Global HR Forum 2011 Kicks Off with the Theme “Smart Education: Reinventing the Future.”

Global HR Forum 2011 Kicks Off with the Theme “Smart Education: Reinventing the Future.” 

 

By Seok Kim

 

 

The Global HR Forum 2011 welcomes more than 150 global opinion-leaders from 60 countries worldwide. This year’s conference will focus on the theme “Smart Education: Reinventing the Future.” Participants will discuss how to best deal with the most pressing global issues we are faced with during the current turbulent economic times. Scholars all over the world point out that the fundamental solution to the global financial woes needs to be found through human ingenuity and creativity. Put simply, the solution lies within talented people.

 

 

 

We live in a time when collective and collaborative efforts of the global community are more important than ever before. The Global HR Forum aims to provide guidance for global leadership and cooperation that are vital to achieve a better tomorrow.

 

“The world needs to invest in infrastructure construction and education to overcome the financial crisis,” said Princeton University economics professor and Nobel laureate Eric S. Maskin.

 

Fellow Nobel laureate and professor of economics at the University of Chicago James Heckman stressed, “The economic effect of investing in education is equivalent to investing in a fund with an annual return of 7 to 10 percent.”

 

In his keynote speech, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who has been calling for the need to forge an East Asian community comprising Korea, Japan and China will talk about “Leadership Change in Global Economy and East Asian Politics & Economy.” And former Chairman of U.S. President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Paul Volcker, will deliver a speech on “Restoring Prosperity: A Large Challenge for the World.” 

 

Other distinguished speakers during the three-day forum include Francis Fukuyama, Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Michele Wucker, World Policy Institute President and Weiping Huang, Professor of Economics at Renmin University in China. These scholars will provide insight as to whether the global economy is headed into another crisis.

 

One of main topics in this year’s Global HR Forum is discussing a new policy paradigm as we enter the age of centenarians. According to Statistics Korea, the number of Koreans aged 65 and above will rise from 11% of the population in 2010 to 15.6% in 2020. The number of centenarians is rapidly increasing. There were 1,836 Koreans over the age of 100 as of last year, close to double the 961 recorded in 2010. 

 

An aging society creates many socioeconomic concerns from a dwindling workforce to slower economic growth. It also leads to less tax revenue and increased spending on social security. The resulting society has to come up with ways to manage and support society’s increasingly top-heavy structure, to tweak its pension systems and retirement ages and prepare financial and residential support for the rising population of the very old. The key to solving this social problem again lies within people. Fostering talent in line with the changing times can be the best way to prepare for an aging society. The epigram “education is the best welfare” is an extension of this idea. Participants will particularly touch on the role of family, school and society in the age of centenarians.

 

The forum will also be an opportunity to show Korea’s transformation experience from a recipient to donor nation in a short period. The country rose from the rubble of war through the power of human talent. on the last day, the Global HR Forum committee will announce a “Seoul Declaration,” an action plan that shares the know-how of how Korea nurtured its human talent.