The context in which organisations operate is increasingly complex and continuously evolving. We face a deluge of data and information, some of it misleading or unreliable. The digital universe is expected to reach 44 zettabytes this year, that’s 44 trillion bytes of data. There is a need to identify and prioritise what is important. At the same time, nothing operates in a void and identified priorities are interlinked and interconnected to multiple other issues, challenges, opportunities and risks within their system. For example, achieving gender equality (SDG 5), cannot be separated from the need for quality education (SDG 4) and provision of healthcare (SDG 3) and plays a central role in issues related to climate change (SDG 13) and peace efforts (SDG 16).
Each of the links and interconnections above are drawn from the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence platform. The platform developed in response to accelerating global complexity to give users a better sense of the fluid inter-relationships between global issues and help them make more informed decisions. Over time, it has evolved into a data-driven, dynamic set of digital tools used by organisations across the world. It enables users to track emerging trends and create tailored monitoring frameworks.
The foundation of the platform is its 260+ transformation maps, which depict the most important issues affecting industries, economies, global issues and the SDGs, and situate each topic within a dynamic system of inter-relationships. The platform uses experts from the Forum’s network of universities, think-tanks, international organizations and other research institutions around the world to highlight the context and implications of the key drivers of transformation for each issue. This is augmented with machine intelligence that analyses and sorts the latest research and analysis from more than 250 trusted sources around the world. Because the Transformation Maps are interlinked, they enable users to understand each topic from multiple perspectives and track the dynamic interdependencies between them.
The platform adds new topic areas as they become relevant, such as the recent maps on COVID-19, Vaccination, and Green New Deals. Gender parity has its own transformation map, informed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, and the issue is interwoven through many other topic areas covered by the platform, such as LGBTI Inclusion, Behavioural Sciences, the Role of Religion, SDG 5, and a number of country-level maps.
The transformation maps and their content are publicly accessible free of charge and available in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish. Membership of the platform allows access to additional analytical features, such as custom map building and a curated monitor feed. Strategic Intelligence is also available through iOS and Android mobile apps.
To engage the Strategic intelligence team, discuss content contributions, receive further information about using the platform, or for any other queries, please reach out to Bryonie Guthrie, bryonie.guthrie@weforum.org.