The era of artificial intelligence and automation is coming closer and closer as technology advances and data increases. Increased productivity should be a driver for economic growth, but you have to know very well who the machines are working for.
In economies that have more to gain, humans in the workplace may have more to lose. That's why a thoughtful vision is needed to ensure that tomorrow's workers have the skills to compete in the digital world.
Addressing this challenge requires identifying the various causes. Doing so is difficult, but the analysis of the past and present shows that it is mandatory to address two dynamics generated by technology: improve and replace.
Technology has replaced human labor for as long as it has existed. Just as the wheel allowed one person to push what once required ten people, the engine allowed one person to move what once would have required a hundred people.
What is worrisome is the exponential digital progress of the last few decades. Manufacturing in the U.S., for example, declined from 16% of the U.S. workforce in 1996 to 8% in 2016. This is a tough drop, but we shouldn't let it overwhelm us. Progress brings benefits that can be realized if we prepare first.
These benefits are widely recognized and boil down to improved human labor. Digitization enables companies to do more of what their customers want: better, faster and cheaper. Employees who push the boundaries of production are the result of our present and future digital reality.
C-suites across all sectors are recognizing these digital benefits. Three out of four CIOs describe digital transformation as a priority, while 86% of large companies have appointed digital CEOs and 72% of organizations believe the CIO position is central to the boardroom.
However, despite universal recognition of the digital benefits, we are apparently unable or unwilling to fully embrace them, because the skills gap is a key factor. Lack of IT skills is already holding back digital transformation.
The question is indispensable: what skills and attributes will people need to compete in this digital workplace, create an innovation economy and drive economic inclusion?
The answer lies in education. As technological progress becomes less and less tangible, we must provide increasingly relevant education. STEM curricula, which are the standard for advanced education, must become STREAMD: science, technology, robotics, engineering, arts, mathematics and design.
This breadth and depth of training reflects the development of an innovation economy beyond IT, with an increasing emphasis on design skills and expertise, systems and thinking related to computing, digital economics, sociology, behavioral economics and advanced mathematics.
While skepticism in education reform and job training may be correct, the stakes are too high to allow past failures to define preparedness for the future. A strategy that includes all stakeholders, including governments and businesses, is needed.
Only in this way, with educational initiatives, can we ensure that more people are positioned to benefit from economic gains in the face of unstoppable technological progress.
Excerpt from the article published in Word Economic Forum on Latin America, by Jennifer Artley President, Americas, BT Group.
