JA China Featured at the WEF Meeting of the New Champions

July 20, 2023

In June, JA China Chair and President Paul Chou sat on a panel of experts to discuss “New Skills for Fast-Moving Industries,” joining Peter Brown, Global People & Organization Leader, PwC; George Xu, CEO, Airbus China Limited; Emilija Stojmenova Duh, Slovenia Minister of Digital Transformation; and Nizar Ben Néji, Tunisia Minister of Information Technology and Communications. The panel was moderated by Manuela Kasper-Claridge, Editor-in-Chief, Deutsche Welle.

When Paul—who spent more than a decade as a software engineer for Nokia Bell Labs—was asked what new skills young people need for the fast-moving future they face, he didn’t focused on technology skills but on the soft skills that need to be taught early, before college. These include how to lead others, how to innovate and create, how to collaborate with others, and even how to have fun with others and develop deep friendships.

Many speakers discussed the importance of student-centered, project-based learning like the kind that JA pioneered and has been teaching for more than 100 years. Other JA themes were embedded in the discussion, including Emilija Stojmenova Duh’s insights into why young workers are less creative: “If we want people to be creative, we need to provide them a safe environment, where they can experiment and where they can also fail and learn from that failure” . . . especially in schools.

Watch below for many more insights from the panel:

The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions (AMNC23) gathered more than 1,500 global leaders from diverse sectors who are driving innovation and entrepreneurship that builds a more sustainable global economy.