Carnegie Mellon University’s Erica Fuchs will join leaders from across government, technology, business, and academia to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland from January 19-23, 2026.
Every year, the Forum hosts forward-looking forums and panels to address widespread global challenges from economic stability to digital trust to climate resilience. This year’s theme, A Spirit of Dialogue, aims to serve as an impartial platform to exchange ideas, broaden perspectives, and support problem-solving during a period of significant geopolitical and societal change.
Fuchs, director of CMU’s Critical Technology Initiative and professor of engineering and public policy, researches how emerging technologies are developed, commercialized, and manufactured, and the policies governments need to support national competitiveness in those areas. Throughout the week in Davos, she will participate in sessions aligning with her expertise on topics such as intelligent infrastructure, workforce development for advanced manufacturing, industrial policy, and the future of research.
Fuchs will also moderate two sessions. The first, titled “How can governments innovate?,” explores how public institutions can adopt more adaptive and experimental approaches to policymaking. By adapting the approach of product designers, the panelists will consider the use of frontier tools, iterative methods, and future-focused perspectives to create bold and adaptive systems that are ready for tomorrow's challenges.
