WGS 2018 The Global Dialogue for Happiness: takeaway points

Kicking off the prestigious World Government Summit 2018, The Global Dialogue for Happiness saw international leaders and policymakers discuss strategies to ensure the wellbeing of their people. While several topics were discussed in what was an intensive day, some of the areas that received more attention than others were:

1. The launch of The Global Happiness Policy Report 2018: The Global Happiness Council has put together a comprehensive document outlining best practices that governments, as well as private sector companies, can undertake to advance levels of happiness and well-being within their countries. The report reinforces the need for the highest levels of every country to partake in the happiness agenda and urges for a transformation of public thinking. The report also assesses the need for happiness data i.e. how can valuable information such as health and wellbeing levels be collected, analysed and transformed into useful policy insights. Click here to access the full report.
2. A focus on youth happiness: Emphasis was put on happiness and wellbeing in educational systems because young minds are more receptive to engaging in a wellness culture and should be shaped early on in their childhood. Several experts took the stage to discuss how schools and local educational institutions can improve student engagement as well as promote positivity.
3. The role of AI in happiness: In what was a very interesting session, Corporate Chief Scientist at Hitachi Ltd. Kazuo Yano proposed the use of artificial intelligence technology to measure and provide useful data analytics with regards to employee happiness in the workplace. This posed the question: how can companies integrate such technology without invasion of privacy and intrusion of personal space. He also highlighted that AI will play a pivotal role in the long-term in efforts to increase happiness and productivity. “A happy organisation is a more productive organisation. Small interventions that improve happiness in the workplace have been proved to increase productivity by up to 30 percent. AI allows us to move from rule-oriented processes to outcome-oriented processes,” he concluded.