COVID-19 is having a profound effect on the global economy and impacting it in ways we could not have envisioned. Recent global developments outline more strongly than ever before the importance of economic diversification and ensuring professionals have the in-demand skills required to succeed in the global market.
Growth drivers of the future will not be the same as those of the present or the past. Automation, AI, data, and the digital economy will be key, and those with a dynamic response to disruptive forces will be better placed. The Gulf nations realised this fact even before the oil price crash and had been trying to position themselves to capitalise on these new developments.
The digital skills gap: Why upskilling will be non-optional in the coming years
The Middle East has been moving rapidly towards a fully-connected, intelligent future. According to a recent PwC study, nearly 80 per cent of Middle East private businesses have already acknowledged that digitalisation will impact the long-term viability of their business.
Another 2018 McKinsey study projects that between now and 2030, 45 per cent of existing work in the Middle East has the potential of being automated. Thus, the emergence of digitisation and automation is rapidly changing the requirements needed in the workplace, creating demand for a range of new skill-sets.
How to develop the skills of the future
Executive education programs are the answer for professionals to sail through these challenging times and prepare for the workforce of the future.
UAE professionals willing to invest in their professional development can look towards Great Learning, a leading professional development company, for their upskilling needs. Great Learning offers a range of comprehensive and industry-relevant programs with distinguished global institutions such as The University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University. Designed for working professionals, these online programs combine industry expertise with hands-on training to deliver transformative career outcomes.
For UAE residents looking for an artificial intelligence course in UAE or the best data science course in UAE, Great Learning offers two online data science courses in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin: the Post Graduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and Post Graduate Program in Data Science and Business Analytics.
For senior business leaders and managers looking to leverage data and artificial intelligence for business, Great Learning offers the Post Graduate Program in Artificial Intelligence for Leaders with UT Austin.
Senior business professionals can also benefit from their online Design Thinking course to induce creativity, innovation, and solve complex business problems. Designed and delivered by the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education, the Design Thinking: From Insights to Viability program enables leaders to transform businesses and products through the ‘Design Thinking’ approach.
IT professionals can also upskill themselves with their online cyber security course, which is offered by the Stanford Center for Professional Development and delivered in collaboration with Great Learning. The Stanford Advanced Computer Security Program helps you master the in-demand skills needed to protect networks, prevent attacks, and ensure the privacy of your customers.
For fresh graduates and college students, Great Learning also offers free beginner courses to build in demand skills in data science, machine learning, AI, cloud computing, and more.
Professional development and continuous learning are especially important in these challenging times and can help one to full advantage of the benefits offered by the digital economy.
About Great Learning
Great Learning is a leading professional learning company focused on upskilling working professionals and students. Having delivered over 22 million hours of transformational learning that have impacted more than 25,000 learners from 85+ countries, Great Learning believes it is still in the initial phase of its avowed mission - to enable transformative career success in the digital economy for professionals and students across the globe.
