Society

If you are someone who has generated wealth, you have the responsibility to make sure this money is used to benefit the community. This is something that exists in all philosophies, cultures, and all religions. You have an obligation to the people around you, and your society.

People really don't oppose new technologies but they question the way they are used so the challenges are more social than they are technological.

Leading African innovation and development scholar at Harvard Kennedy School

It is natural that a society would want to keep what they think works, the status quo. We are also acutely aware that technological changes alters society in unpredictable ways. It is the uncertainty associated with change—especially the fear of losing what we value—that leads to resistance to change.

Leading African innovation and development scholar at Harvard Kennedy School

History is full of changes that were only made because of direct action. In the US context, you need look no further than the civil rights movement. Racial segregation would not have been dismantled the way that it was, to the extent that it was without the work of grass roots movements who were prepared to take risks and break the law.

In a world where everyone gets to play in social media, we're about to realise that the vast majority of people aren't good enough. Now we have an ecosystem where everyone gets out there and says they're great. The vast majority are not going to be great.

Serial Entrepreneur, Author & Digital Marketing Strategist

There is a strong possibility that the relationship between humans and their environment would be so fundamentally changed that hundreds of millions of people, perhaps billions, would have to move. History tells us that this carries serious risks of severe and extended conflict.

Economist & Author of Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

We are the first generation that through its neglect could destroy the relationship between humans and the planet, and perhaps the last generation that can prevent dangerous climate change.

Economist & Author of Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

It's almost like we have the left eye covering itself up and saying, 'nothing to see here, nothing to do with Islam', and the right eye bursting a blood vessel saying, 'it's all Islam, it's all Muslims', and Islamists saying that the divine inspiration for them is from above.

Salman Abedi, Khalid Masood, Khuram Butt, all of these people and the people in ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab… We tend to think sometimes that they are extremism. But the reality is they didn't breed extremism. Islamist extremism bred them.

Extremism is the desire to enforce illiberal views which are in a dichotomy to the liberal values that we all adhere to in a Liberal secular democracy; and you can have non-violent or violent extremism.

Doing something which has a social purpose gives you the motivation to overcome the hurdles and obstacles that you will meet along the way. It gives you that inner strength when you're doing something and you know it's making a massive difference.

Power is seized with the gun and maintained with the pen. Controlling public opinion through propaganda and misinformation is the most critical task of an authoritarian power.

Chinese Artist & Dissident; Prominent Human Rights Activist and Political Critic

What we're seeing is a global shift towards meaning and WeWork is helping achieve that on a global scale.

Co-founder of WeWork, co-working space company

We have to shift the focus of our discussions on Europe to trying to deal with the citizens' concerns. And I mean simple things, like 'I can't buy an iTunes record for someone living in a different country because of the geolocation requirements and copyright'.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

In my case, and for many people I know, a European identity is something that was denied to us for 50 years. For 50 years, Estonia was occupied by the Soviets, and so- for us- for our people, who were under communist domination, we were comfortable and happy to take on a European identity when we gained independence.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

Bias means your mind, your experiences, and your knowledge is too narrow to take in and truly appreciate the person standing in front of you. We have to hold all humans in respect.

Neuroscientist; Nobel Prize for discovering brain's positioning system cells