Coronavirus Initiative
To promote efforts among business, government, and society to contain, cure, and minimize the all-encompassing impact of the Coronavirus and ascertain lessons learned, including how the pandemic has accelerated the advent of the Fourth Revolution.
The recent devastating pandemic of the Coronavirus has been an alarming wakeup call, highlighting the need for coordinated global cooperation. To best understand how the global community has responded to this lethal virus that has defied borders, accelerated a new industrial revolution, and laid the groundwork in preparing for the next global shock, collaboration among business, government, and society must not end once the final patient has been cured. To that end, the Washington Institute is launching a major initiative to examine the lessons learned in the way business, government, and society have adapted to this crisis.
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Coronavirus Initiative
Thought Leadership and Research: Research funding is being sought by the Washington Institute for some of the world’s foremost experts to develop robust publications on the following topics associated with the Coronavirus: Technology and Innovation, Public Health and Public Policy, and the Economy.
Working Groups: The Washington Institute is convening working groups for the purpose of sharing information and collaborating proactively among leaders within the sectors of business, government, and society and the general public to address the Coronavirus challenge. These include Technology and Innovation, Employee Engagement, Economic Recovery and Stability, Education, and International Development and Crisis Management.
Blog and Social Media posts: To provide real-time, succinct insight into the most effective Coronavirus responses, WI is publishing blog and social media posts, including notes directly from Founder and CEO James Moore and members of the WI Board of Governors, Advisory Council, and other subject matter experts.
Op-Eds: To enhance its thought leadership and visibility, WI is in the process of publishing opinion editorials on topics associated with the Coronavirus.
Podcasts: To showcase collaborative efforts among business, government, and society to tackle the Coronavirus while taking into consideration the social distancing measures necessitated by its spread, a weekly podcast series is forthcoming.
Events: To provide opportunities for information sharing and collaboration between business, government, and society, as well as raise the visibility of WI and develop its network, several symposia are planned as part of the Coronavirus initiative, leading to a global forum to be held during the World Bank Group’s Fall meetings on Tuesday, October 13, 2020.
Final Publication: To culminate the Coronavirus initiative, the Washington Institute will produce a robust publication summarizing the findings of its team of experts, working group members, and network. The publication will serve as a comprehensive but succinct playbook for executives and policymakers seeking to navigate future crises. It will link to other WI products and those of members of its network to provide additional insight.
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Giulio Alighieri, PhD
Technology and Innovation Fellow
Dr. Alighieri at NE47, Weiss Lab , MIT Synthetic Biology Center, Cambridge, MA
Under the direction of Washington Institute's Fellow Dr. Giulio Alighieri of M.I.T. and his team, we are probing the lessons learned from the pandemic and looking at it from the individual perspectives of business, government and, society.In turn, we will see how all three sectors interact with one another. The findings of the Coronavirus Project will be shared in parts during the summer, leading up to a final report. In addition, articles and fireside chats will explore the lessons learned from the crisis.