Highlights
- OECD calls on governments to work together to use technology as great equalizer at WGS
- 133 million new jobs may emerge in shake-up between humans and machines by 2022, but 75 million jobs may be displaced, OECD says
- Fourth Industrial Revolution can change the world, but governments and institutions need to collaborate far more closely, says OECD Secretary-General
Dubai: One of the most senior officials of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called on governments and institutions around the world to collaborate far more closely around the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), to harness the opportunities of technological change to end poverty, curb inequalities, confront discrimination and ensure vast numbers of people are not left behind.
Addressing a plenary session titled ‘The Future of the Economy in the Age of 4IR’, at the seventh World Government Summit (WGS 2019) in Dubai, His Excellency José Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of OECD, said it was vital that countries use digital technologies as a great equalizer, and not create a situation where they have to look after people who are unable to participate in a new digitally-driven economy.
“The digital transformation can change the world, but we have to create a level playing field. In OECD countries alone, we estimate up to half of all people will be displaced or affected by technology. How do you empower the half of the workforce that will be affected?
"How do you provide the skills that will allow them to profit? What do you do with the hundreds of millions of youth who have not yet been incorporated into this new order?” Gurria asked, in response to questions by moderator Becky Anderson.
The OECD estimates that 133 million new jobs may emerge in the shake-up between humans and machines by 2022. However, at the same time, 75 million jobs may be displaced.
The OECD’s projections suggest that one billion people worldwide lack the necessary digital literacy and skills to participate in the digital economy, with Gurria pointing to the fact that uneven broadband access means that less than half the world’s population uses the internet. Globally, 200 million fewer women are online than men.
Gurria said countries across the world are at different stages of the digital revolution and some people will be left behind. “Even in developed countries like the UK, you have cities just a few miles apart, in which you have 10 years’ difference in life expectancy. How do you deal with the responsibility to protect the vulnerable? How do you not create a situation where the state becomes a great provider of assistance?” he asked.
“The Fourth Industrial Revolution will have its upsides and downsides. It’s our challenge and duty to harness the upside, and mitigate the downside.”
The three-day World Government Summit 2019 runs until February 12 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The landmark event has convened more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries, including heads of state and governments, as well as top-tier representatives of 30 international organizations.
Glossary: What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
The 4th Industrial Revolution is rooted in a new technological phenomenon — digitalization, which enables the world to build a new virtual world from which we can steer the physical world.
The industry of today and tomorrow aim to connect all production means, and to enable their interaction in real time.
Factories, using robots, and transactions using artificial intelligence, make communication among the different stakeholders — and connected objects in a production line possible, thanks to technology such as Cloud, Big Data Analytics and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT).
Stages of Industrial Revolution
1st industrial revolution — 1765
This era witnessed the emergence of mechanization, replacing agriculture with industry as the foundations of the economic structure of society. Mass extraction of coal along with the invention of the steam engine created a new type of energy that accelerated the development of railroads and of economic, human and material exchanges.
2nd industrial revolution — 1870
This era came as a result of a new source of energy: electricity, oil and gas, which led to the full utilization of the combustion engine and the development of the steel industry alongside chemical syntheses that brought us synthetic fabric, dyes and fertilizer.
3rd Industrial revolution — 1969
This era appeared with the emergence of a new type of electronics — with the transistor and microprocessor — and also the rise of telecommunications and computers.
