the 2025 edition of the IMD Smart City Index (to be released on 25th February) and that the strategy report will become a case study in 2025’s WCC smart city case study book which will be the fourth volume. #IMDimpact #Smartcity #Manama 

We – Aline Ballaman-Garibian and Arturo Bris – recently represented the IMD World Competitiveness Center at the @Future Investment Initiative (FII)'s eighth edition in Riyadh. The forum – 'Infinite Horizons: Investing Today, Shaping Tomorrow' – was organized by the FII Institute under the patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Global leaders addressed critical global challenges, putting an emphasis on fostering collaborative partnerships across nations. These were the main ideas we took away with us: 👉 AI's role in shaping competitiveness is increasingly rapidly. It is seen as integral to strategic frameworks, with transformative potential across sectors. In addition, it does promise significant benefits, such as enhancing access to healthcare and education, and optimizing workforce management to improve efficiency in logistics, finance, aftersales services, and regulatory compliance. In fintech and anti-corruption efforts, AI will likely introduce new capabilities that will improve transparency and efficiency.   👉 The ethical implications of AI demand robust regulatory commitments to ensure its responsible use for societal benefit. AI technologies will require rigorous validation processes, and concerns around energy consumption are growing. A recent McKinsey article, 'The role of power in unlocking the European AI revolution', projects AI energy demand for Europe is set to increase from 62 TWh today to 150 TWh by 2030.   👉 Economic and geographic fragmentation is posing particularly tough challenges for financial markets. Yasir Al Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced that Saudi Arabia would reduce its investment in the rest of the world from 21% to 18% of the funds' assets, marking a refocusing of its investment strategy to domestic projects.   In this context, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a leading global data center hub. Recent partnerships, such as the collaboration between aramco digital and Groq to establish one of the largest AI inference centers in the Eastern Region, underscore this ambition. To support its AI leadership aspirations, Saudi Arabia is actively diversifying its energy mix, with a goal to achieve 130 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 to meet the country’s increasing electricity demands. The event was made possible by global leaders from a diverse range of sectors, notably Shou Chew, TikTok CEO; Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO; Masayoshi Son, President and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp.; Eric Schmidt, former Chairman of Google; David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs; and Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi. Saudi Arabia ranks 16th in the 2024 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking – just behind Australia and Finland: https://bit.ly/40GbGOj Many will be excited to see how the Kingdom fares in this Thursday's midnight (CET) release of the 2024 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking: https://bit.ly/40IS5gx

Miss our webinar on industrial policy last week? 😨 Fear not, you can watch the hour-long recording and/or read 🤓 about the discussion had here: https://bit.ly/40pa5wh It was a very rich exchange of experience and ideas 💡 among trade experts Deborah Elms, Chuin Wei Yap, Christos Cabolis, and Simon Evenett Evenett about how and why industrial policy needs reexamining by governments ⏳ , and its real-life aplications 🛫 🚢 with recourse to the 2024 Hinrich-IMD Sustainable Trade Index on 30 economies, also published last week here: https://bit.ly/3YrCwHt Let us know your reactions below!

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Our 2024 World Talent Ranking is now live! Switzerland was first, Singapore second and Luxembourg third. 🇨🇭 🇸🇬 🇱🇺 🎆 The spotlight 🔦 is on how executives perceive AI 🖥 to be affecting their organizations. Are policymakers prepared for the more nuanced effects of widespread adoption of AI in the workplace, and what might these be? 👨💼 👩💼 👨🏭 Check out the position of all 67 economies ranked, dive deep into their performances and read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3XuHDpB 👓 🍸 🗞 We are very grateful to our global network of Partner Institutes and to IMD alumni for their support! 🌍

Our 36th 🎉 annual report on global competitiveness is now live!📣 Play with our new ranking comparison tool🔍👌 here: https://bit.ly/3VJsUaP This year, we have had the pleasure of deep diving into an incredible 67 economies spread across each of the world's major regions. Making their début were Puerto Rico, Ghana, and Nigeria. 👏 A huge congratulations to Singapore! 🏆 It regained the lead it marginally lost in 2021 until now. That said, as we always say, economies shouldn't focus on climbing up the rankings so much as on being more competitive💫. To understand that statement in its entirety, and especially as applicable to the socio-geopolitical context that we are currently experiencing, deep dive🏊♀️ into the analysis by Arturo Bris and the wider WCC team in our free online booklet: https://bit.ly/4c27yuR (Here's a taster👀 : AI isn't going anywhere but don't be yet another senior executive being lured into its "potential for productivity gains" at the expense of the wider competitiveness picture, including critical sustainability goals🌻) Let us know your thoughts on this year's ranking in the comments below!

LIVE from Dubai starting in 5 minutes (7am CET): Professor Arturo Bris, IMD World Competitiveness Center's Director and IMD Professor of Finance bows out of COP28 by moderating an panel on how going green can support SMEs with going global. Watch live here: https://lnkd.in/eRTsgfH7 First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) ICON Official

This Thursday lunchtime our Chief Economist, Christos Cabolis, will be speaking at the Digital Competitiveness Forum at the SwissTech Convention Center. Christos will formally present IMD's 2023 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking results, out the same day. The event, co-organised by IMD, EPFL and digitalswitzerland, will provide stimulating discussion and networking opportunities for those with an interest in Switzerland's digital sector. You have until Thursday at 11:30am to sign up for the in-person event, here: https://lnkd.in/euKtRrbW