What's Really on the Davos Agenda

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They may not have slick-backed hair but they will be this year's soothers of wrinkled brows. The session on "Myths and Realities of Sovereign Wealth Funds" on Jan. 24 will probably be packed.

Tony Blair Meets China Mobile

The innovation sessions at the World Economic Forum are increasingly the most popular, jammed full of business people from the U.S. and Asia especially. Much of the discussion will be about the fundamentals of innovation—tools, metrics, methodologies—and the ways of making it a predictable process. The first session of the WEF opens with a big workshop on where innovation is headed. "Defining Innovation" features panelists including Larry Keeley from Doblin, Tim Brown from IDEO, Kigge Hvid from Europe's INDEX, William McGlashan from venture capital outfit TPG Growth, and Kiyoshi Kurokawa, science adviser to the Prime Minister of Japan.

The opening plenary stars ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) Jamie Dimon, Pepsico (PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi, Wang Jianzhou of China Mobile, and others. But many attendees skip the heavy political stuff to take the opportunity to ponder existential issues and have some fun. They attend sessions on science, philanthropy, music, and psychology. This year, there will be a presentation entitled "Happiness—How Much Can You Take?" Another, "Solving the Mysteries of the Mind" will probably be jammed.

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Bruce Nussbaum is an assistant managing editor for BusinessWeek, responsible for coverage of design and innovation. He will moderate a workshop on innovation at this year's World Economic Forum.