Unleashing peoples' potential
Access the full version of the Overview of Argentina's G20 Presidency 2018
Technological change is extraordinary in its magnitude and speed. The emergence of new technologies has led to the development of new forms of work that are rapidly changing production processes worldwide. This offers huge opportunities to accomplish fair and sustainable development; yet it also presents challenges that are putting pressure on the employment, welfare and education agendas.
Policy responses need to ensure that embracing technological change will not engender exclusion, social disintegration, or backlash. Providing these responses in a coordinated manner will also help prevent excessive gaps in technology adoption across countries and surging inequality among them.
We need to create the conditions for more and better jobs. We need to provide tools and skills to those people looking for a job and those whose jobs are at risk of being replaced by automation. We should explore global initiatives that ensure that everyone has a chance to develop their full potential so as to benefit from the new technological era.
We will seek to pin down the impact that technological change is having on productivity, growth, jobs, and inequality. Following a diagnostics phase, we will also explore the policies needed to embrace the opportunities and address the challenges presented by technology.
Education is at the crux of this debate. Education empowers people to shape their own futures. It enables them to create their own endeavours and form an active citizenship able to contribute to the development of a world that is both fairer and more sustainable.
Making the new wave of technological breakthroughs as inclusive as possible will require considerable investment in training and skills for life and work. It may also require an adaptation in our fiscal policies or structural reforms. Now is the moment to shape the opportunities and skills that prepare our citizens for change.