The GSS was based on the premise that capitalizing on the business opportunities generated by rapid population growth, rising incomes, and increasing rates of urbanization in emerging markets will require new private financing mechanisms, new business models to deploy proven technologies and business ideas from one part of the world to other communities, regions, and continents, and new approaches to designing goods and services tailored to the tastes and needs of these new consumers.
Alas, developing new initiative is generally more easily said than done. However, in the course of organizing the GSS, I was encouraged by the diverse array of imaginative financial, business, and technology initiatives that have been developed already. And I have been heartened even more by the knowledge that there is an even deeper reservoir of promising initiatives that were not discussed at the Summit, either because we simply didn’t have time to discuss everything or because so many wonderful initiatives never made it onto my radar screen.
The Summit, therefore, was a brief, moment-in-time snapshot of a relatively small number of promising initiatives. With your collaboration and assistance, this blog and website will, I hope, provide a deeper exploration of those issues that made it onto the Agenda as well as the many related, equally- deserving issues and initiatives that were not discussed at the inaugural Summit.
With your collaboration and assistance, I am convinced that we can inspire readers to expand their sense of what is possible and help them use this knowledge to change the world for the better.