As societies become increasingly digital, cyber security has become a priority for individuals, companies and nations. The number of cyber attacks is exceeding defence capabilities, and one reason for this is the lack of an adequately skilled cyber security workforce. This report analyses the demand for cyber security professionals in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States using information contained in online job postings. The analysis looks at recent trends in the demand for workers in different types of cyber security roles, the geographical distribution of cyber security job postings, and the changing skill requirements for professionals in this field. The report also looks at the supply side, zooming in on the landscape of cyber security education and training programmes in England (United Kingdom). It describes the different types of programmes provided in further and higher education, the profile of learners in these programmes and their outcomes. Finally, the report also looks at policies and initiatives adopted in England to make cyber security education and training programmes more accessible and relevant. This report is part of a larger initiative examining the evolution of policies and experiences in the cyber security profession around the world.
This paper assesses the reliability and validity of cognitive and socioemotional skills measures and investigates the correlation between schooling, skills acquisition, and labor earnings. The primary data from Pakistan incorporates two innovations related to measurement and sampling. On measurement, the paper develops and implements a battery of instruments intended to capture cognitive and socioemotional skills among young adults. On sampling, the paper uses a panel that follows respondents from their original rural locations in 2003 to their residences in 2018, a period over which 38 percent of the respondents left their native villages. In terms of their validity and reliability, our skills measures compare favorably to previous measurement attempts in low- and middle-income countries. The following are documented in the data: (a) more years of schooling are correlated with higher cognitive and socioemotional skills; (b) labor earnings are correlated with cognitive and socioemotional skills as well as years of schooling; and (c) the earnings-skills correlations depend on respondents’ migration status. The magnitudes of the correlations between schooling and skills on the one hand and earnings and skills on the other are consistent with a widespread concern that such skills are underproduced in the schooling system.
Digital Africa, Technological Transformation for Jobs examines pathways to produce and promote the expanded use of affordable and attractive digital technologies (DTs) that are appropriate for Sub-Saharan Africa’s growing workforce and facilitate continued learning through use. DTs are defined broadly to include digital and data infrastructure, broadband internet, smartphones, tablets, and computers. They also include more specialized productivity-enhancing solutions, such as management upgrading, worker training, procurement, marketing, logistics, financing, and insurance.
Angola is at a critical juncture and a multi-sectoral strategy is needed to stimulate job creation that will help build the economy and future prospects for young Angolans, while more deeply engaging youth and increasing productivity in the short term. Job prospects are limited and although youth are better prepared for the labor market than adults, they are still vulnerable and face multiple constraints. The existing portfolio of Active Labor Market Programs offer few programs that are appropriate for the most vulnerable youth. Though the latest macro-economic adjustments and fiscal consolidation will help, much more is needed to leverage oil revenues away from pure consumption and towards investment to develop Angola as a country in its own right. More aggressive policy reforms in the private sector are needed to support productive job growth for firms as well as entrepreneurs to ensure good jobs that are particularly inclusive of vulnerable youth and women. Furthermore, investments in human capital will help youth develop the skills needed for better jobs while improving labor-matching mechanisms to help youth transition into employment.
This toolkit highlights World Bank Group (WBG) commitments relevant to women and girls with disabilities, examples of law and policy reform, and key barriers and solutions across several World Bank sectors, and it includes a checklist for Task Team Leaders (TTLs) to use throughout the project cycle. TTLs will benefit from the toolkit’s key questions and suggested indicators aimed to increase inclusion of women and girls with disabilities across WBG projects and a set of resources for additional support. It addresses measures to promote the socioeconomic inclusion of women with disabilities across several critical sectors for World Bank operations: education; employment and entrepreneurship; social protection; gender based violence; health; digital development; water and sanitation; transportation and urban planning; fragility, conflict, violence; and disaster risk management. It seeks to support WBG task teams in inclusive approaches to the design, implementation, and evaluation of all projects to better support women and girls with disabilities and address their intersectional needs.
This report estimates the size of the South African care economy through an analysis of the number of existing and potential future job opportunities in the sector. It also outlines the potential impact of investment into the care economy including economic impact, impact on beneficiaries, and impact on the young people who could access the job opportunities together with the broader societal impacts.
Jobs entry conditions are tough for disadvantaged youth in a tight labor market. South African employers prefer to hire employees who have at least completed a secondary school education and one year of work experience. Yet, over 47 percent of South Africa’s unemployed youth have education levels below secondary (termed “Matric” in South Africa) level education and most youth have not held a job. However, growing evidence globally and in South Africa demonstrates that 21st century skills – non-technical skills which include executive function skills and socioemotional skills – rival technical skills in their ability to positively impact employment and earnings, and may be the single most important predictor of a new employee’s success, providing a new entry point for disadvantaged youth.
The present book comes at a pivotal moment in the fight against the climate, biodiversity and pollution crises. These crises – without any exaggeration – threaten our very survival as humanity. Tipping points are getting dangerously near, and the window for decisive action is closing fast. The circular economy is the model of the future, for Europe and the world. This is why it is one of the pillars of the European Green Deal. Making our economies circular could cut EU industrial emissions by 56% annually by 2050. It would bring balance back to our relationship with nature and reduce our vulnerability to disruptions in global, complex supply chains. The shift to a circular economy needs to happen at a global scale as well. This is why we launched the Global Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency Alliance together with UNEP, why we push for ambitious global agreements across the board, and why we work with businesses from all over the world.
This Knowledge Brief shares lessons on how the World Bank’s Promoting Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Social Protection and Employment Programs project team in Haiti worked to enhance the identification of persons with disabilities and provide them with skills for service sector jobs. The Brief highlights the importance of focusing on demand-driven skills, working with mainstream training providers, and proactive outreach to employers.
This knowledge brief highlights the relevance and challenges of business incubation services for youth in rural areas. It showcases learnings from several projects implemented by the World Bank and GIZ and provides examples of design elements of business incubation services for youth in rural areas. These include 1) creating a network-based ecosystem for rural incubation, 2) promoting on-site incubation as opposed to co-working space, 3) guaranteeing access to markets by involving the private sector, 4) Screening entrepreneurs, 5) combining different types of financial sustainability models based on local conditions, and 6) promotion of pro-women incubation to address the "triple burden" faced by young women in rural areas.
This presents the main benefits and obstacles to the use of digital technologies as well as the perception of digital technology's impact on the environment and society. Find here 6 key learnings and the study findings on digital maturity and usage dynamics.
This report examines the growing potential of India’s AI-led software as a service (SaaS) start-ups and analyzes the role that the country, which is already a leader in the global software ecosystem, can play in an AI-led future.
This report warns that climate change is already causing widespread losses and damages worldwide. The report focuses on the interactions among the coupled systems climate, ecosystems, and human society.
This World Bank report draws on data from the most recent Nigeria General Household Survey to makes five critical contributions towards improving gender inclusion in Nigeria: (1) highlighting the gender gaps in labor force participation; (2) documenting the magnitude and drivers of the gender gaps in key economic sectors; (3) diving deep into three contextual constraints: land, livestock, and occupational segregation; (4) measuring the costs of the gender gaps; and (5) offering policy and programming recommendations of innovative options to close the gender gaps.
The study draws on youth and employer survey results to document the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people in Jordan and Palestine, with an emphasis on vulnerable youth including refugees in Jordan, youth in Gaza, and young women. Key topics include:
- Youth employment trajectories during the pandemic
- Youth interest in virtual freelancing jobs
- Employer hiring projections and demand for skills
- Promising sectors for youth employment during the COVID-19 recovery
The report examines the role of the creative economy in delivering a robust and inclusive post-pandemic recovery in developing Asia and the Pacific and explores how the postCOVID-19 revival of the creative economy could advance the realization of the SDGs, setting the stage for possible action during Indonesia’s G20 presidency in 2022.
This Knowledge Brief focuses on platforms that have leveraged novel digital technologies to deliver location-agnostic mentoring solutions to youth. It explores six key operational areas where innovations have helped make e-mentoring processes more effective and efficient 1) Recruitment of mentors and mentees using online marketing strategies, 2) Screening potential mentors and mentees through algorithms that match key pre-set criteria. 3) Using blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to make the best possible mentor-mentee matches. 4) Conducting mentoring by bringing together mentors and mentees on virtual meetup platforms, 5) Providing ongoing support, supervision, and monitoring through a library of online resources, ensuring a member of the senior team is available for answering questions virtually and setting parameters and milestones that need to be met through the process, 6) Ensuring an appropriate closure of the mentor-mentee relationship by addressing challenges faced during the program and providing recognition to outstanding mentoring achievements.
This research provides valuable insights about the South African labor market, through the identification of future employment pathways with greater earning potential based on the tasks and skill-sets young people develop in their current occupation.
This study provides an overview of impact investment and skills creation in innovation, covering the main features of impact investment, the historical development of the phenomenon, and how it can be linked to the skills creation process. The study examines the emergence of impact investing and explains its principles and defining features. It maps some existing initiatives at European and local levels, presents examples of good and innovative practices in investments with social impact, and explores what practices and instruments for impact investment in innovation skills have been and/or could be applied in the Western Balkans.
This report ilustrates the current state of accounting and reporting solutions, and how they can support businesses in driving the circular transition. The report concludes that the shift to a circular economy requires complex changes to our present ways of doing business. To push forward the circular transition—and to be able to unlock business opportunities in the new circular economy— the current approach to value, impact, and risk must be redefined.