Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are major breakthrough technologies that are transforming the economy and society. The OECD’s Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Skills (AIFS) project is developing a programme to assess the capabilities of AI and robotics, and their impact on education and work. This volume reports on the first step of the project: identifying which capabilities to assess and which tests to use in the assessment. It builds on an online expert workshop that explored this question from the perspectives of both psychology and computer science. The volume consists of expert contributions that review skills taxonomies and tests in different domains of psychology, and efforts in computer science to assess AI and robotics.
This document presents the Retirement Savings Laboratorys (Laboratory) main findings, lessons, and challenges from several pilot interventions aimed at promoting voluntary pension savings among independent and low-income workers in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
This Knowledge Brief highlights examples of music enterprises in Africa and the types of opportunities they offer for youth in the broad music ecosystem. The Brief also suggests some strategies for translating music into economic and social benefits: 1) Access to finance to support music enterprises, 2) Targeted music-friendly policies, 3) Support for networks and enabling infrastructure, 4) Enhanced participation of women and artists from marginalized communities, and 5) Human capital development through skills, training, and innovation.
This ILO report seeks to enhance our understanding of how digital labour platforms are transforming the world of work, and the implications of that transformation for employers and workers.
This paper examines the vital, yet under-recognized role of waste pickers in the circular economy, particularly in low- and middle-income nations. It explores the tension between the environmental and social aspects of circularity. While waste pickers significantly contribute to recycling and environmental well-being, they often face exploitation and minimal support. The paper proposes a two-pronged approach: a hierarchy illustrating waste pickers' foundational role in the recycling chain, and a model for a socially restorative circular economy that prioritizes fair treatment and social inclusion for these essential workers. By addressing these social inequalities, the paper argues, we can achieve a more sustainable and equitable circular economy.
This paper focuses on key sectors across 21 emerging markets that can be prioritized in post-COVID green recovery efforts. These sectors are grouped around greening existing and future energy infrastructure, building climate-smart cities, and helping speed the transition of key industries to green production practices. Concerted actions by public and private players across these areas can deliver economic recovery in the short and medium term and can deliver long-term sustainable and low-carbon growth.
A rapidly urbanizing world presents enormous economic opportunities for the poor and vulnerable but also significant barriers to economic inclusion. This report provides an overview of the urban context and challenges, describes a framework for fostering urban economic inclusion, and examines the current landscape of economic inclusion programs, starting with the policy impetus driving their emergence.
The work of Europe's creative industry professionals is not only relevant from an economic perspective. It is also important for the promotion of Europe’s diverse cultural identity and European values including equality, democracy and sustainable development. The creative industries and culture also have the power to facilitate transformations of institutions, communities and cities. This sectoral watch describes the industrial context of the sector, technological trends, venture capital investments and startup creation, the supply and demand of related skills and a future outlook with challenges and opportunities.
The Young Africa Connects is a Facebook Live series supported by the Master Card Foundation. It aims to inspire, engage, and uplift young people while amplifying the incredible work being done across the continent.
The latest episode of the series discusses issues related to youth resilience in Africa. During the episode three, young African entrepreneurs discuss their journey, sharing their challenges and how they overcame adversity to embrace or create opportunity. These are powerful lessons in resilience and their stories, provide inspiration to other young people.
These guidelines provide information, guidance and tips on organizing and managing virtual internships. They focus on those aspects of an internship that are particularly important for internships conducted entirely virtually, and these where all activities and interactions are performed remotely.
This research examines the European Union's (EU) push for a circular economy under the Juncker Commission. While the EU promotes a circular economy for environmental and economic benefits, the study finds a gap between its ambitious goals and actual policies. EU discourse emphasizes broad sustainability but policies focus on waste management, suggesting a need for a more comprehensive approach to achieve a truly circular future.
This report explores the latest AI applications and trends in emerging markets and includes several examples of how AI is expanding opportunities and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
This publication, Backstage: Managing Creativity and the Arts in SouthEast Asia, draws on the findings of UNESCO’s recent study of the creative sector in the nine countries of the South-East Asian region (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam), which involved a quantitative survey, in-depth interviews and policy analysis. The publication showcases the policy environments in which the creative sector is operating, points out the similarities and differences across the countries of the region, and concretely identifies areas in which exchanges (sharing and learning from each other) and further development can be engineered to unleash the full potential of the sector.
The report offers initial findings and recommendations to development organizations, policymakers, and other private and public stakeholders seeking to address barriers to employment and to promote opportunities for refugee women in the digital workforce in Jordan and Lebanon.
This study assesses the present state of the audiovisual sector in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of increased demand resulting from the growth of streaming and national industries in the region. The document includes an assessment of audiovisual milestones while centering on current public policy debates and 21st-Century skills. After interviewing and conversing with nearly 100 emerging creators, producers, entertainment executives, government officials, and film association professionals, the research provides an overview of the main challenges and opportunities faced throughout the continent. The research includes a survey of 417 producers aimed at understanding the need for below-the-line (technical) skills in LAC.
This strategic brief shows aquatic food systems have the potential to provide livelihood opportunities for youth but challenges remain for them to join the sector. Multisector initiatives to improve access to training and finance as well as promote digital innovation can improve the participation of youth in fisheries, aquaculture and associated value chains.
Buildher aims to equip women in Kenya with accredited construction skills, which are expected to allow beneficiaries to have greater financial independence and prosperity, to change male attitudes and to promote gender equality within the construction industry.
This study explores how the centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) implement their autonomous role in public-private partnerships (PPPs), and the specific features and benefits of CoVEs’ collaborations in PPPs for vocational education and skills development. Drawing on selected case studies in six ETF partner countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey) and two EU Member States (Finland and the Netherlands), the study provides insights into CoVE developmental processes and practices in PPPs and shows emerging trends that can inform vocational education policy development more widely.
This paper is the first sector-specific quantitative study on the employment effects of the EU transition on a global scale, including ethical dimensions of those effects, as far as we are aware. Overall, this paper contributes to the broader discussion of CE-induced social effects of sustainability transitions. Its results indicate that employment could significantly decrease in low- to upper-middle-income countries outside the EU, in particular in labour-intense apparel production. Employment could increase in less-labour intense downstream reuse and recycling activities in the EU and second-hand retail in- and outside the EU.
What are circular jobs exactly? And how can we ensure the transition to the circular economy is positive for work and workers? This Note gives us circular jobs definition framework defines circular jobs, with examples of jobs that contribute to the circular economy, and explains how this is used in Circle Economy's Circular Jobs Monitor, an online tool that gathers and displays the number and range of jobs that are part of the circular economy.
