A new paper by the UN Economist Network, led by Richard Samans and co-authored with Chafik Ben Rouin, Tasneem Mirza, Stuart Davies, Uma Rani, and Sara Castro de Hallgren, proposes moving beyond GDP through a Multidimensional Living Standards Index (MLSI) and a new headline measure, Gross National Sustainable Development (GNSD), integrating economic output with lived experience to better guide policy on inequality, AI, climate, and inclusive growth.

Maria Mexi examines whether the EU’s regulatory leadership can translate into real influence over how AI is designed—and who it ultimately benefits in the workplace.

In this reflection, Andreas Oeschger, Policy Advisor at SECO International Labour Affairs, synthesises the key takeaways from the CSocD64 side event on reconnecting economic policy with social development. His overview highlights how green and digital transition policies are reshaping economic governance and what it will take to ensure these shifts translate into decent work and inclusive growth.

Claudine Haenni, with support of the TASC Platform, GCSP, and the Asian Institute of Hospitality Management at Les Roches, explores how leadership development in uncertain times drives change. Highlighting how participative training and partnerships equip leaders in Myanmar to navigate complexity and contribute to global dialogue.

Oliver Hoehne, Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, reflects on how economic policy and social development have become increasingly intertwined in today’s global economy. Tracing the evolution of policy thinking from the Copenhagen Declaration to current debates, he highlights how tools such as tariffs, industrial policy, and sustainability standards are now shaping not only markets but also social outcomes—underscoring the need for economic strategies that deliberately support inclusive and resilient development.

Dr. Maria Mexi, Senior Advisor on Labour and Social Policy at the TASC Platform, explores how trade and economic policies intersect with labour outcomes in an era of digital and green transitions. Drawing on case studies from Kenya’s digital economy and Indonesia’s nickel value chain, she highlights the growing challenge of aligning economic transformation with labour governance, showing why policy coherence and effective implementation are essential to ensure that global transitions deliver decent work and inclusive development.

Jason Judd, Executive Director of the ILR Global Labor Institute at Cornell University, sets the scene for the dialogue by tracing how trade policy has evolved over three decades, from NAFTA’s loosely attached labour provisions to more integrated approaches such as USMCA and emerging due diligence frameworks. Framing this evolution as a long process of incubating, testing, and refining ideas, he asks a central question: are these new tools truly delivering better outcomes for workers and social development?

From Kenya’s digital economy, Kitrhona Cerri and Maria Mexi unpack how platforms, data, and algorithms are redefining industrial policy and the risks of falling into digital dependency.

Reporting from Strasbourg, Maria Mexi highlights the EU’s accelerating “Omnibus-isation” and its implications for governance, data rights, and the future of work.

Our Co-Chair, Professor Gudela Grote shares how uncertainty-as-enabling mindsets can equip leaders to navigate complex transitions and strengthen cooperation across institutions and the multilateral landscape.

Shruti Merin Lal shares insights from our Futures Balance work, exploring intergenerational equity in policymaking during Building Bridges Week.

Annika Erickson-Pearson brings three key takeaways from our Business & Conflict Community of Practice Annual Meeting, highlighting what responsible business in conflict demands today.

The Geneva Dialogue on Trade and Labour, hosted by the TASC Platform and the World Economic Forum Trade and Investment Team at the World Economic Forum headquarters on 27 October 2025, brought together country missions and institutional partners to reflect on how trade and labour policies can evolve together in times of transition.

Ms. Sally Bardayan Rivera, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Panama Mission to the WTO highlighted how deeply trade and labour are intertwined in Panama’s national story. From the transformative power of the Panama Canal to the role of skills, services, and logistics in sustaining global trade today, she underscored the need to design trade systems that invest in people and not just in markets.

Ambassador Valérie Berset Bircher, Deputy Head of International Labour Affairs at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), called for renewed multilateral cooperation to better connect trade and labour agendas, underscoring the importance of institutional coordination and policy coherence, particularly in a context of climate transition, automation, and shifting global competitiveness.

H.E. Ambassador James Ndirangu Waweru, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations Office in Geneva, spoke to the urgency of aligning trade and labour agendas in the context of Africa’s fast-evolving economic transitions.

H.E. Ambassador Ms. Nahida Sobhan, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva, shared how Bangladesh’s own experience makes the case for formalising the trade and labour nexus through forward-looking policy reforms in which economic integration goes hand in hand with social inclusion.

Take-aways from the third in our series of AI Futures workshops at the ITU's AI for Good Global Summit, this year in collaboration with NACCE and SolveCC. We discuss best-practice solutions towards the realization of AI futures scenarios. 

Highlights from our expert workshop in collaboration with Cognizant and IASEAI, examining human accountability and control in increasingly complex and autonomous AI supply chains. Can humans still have agency alongside agentic AI systems?