Government leaders today face a myriad of strategic challenges, each of them posing both risks and opportunities. And all of them require urgent and deliberate action.

 

Government leaders today face a myriad of strategic challenges, each of them posing both risks and opportunities. And all of them require urgent and deliberate action. Proactive and early responses offer governments a strategic upper hand, bolstering national resilience and propelling progress in both the near and long-term future. As the world grapples with these challenges, a report titled "8 Transformations: From Crises to Opportunities” has been published by the World Governments Summit in collaboration with Kearney’s National Transformations Institute.

The report outlines eight innovative pathways to convert pressing global crises into transformative opportunities. Each chapter examines a specific challenge; identifies a potential solution for it; surveys the complex forces that create obstacles to realising that solution; and then proposes an approach to using the causal mechanisms of the challenge itself to create a self-sustaining path to progress.

Mohamed Yousef AlSharhan, Managing Director of the World Governments Summit (WGS) Organisation, said, “Governments around the world must rebuild trust in their institutions by putting people first, and at the heart of the decision- and policymaking process. This latest report from WGS and Kearney aims to place a guide in their hands that can lead to real, tangible and lasting transformative change in the way governance models work for the people they must serve.”

Rudolph Lohmeyer, Partner and Head of the National Transformations Institute, Kearney Middle East, said, “The world has entered a fragile and disorientating period of transition, facing a “polycrisis” spanning geopolitical, environmental, economic, and social domains.

“Like all critical junctures, this one is characterised by pervasive volatility, institutional fluidity, and deep strategic uncertainty. It is also characterised by vast opportunities for transformative action – a period when human agency is most needed and most possible, particularly given the discontinuous advances we are seeing in a range of key technologies such as generative AI. This year at the World Government Summit, we look forward to convening with world leaders to collaboratively chart a course toward a resilient, regenerative, and interconnected future.”

The eight challenges and transformations outlined in the report are:

1. Erosion of Truth — A science-based approach to igniting the market for credible content
2. Atmospheric Carbon — A global moonshot to achieve an exponential leap in the removal of atmospheric carbon
3. Tech-Driven Job Displacement — Harnessing AI in education to accelerate the future-readiness of the workforce
4. Health Crisis — Institutionalising early detection and treatment of chronic disease to extend health span
5. Cyber Weapons Proliferation — A governed marketplace to bring the illicit trade of cyber vulnerabilities into the light
6. Societal Polarisation — Systematic disruption of the cycle of dehumanisation and polarisation
7. Youth Psychological Well-being — Algorithm-based research to understand and reverse mental health spirals
8. Crisis of Meaning and Purpose — Work for impact to instil a sense of meaning