The world frontiers forum
The World Frontiers Forum unites leaders in industry, culture, and government with pioneering creators across frontiers from contemporary art and music to machine learning and biology. Established around an annual gathering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the WFF aims to catalyze audacious pioneering dreams into works that touch the lives of millions and improve the human condition. The future exists in our collective belief in such efforts.
In 2019 the World Frontiers Forum is exploring ways to enhance and protect digital identity, privacy, and safety. Two special gatherings will serve as focal points for this exploration. Net@50, to be held at the MIT Media Lab and Café ArtScience on July 16, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first Internet message and looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities facing the next 50 years. Our annual World Frontiers Forum will take place in Berlin on November 8 and 9, on the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. It will be focused on The Future of Digital Identity and look to frame a 2020 Convergence Project around this topic.
At the heart of the WFF is the Convergence Project. This unique international collaboration addresses United Nations sustainable development goals and is led by young pioneers—artists, scientists, engineers, designers, entrepreneurs—who work with WFF members to realize their vision. The 2018 Convergence Project, which targets the problem of under-nutrition, is called Foods That Matter.
Fabrizio Hochschild
Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination - Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) to the United Nations - (c)Phase One Media Group
The second annual World Frontiers Forum took place on October 14 and 15, 2018 and was attended by some 150 leaders from around the world, including seven U.N. ambassadors and Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination Fabrizio Hochschild. Following an opening address on future challenges and opportunities for frontier change, artists, humanists, engineers, chefs, and other pioneers gathered for talks, performances, networking, meals, and other memorable experiences that included brainstorming sessions with the young pioneers around the Foods That Matter effort.
(Left to Right) Mohamed Edrees, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, Kai Sauer, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations, Ib Petersen Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations, João Vale de Almeida, Ambassador of the European Union to the United Nations, Mariangela Zappia, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, Juan José Gómez Camacho, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations - (c)Phase One Media Group
APRIL NEWS
The World Frontiers Forum was thrilled to be part of Questlove’s special creativity talk at harvard university led by co-founder david edwards, on april 12, 2019
Questlove and WFF co-founder, David Edwards. on April 12, 2019 at the Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
march NEWS
special visit from president bio along with Sierra Leone delegation on march 7, 2019
FEBRUARY NEWS
Tavares Strachan, 2018 Frontier Art Prize recipient, was honored at cafe artscience on february 8, 2019
Tavares joined board members and special friends of the World Frontiers Forum to discuss his work, his recent trip to Sierra Leone, visiting president Bio. Strachan also spoke about his recent creative work since being awarded the FAP prize this past fall.
DECEMBER NEWS
Tavares Strachan, 2018 Frontier Art Prize recipient, joined SpaceX to launch sculpture honoring fallen astronaut
Strachan’s Enoch sculpture, a canopic jar structure, launched on Monday, December 3, to honor astronaut Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.. Lawrence should have been the first African American in space, but died at the age of 32 in a jet crash. By creating this unusual satellite in the form of a 24-karat gold urn, Strachan symbolically sent Lawrence into space. Strachan was one of the first artists selected to participate in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)’s Art + Technology lab, in 2014. At the same time, he began a collaboration with SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell. Shotwell spoke live from her office about SpaceX’s partnership with Strachan during this year’s World Frontiers Forum. To read more about this fascinating project, see this New York Times article as well as the LACMA’s press release.
In Africa, the average person takes in more than 2600 kilocalories per day, up from about 2000 kcal per day in the early 1960s.1 That’s enough for almost any moderately active human. 2 In fact, some African countries now face the opposite of hunger: an epidemic of obesity. But even as incomes and food supplies have grown, 20 to 40 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa still have severe Vitamin A deficiency. More than 40 percent of pregnant women have anemia due to severe iron deficiency. And similar percentages of people have diets short on folic acid, Vitamin B12, zinc, and iodine.3