Hyderabad entrepreneur to head to World Economic Forum

HYDERABAD:  Dipika Prasad, a civic entrepreneur from Hyderabad, has been selected by the World Economic Forum at its influential Annual Meeting to be held from January 23 to 26 at Davos in Switzerland. Dipika, who is Co-Founder of an urban governance initiative called Lakeer, will be joining over 150+ Indian industry leaders and 3000+ global leaders at Davos. She will also be speaking about citizen-action to build liveable cities as part of a “Big Ideas” session. Delegates at  Davos include heads of countries, leaders of the world’s largest corporations, and civil society leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to address the gathering at Davos. 

Also in attendance will be business leaders such as Mukesh Dipika is a member of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. The Global Shapers Community is a youth-led organisation with 7,000 members in 150 countries who are working towards making a positive change in their communities. 

She is curator of the Global Shapers Community in Hyderabad, and one of the four Indian global shapers. At Davos, she will highlight the importance of making cities in the developing world, especially in India, more liveable for everyone. “Every hour, 1800 Indians move to a city to access better opportunities. The pace at which India is transforming into an urban economy is unprecedented and irreversible. Yet our cities are failing us on every metric of quality of life. From the cancerous air of Delhi to the foaming lakes of Bengaluru – our economic powerhouses have become ticking time bombs. I think Hyderabad is the last liveable metropolis left in India but we need to act now and act together to keep it that way. I want to use the

WEF is to find citizen-driven solutions to making our cities inclusive, sustainable, and economically productive. I’m keen to build consensus for action amongst Indian leaders who will be there, and to create knowledge and experience-sharing partnerships with civic leaders from other countries.”