The snow-capped mountains in Davos shimmer in the sunlightwhile the mercury has dropped to -5 degrees Celsius. Only a few hours have passed since then Gerald Abila landed in Switzerland, carrying among other things in his luggage three sweaters and some warm underwear. Fortunately he had been informed that he might be cold at the World Economic Forum.

The Ugandan lawyer is now in his hotel and talks about his goal: that everyone can have access to the legal system. “A lot of people in my country don’t know much about the laws or our legal system that is supposed to protect them.”

Lawyer Winnie

Abila’s team created Winnie: a digital lawyer who answers legal questions within 24 hours with artificial intelligence support. And in fact, questions about everything: whether they concern an inheritance, a car accident or something else. In fact, this service is available for free and so far it has been used by about one million people in Uganda. Abila’s firm BarefootLaw has so far received funding from various foundations.

He himself wants to change things. “There are so many questions about the legislation, though at the same time there is also a huge gap between the people and the legal system», he explains. The lawyer is convinced that the law should be available to everyone. That’s exactly why lawyers and developers work at BarefootLaw.

The company uses various programs, such as ChatGPT, which can process data within seconds. “Artificial intelligence has an incredible power to bring about change, at least equivalent to the one that the invention of printing had,” emphasizes Abila.

50 million Africans are set to access Barefoot’s services by 2030, especially people who don’t live in big cities, as in the countryside it is difficult to find a lawyer.

Abila was invited to WEF 24 because he will be awarded as a Social Innovator by the Schwab Foundation. For him, however, the Forum is also an ideal opportunity to learn even more about artificial intelligence.

“The world is at a crossroads”

There are 2,800 participants at this year’s World Economic Forum, including the heads of major software companies, many directors of other businesses and more than 60 heads of state and government. Abila does not belong to the political or financial elite, but he is happy to attend. Because the Forum has a lot of people with whom he always wanted to talk.

The American Dania Pastusek comments on her part how “The way our economic systems are organized, they don’t work for the poor either, nor for our planet”. She is co-director of the Tamarack Institute from Ontario, Canada. Its aim is to fight poverty – and this often requires solutions at the local level. The Tamarack Institute educates and connects people, many of whom live in remote areas, who can learn a lot from each other, as well as develop ideas and solutions together.

In Davos, Pastuszek hopes to find an answer to the question “what is the view of the economic elite and politicians about solutions at the local level?”, but also to encourage relevant dialogue by presenting her work. “The world is at a crossroads,” he underlines. “And that’s something everyone should be concerned about.”

A meeting with Bill Gates?

As a teenager Leah dropped out of high school. Her parents were poor farmers and they could no longer pay school fees. She herself did many jobs, always having the ambition to find a way out of poverty. She finally achieved her goal – and she wants to help others achieve the same.

From her own experience Lia knew very well that especially in the province there was a shortage of electricity. With her own savings she founded a company, Shenzen Power Solutions. Despite the difficulties he faced during the first three years of the company’s operation, he finally managed to develop small and economical solar lights. “The issue was that it should be affordable. And of course I didn’t want it to be of poor quality either,” he explains.

Today Lea employs approximately 160 people and its solar lights illuminate approximately 7 million households in China, India and Africa.

This is also the reason why he wants to meet with Bill Gates. “I want to tell him that I have the solution he’s looking for,” she says with a smile. Leah also sees her participation in the Forum as a great opportunity – she is not afraid of socializing at all. “I see it as a good advertisement. With the support and reinforcement of the World Economic Forum”.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas