As world leaders convene in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, Canada witnesses the onset of a new Liberal Party leadership race. Meanwhile, just across the border, President Donald Trump has been inaugurated, signing his first executive orders and threatening a trade war against Canada. These concurrent events exemplify the interconnected challenges of our time, often referred to as the polycrisis – a term the Cascade Institute and others use to describe multiple, simultaneous crises that are causally linked.
Davos can be thought of as a conference about the polycrisis, even if this language is not explicitly used by its organizers and attendees. Each year, the World Economic Forum acts as a global stage for examining the most pressing challenges facing humanity – climate change, economic inequality, geopolitical instability, and the exponential pace of technological disruption. It is a space where leaders from the private sector, governments, and civil society grapple with foundational questions: How can we create more equitable and resilient societies in the face of mounting uncertainty? What strategies can foster sustainable development while safeguarding the planet? How do we balance innovation with ethical and social responsibility?
Over the next five days, Institute for Collaborative Innovation (ICI Canada) team members – Elysse Le Roy, Alexander Zelenski, and Max Peacock – will provide coverage of the developments at Davos through the lens of the polycrisis. This will cover its domestic impacts on Canadians, and how our country must evolve its science, technology, and innovation (STI) ecosystem to manage its risks.
This year’s summit, themed “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,” echoes ICI Canada’s core belief that collaborative innovation is essential for navigating the complexities of today’s world. The conference will focus on five interconnected sub-themes: 1) Rebuilding Trust, 2) Reimagining Growth, 3) Investing in People, 4) Safeguarding the Planet, and 5) Industries in the Intelligent Age.
In this primer article, we will delve into each of these themes, offering our perspectives and predictions on how they will shape discussions at Davos and impact Canada in the coming years.
Theme 1: Rebuilding Trust
Rebuilding trust is foundational to addressing the polycrisis, as confidence in institutions enables resilience, collaboration, and collective action. However, recent data underscores the fragility of this trust. The 2024 OECD Trust Survey reports that while 49% of Canadians express moderate or high trust in the federal government, confidence in other institutions, like political parties and media, remains low. Similarly, Statistics Canada highlights a direct link between trust in institutions and belief in the reliability of news media: 58% of Canadians with high confidence in those institutions also trust media information, compared to just 15% among those with low institutional confidence.
We predict this nexus between institutional trust and media credibility will feature prominently at Davos, where leaders explore solutions to strengthen public trust in an era of misinformation and polarization. Technology has a role to play here, with emerging social identity solutions like Idena: a “proof-of-person blockchain”, and the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA): “an open technical standard providing publishers, creators, and consumers the ability to trace the origin of different types of media” available as examples of new types of digital infrastructure. Yet, as ICI Canada emphasizes, technology alone cannot restore trust. Genuine engagement with citizens, coupled with fair, transparent, and inclusive governance is essential to addressing the broader societal drivers of distrust. Perhaps part of the task at hand is evolving our sense of citizenship, both locally and globally – at the same time.
Theme 2: Re-imagining Growth
In an era defined by “limited fiscal space and monetary tools”, policymakers at Davos 2025 are being challenged to rethink traditional approaches to economic growth. The World Economic Forum highlights that the digital economy, already accounting for 15.5% of global GDP, is poised to generate 70% of all new value in the global economy over the next decade.
At the same time, “post-growth” ideas are gaining traction, with increasing recognition that growth must be redefined to value wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and equitable resource distribution over mere GDP. ICI Canada predicts these perspectives will find resonance among younger generations who – in certain areas – are directly experiencing the impacts of climate change and becoming increasingly skeptical of the market’s incentives and accountability. The polycrisis has exposed the fragility of growth models reliant on extractive industries and short-term gains, prompting calls for economic systems that prioritize planetary and societal health alongside prosperity.
As Canada engages with these global shifts, it must consider how to integrate these ideas into its own policy frameworks. In our research for this article, we discovered Canada’s Quality of Life Framework, which while holistic, is arguably disjointed from how market players are incentivized and rewarded today. Nonetheless, this Davos 2025 summit theme should be seen as an opportunity and call to action for Canada, and its international peers to be leaders in shaping a more equitable and sustainable global economy by leveraging new technology while evolving its growth metrics.
Theme 3: Investing in People
As the world continues to evolve at an unprecedented rate, there’s never been a more urgent moment to focus on what truly drives our future: Investing in People. A key focus at Davos 2025, centered on human capital as the driving force behind unlocking equitable access to education, healthcare, and employment. With nearly 40% of global jobs exposed to AI, the workforce of tomorrow must be re-skilled and upskilled to meet the demands of emerging industries higher up the value chain. While AI is expected to augment work rather than fully automate it, ensuring these advancements translate into strong job creation is essential for building a modern, resilient society.
In Canada, despite its world-class educational standards, challenges remain in retaining domestic talent and integrating it into the workforce. This is limiting the nation’s ability to fully harness its potential for innovation and economic growth. The economic stakes are high, as each month of educational disruptions, such as those experienced during COVID-19, could reduce lifetime earnings by ~1% for affected cohorts and cost Canada an estimated $1.6 trillion CAD in GDP.
ICI Canada is actively addressing these challenges by championing capacity-building initiatives, and fostering access to education and training that empower individuals and communities. Through ICI Canada’s collaboration with Carleton University Capstone, students on a digital storytelling project about navigating the polycrisis, they are creating pathways for emerging leaders to contribute actively to sustainable solutions. ICI Canada predicts that these combined efforts will ensure technological progress leads to equitable growth, bridges gaps in talent retention, and lays the foundation for an inclusive and resilient future.
Theme 4: Safeguarding the Planet
The fight against environmental degradation and climate change is no longer a choice but a necessity, as global systems edge closer to critical tipping points. At Davos 2025, Safeguarding the Planet will emerge as a defining theme, highlighting the dual challenge of navigating climate action while fostering growth. This theme will reinforce the need for pragmatic solutions that cut across ideological divides, focusing on scalable, actionable strategies that prioritize people and the planet.
For many, the barrier to meaningful climate action is not intent but feasibility. For this reason, one key area of focus will be the integration of financial mechanisms that incentivize sustainability. We expect that policymakers and industry leaders will explore frameworks that link climate action to profitability, enabling broader adoption of net-zero pathways. These approaches are critical to shifting sustainability from being seen as a regulatory burden to a driver of long-term value creation.
The discussion at Davos is expected to signal a shift in treating sustainability as an integral element of economic competitiveness. By reframing environmental stewardship as an opportunity for innovation and growth, these conversations will help chart a path future where the needs of people and planet are equally prioritized.
Theme 5: Industries in the Intelligent Age
We’re undergoing a paradigm shift, as highlighted by Davos 2025’s final theme of the conference, Industries in the Intelligent Age, which focuses on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This revolution is driven by breakthroughs in AI, automation, data analytics, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT), transforming industries and reshaping how we work, live, and innovate. However, with the rapid pace of technological advancement, companies must navigate a complex landscape that presents potential risks such as data privacy concerns, unemployment, and lack of transparency. One of the key challenges is regulating these technologies, which are outpacing our current frameworks. At ICI Canada, we predict that the focus of Davos discussions will shift toward establishing regulatory thresholds to minimize risks like workforce displacement, social disruption, and uncertainty.
As industries transition toward AI-driven operations, there will be a growing concern about job losses as the WEF’s Global Risks Report indicates 41% of companies will reduce their workforce in the next 5 years. We anticipate the discussion of frameworks that will emerge to manage these risks, ensuring that technological advancements do not come at the cost of worker’s livelihoods. Additionally, industries must address data privacy, transparency in AI decision-making, and equitable access to these technologies. In a recent report, AI for Impact, over 70% of social innovators have deployed AI in sectors such as healthcare and the environment even though the ecosystem of support around AI remains weak with less than 1% of global investment in AI allocated to impact-focused applications. This highlights the need for responsible, inclusive development to ensure these technologies benefit all stakeholders. As the 4IR unfolds, it is essential that regulatory frameworks evolve in tandem with technological advancements to safeguard the future of our society at large.
Concluding Thoughts
It is undoubtedly an important and timely week of discussions ahead. We are optimistic that fresh ideas and attitudes of collaboration will be in the air at Davos. At the same time, we think it is important to keep in mind that the 360 days that take place after this week and before next year’s summit are where the real work takes place. And, as we know, better than ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to predict how significantly the global outlook can change in the span of a year. So, let’s make the most of the opportunities currently at hand, together.
As co-authors this week, we’d also like to acknowledge that we are not topic matter experts. We are a small team of students and recent grads taking our best shot at understanding the discussions taking place at Davos this week and delivering timely, digestible, and relevant insights to you, our audience. It’s going to be a busy one.
We would also love to engage in a discussion with you about our writings this week. The best way to do this is to leave a comment on our LinkedIn posts. We look forward to connecting with you there and hearing your thoughts.
Meet the Authors
Max Peacock: ICI Canada’s Digital Strategist, is a student and entrepreneur based in Tallinn, Estonia. He recently graduated with a Bachelors of Media Production and Design from Carleton University and is pursuing a Masters in Technology Governance and Sustainability at TalTech.
Elysse Le Roy: ICI Canada’s Creative Communications Manager, is a technical designer based in Mississauga, Ontario with a Bachelors of Media Production and Design from Carleton University. She has gained diverse experience across various sectors including marketing and social media.
Alexander Zelenski: ICI Canada’s Innovation Research Analyst, is a sustainability strategist and an innovator with experience across higher education and start-ups based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He specializes in transforming innovative ideas into actionable strategies for stronger environmental, social, and economic impacts.