DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — As it has done for more than three decades, this week’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos will bring together leaders from around the world in business, government, academia, civil society and the media to discuss world affairs. This year’s theme is the Power of Collaborative Innovation. For five days delegates will talk, brainstorm and forge alliances to tackle top issues on the global agenda, such as climate change, income disparity or the credit crunch stemming from the U.S. subprime mortgage debacle.As always, the Davos meeting is not designed to achieve an all-encompassing statement of beliefs, such as we see at G8 summits. Rather, Davos brings together leaders from around the world who would otherwise not meet. Bono can talk to Bill Gates, who in turn may talk to Tony Blair, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Harvard business professor Michael Porter or Condoleezza Rice. Delegates find issues of common interest and form new relationships that will help one another achieve their goals.

Attendees are not permitted to bring staff of any kind – the only guests are spouses. Accommodation is modest as CEOs of global 100 corporations find themselves staying in three-star hotels in this small, overcrowded skiing town. But the intellectual stimulation and initiatives that are catalyzed are worth it. From my experience, many of the best discussions are in small meetings, hallway conversations, over dinner or in the bar. My wife, Ana, and I have found that we often learn as much from the spouses, who tend to be very thoughtful people.

In response to critics who say Davos is elitist, since 2003 the Forum has collaborated with the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches to run a parallel Open Forum for the general public. It offers a venue for an open debate on globalization and its consequences.

Davos organizers also invited citizens around the world to respond via YouTube to The Davos Question. “What one thing do you think countries, companies or individuals should do to make the world a better place in 2008?” The most popular responses will be played at Davos, and leaders around the world will record their reactions to the suggestions. The WEF also has numerous other programs around the world that engage people from all walks of society throughout the year.

In materials distributed prior to the meeting, conference organizers lament the “leadership vacuums” that are evident on a wide array of critical issues. “Complexity, competing interests and scarce resources remain the greatest obstacles to progress on the global agenda in the absence of greater leadership and global stewardship … a paradox has emerged in our networked world where knowledge is ubiquitous and change is rapid, but the absence of a common vision and agenda ensures that the status quo will be maintained with respect to major global challenges.”

This year’s theme of collaboration is a topic that I’ve been working on for many years. Last year, Anthony Williams and I published Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. The book looks at how developments in digital technologies (particularly the Internet), demographics, business and society enable new paradigms in collaboration in the global economy. Firms, governments, educational institutions, civil society and others can now orchestrate capability, innovate and create value in new ways. No institution in society will remain unchanged.

I’m delighted with the theme for Davos 2008 because I believe collaborative innovation is the path to solutions for many of the vexing problems facing our shrinking planet. Take global warning. Mark Twain is famously quoted as saying “Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it.” Now that’s changing.

Rather than discuss climate change in isolation, delegates will explore the interrelations between the climate crisis and extreme poverty and see if there are solutions common to both. How should international efforts to eliminate poverty and to solve the climate crisis be co-ordinated to improve the chances for success in both efforts?