World Manufacturing Forum, Milano, Italy 1-2 July 2014

As the world climbs out of the economic crisis, policy makers have recognized manufacturing’s contribution to economic success as a strategic pillar to economic health. In response, governments are scrambling to create favorable conditions for growth while industry is faced with volatile and highly competitive market conditions. Investors are reluctant to jump into the high-risk marketplace, and m

anufacturers are not always willing to use reserves to expand their business. Adding to the complexity of a globalized marketplace, countries struggle with local cries for stricter import regulations, raw material control, and limits on technology transfer. Does the focus to bring jobs home mean we must forgo international cooperation to solve manufacturing challenges and advance technology? The World Manufacturing Forum focuses on cooperation to create a global environment for sustainable economic success through sharing resources, creating and supporting common platforms for standards and interoperability for emerging technologies, solving storage and knowledge-mining challenges for ever-increasing amounts of data, and finding innovative ways to leverage applied R&D investments. Because technology and skills are key innovation differentiators, the Forum will also discuss the role of educational institutions, companies, and unions in training the next-generation of workers in the highly technical field of manufacturing. The Forum will bring together high-level industrialists, policy makers, and key societal stakeholders across the globe for a cross-exchange of ideas on major macroeconomic trends and manufacturing innovation. The Forum is sponsored by the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems program and its member countries and is open to international sponsorship from government, industry, and institutions.