The World Knowledge Forum is a fete of knowledge, the biggest Forum in Asia. Established in October 2000, the World Knowledge Forum gathers more than 150 business and opinion leaders around the world ranging from environmental and international organizations to world's biggest corporations and institutions. These leaders predict the future and discuss possible solutions for the problems which are already, or might become, an issue. The main aim is to highlight the importance of knowledge sharing towards a balanced prosperity of the global economy. The WKF is hosted by Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea's premier business daily. The conference is the largest of its kind in Asia, and since 2000 over 3000 local and global leaders from business, government and academic sectors have attended annually.
Forum themes have ranged from "Shaping the New Millennium With Knowledge" in 2000 to "Knowledge in a World of Risk" in 2002; from "Creativity & Collaboration: Foundation of the New Era" in 2005 to "Collabonomics & Greater Asia" in 2008. The 2010 WKF overall theme was "One Asia Momentum: G20 Leadership And Creatinnovation", and the WKF 2013 was "One Asia Metamorphosis".
The 15th World Knowledge Forum was scheduled to held from 14 to 16 October 2014 in Seoul, Korea.
Main Theme: Invigorating the Global Economy
Investing in AsiaInclusive GrowthFinance and BusinessInternet of ThingsState ReformBeyondDisruptive Innovation2014 Key Speakers:
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic (2007-2012)Gene Sperling, Former Director, the National Economic CouncilThomas Piketty, Professor,Paris School of EconomicsYukio Hatoyama, Former Prime Minister of JapanJean Claude Trichet, Former President of the European Central BankJeremy Rifkin, President, The Foundation on Economic Trends. Scholars invited wereKenneth Rogoff, Professor at Harvard UniversityLi Yining, Honorary Dean, Peking University Guanghua School of ManagementKoichi Hamada, Emeritus Professor, Yale UniversityAndrew McAfee, Associate director, Center for Digital Business at the MIT Sloan School of ManagementMain Theme: One Asia Metamorphosis
AsiaCityCreativityEconomyEducationFutureTechnology Frontier2013 Key Speakers:
Lawrence H. Summers, Professor at Harvard UniversityEhud Olmert, Former Prime Minister of IsraelThaksin Shinawatra, Former Prime Minister of ThailandSalman Khan, Founder of Khan AcademyPeter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plcGregory Mankiw, Professor at Harvard UniversityIwata Kazumasa, President of Japan Center for Economic ResearchMain Theme: The Great Breakthrough: New Solutions for Growth (Leadership, Integrity, Creativity, and Happiness)
New GrowthLeadershipIntegrityCreativityHappiness2012 Key Speakers:
Jim Yong Kim, President of World BankCondoleezza Rice, Former Secretary of the State of USAWillem Kok, Former Prime Minister of NetherlandNouriel Roubini, Professor of NYU Stern School of BusinessPaul Krugman, Professor of Princeton UniversityMalcolm Gladwell, Journalist of the New YorkerMartin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator of FTMika Vehvilainen, President & CEO of Finnair PlcMain Theme: The New Economic Crisis: Reforming Global Leadership & Asia's Challenge
Crisis RevisitedGlobal Growth in TransitionNew Management StrategiesNew Shock & Regrowth of FinanceThe True GreenConvergence2011 Key Speakers:
Gordon Brown, Former Prime Minister of United KingdomSarah Palin, Former Governor of Alaska of the United StatesMichael Sandel, Professor at Harvard UniversityMaehara Seiji, The Policy Chief of the Democratic Party of JapanKarel De Gucht, European Union Trade CommissionerTom Albanese, CEO of Rio TintoAmy Chua, Professor at Yale UniversityMartin Sorrell, Chairman at WPPMain Theme: One Asia Momentum, G20 Leadership & Creatinnovation
One Asia MomentumG20 LeadershipCreatinnovationRebirth of FinanceWinning Strategy & MarketingLow Carbon EconomyNext IT & MediaSmart Leadership2010 Key Speakers:
Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of the United KingdomYukio Hatoyama, Former Prime Minister of JapanRichard Branson, President & Founder of Virgin GroupNouriel Roubini, Professor of NYU Stern Business SchoolPaul Krugman, Professor of Princeton UniversityJeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKGNiall Ferguson, Professor of Harvard UniversityFareed Zakaria, Host of Fareed Zakaria GPS, Editor at Large of TIMEHans Vestberg, President and CEO of EricssonDonald Trump Jr., Executive Vice President of The Trump OrganizationSession IT Based Greener Economy: Smart Grid, Smart CitySpeakers:John Chambers, Chairman, CEO CiscoKoo, Ja Kyun, CEO& President LS Industrial SystemsNorbert H. Karl, Global Sales Manager, Siemens AGModerator: Fred Dubee, Senior Advisor, UN Global CompactMain Theme: One Asia, New Economic Order and Recovery
Greater Asia : Outlook 2009Partnering for GrowthFinance beyond UncertaintyNetwork InnovationGreen is GreenGovernment as Biz PartnerWin-Win SocietyMain Theme: Collabonomics + Greater Asia
Greater Asia : Outlook 2009Partnering for GrowthFinance beyond UncertaintyNetwork InnovationGreen is GreenGovernment as Biz PartnerWin-Win Society2008 Key Speakers:
Richard Branson, President and Founder of the Virgin GroupMichael Porter, Professor of Harvard UniversityEric Maskin, 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate in EconomicsH.E Amr bin Abdullah al-Dabbagh, Governor of SAGIAMaurice Strong, Former Under Secretary General of UNJohn Howard, Former Prime Minister of AustraliaBertie Ahern, Former Prime Minister of IrelandEsko Aho, Former Prime Minister of FinlandJames Wolfensohn, Former President of World BankRobert Polet, CEO of GucciGroupRichard Levin, President of Yale UniversityJack Trout, Author of PositioningHiroshi Komiyama, President of University of TokyoFrank-Jürgen Richter, Chairman of HorasisMain Theme: Wealth Creation & Greater Asia
Emerging AsiaNew GrowthEvolution of FinanceLeadershipSecurity & ProsperityWeb 2.02007 Key Speakers:
Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of Federal Reserve BoardColin Powell, Former Secretary of State of USATom Peters, Chairman of Tom Peters CompanyEdmund Phelps, 2006 Nobel Prize Laureate in EconomicsVinton Cerf, Vice President & Chief Internet Evangelist of Google Inc.Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered BankStephen S. Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley AsiaMin Zhu, Group Executive Vice- President of Bank of China
