8th World Business Dialogue

Cologne, Germany, April 2001

General information: The World Business Dialogue (WBD) takes place every second year in Cologne, Germany. It consists of one week supporting program which is composed of parties and cultural events, a Pre-Conference, company days and the 2 days forum. At the 7th WBD students from 76 nations gathered in Cologne and discussed the various impacts the factor knowledge has on our society and the business world with 130 internationally renowned speakers, 400 businesspersons, media-representatives and politicians. In the past, speakers such as Bill Gates, Alexander J. Trotman and Phil Condit raised the World Business Dialogue above all expectations.

Purpose of the event is to provide a forum for intense exchange of thoughts between committed students and leading personalities as well as an outlook on the challenges of the 21st century.

Organizer: OFW Students' Union in cooperation with the University of Cologne.

Participation: Students from all fields of study can qualify for participation via the internationally announced essay-competition. In the first stage you should pre-register for participation in WBD. To do this, you can either fill in the on-line pre-registration form, or download the pre-registration form in World 97 format and e-mail it to the address specified in it. The 400 best essay-editors will be invited to Cologne. At the 7th WBD the organizers invited 400 students out of 76 nations having received 1300 entries out of 81 nations.
The topic will be selected in Spring 2000. Past topics included Globalization, Knowledge Management, Sustainable Development, Information Technology, Space as a marketplace, Human Resource Management. The topics always covered a wide range from business to the economy and society in general.

During the 7th WBD application campaign students were free to focus on one of the following topics:

1. The impact of knowledge on the development on the development of contemporary society;

2. New definition of work facing the next millennium;

3. Integration of knowledge management into organizations.

Participation costs: OFW covers all participation costs. The only possible costs are a small participation fee (about 50-150 US$) and your personal expenses.
If you can prove need for further financial support some of that will also be covered. No student should be discouraged to participate by any financial restraints.

For additional information refer to the conference web-site, where you can also fill in the on-line application form.

World Business Dialogue website

Up
International events
Main page