Local entrepreneurs speak at the Davos World Economic Forum annual summit

Some of Northern Ireland's young entrepreneurs have made their mark with a broadcast from Belfast to a global audience at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 47th Annual Summit in Davos.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Jan 2017, 22:08 BST
Updated 23rd Jan 2017, 22:13 BST
Sheree Atcheson pictured with Peter Edgar, left, and Kain CraigsSheree Atcheson pictured with Peter Edgar, left, and Kain Craigs
Sheree Atcheson pictured with Peter Edgar, left, and Kain Craigs

The city featured in the conference for the first time in a 75-minute live streamed panel discussion on ‘Cities as Hubs of Innovation’.

Led by a group of ambitious local entrepreneurs, The Global Shapers Community, Belfast was represented in the discussion by tech professional Sheree Atcheson, alongside Seattle, Vancouver and Quito.

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Jamie Anderlini, the Financial Times regional editor, moderated the panel and praised Belfast for its high level input and iconic broadcasting base overlooking the Titanic slipway and the Game of Thrones studio.

Sheree, 25, was born in Sri Lanka but raised in Tyrone, and is an accomplished computer coder.

“Participating in the Shaping Davos discussion was a pivotal opportunity to showcase the world-class digital and entrepreneurial talent in Belfast today and also to position Northern Ireland on the global stage as a place which is vibrant, forward-thinking and home to a new generation of leaders,” she said.

Over 3,000 of the world’s most influential leaders from politics, business, and philanthropy, attended the summit in Switzerland.

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The dialogue direct with Davos on Wednesday followed a content creation Open Forum in the BBC Belfast Studio on Monday 16th January.

Young entrepreneurs Peter Edgar and Kain Craigs of the Belfast Global Shapers Hub, who won the opportunity to participate in the discussion, will now progress further opportunities to host World Economic Forum events in Belfast this year and a major conference in September 2018.

Peter, who works for Catalyst Inc, said the global connections and shared knowledge generated from this series of events was priceless.

“Following such a positive event, I am visiting California next week to promote Northern Ireland’s thriving technology startups and to develop collaborative partnerships to help advance NI’s Knowledge Economy.”

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Kain Craigs, who runs Iconic Golf Group, added: “We owe a great deal of thanks to all of our supporters, sponsors and speakers for helping us secure and deliver Belfast’s first engagement with Davos – and driving home the message that Belfast is preparing for the next industrial revolution.”

Chairman of CBI NI, David Gavaghan, one of over 250 attendees at the Shaping Davos content creation forum said: “It is wonderful to see the imagination of the next generation lead the way and show that they want to connect across the globe from the heart of Belfast.”

Sponsors of the Shaping Davos in Belfast project included Deloitte Digital and Belfast City Council, with support from Invest NI, Forde Campbell LLC, Tourism NI and Morrow Communications.

Related topics:BelfastNorthern Ireland