The St. Gallen Symposium, an annual gathering of current and future leaders from across the globe, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Around 1,000 participants took part in the three-day cross-generational dialogue, joining from the University of St. Gallen campus, an international hub in Singapore, ten Swiss Embassies around the world, and elsewhere online. This year’s symposium began on May 5.
Corporate Senior Vice President and BOD Member at Huawei, Catherine Chen, addressed the student-led initiative on the morning of May 7. Other top speakers from the private sector include Christophe Franz, BOD Chairman at Roche, Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management at Daimler, Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, and Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer of HCL Corporation.
«As more devices feature connectivity, more services go online, and more critical infrastructures rely on real-time data exchanges, so must governments worldwide ensure that everyone is protected by the highest security standards. Only a common set of rules can guarantee a level of security that creates trust in technology,» she said.
«We, as members of the younger generation, are connected to a greater number of people through social media, but this does not correspond to a circle of people we can trust,» said Simon Zulliger, a member of the team of 35 students from the University of St. Gallen that organised this year›s symposium.
Chen said, «I call on them to continue developing the positive relationships between communities, individuals, and their environments. We must build strong trust in technology, enabled by a common set of rules, innovations, and progress. Only then can we commit to the sustainable and trustworthy use of technology.