IGF 2022 Town Hall #82 Sustainable Automation as SDG-18?

Sustainable Automation as SDG-18?

Key Takeaways:

• Disruption in labour market due to automation
• Identify the gap between current and futuristic skilling
• Control of the Private sector over different areas/sectors of automation
• Focus on job creation
• Bridging the skills needed for future jobs
• Life-long learning process to life-long skillinglnced use of automation

Calls to Action

• Bridge between job opportunities and academics
• Continuous Lifelong Learning to Continuous and Lifelong Skilling
• Focus on Up-skilling, Re-skilling, and Futuristic skilling
• Balanced use of Automation
• Basic social safety and security for people
• Creating ideas for capacity-building of futuristic jobs
• Sustain-Able Automation as SDG 18 or included in SDG 9 – Sustainable industrialization

Session Report

Session: Sustainable Automation as SDG-18?

Hosted by Dynamic Coalition on Internet & Jobs, Internet Governance Forum & Digital Health Associates ( https://www.digitalassociates.health/ ). 

IGF 2022 Town Hall #82

Press Briefing Room

13:15 IST (1 Dec) -14:15 IST (1 Dec)

Rapporteur: Ms. Rahatul Jannah

Session Chair: Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Chairman- Dynamic Coalition on Internet & Jobs, Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The Session started with opening remarks from Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta, Chairman of Dynamic Coalition on Internet & Jobs, Internet Governance Forum (IGF). He released the report on ‘Sustain-Able Automation as #SDG 18’ Dr. Gupta remarked that technology should not just focus on Productivity, Profits, and Proliferation, but also there is a need to keep people at the core. He discussed whether we should use automation indiscriminately or discreetly. He also briefed about the Sustain-Able Automation report which looks at automation in countries- large and small, sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, and retail services. Later, he moved to the panel to discuss the effect of automation on jobs and if Sustain-Able Automation should be #SDG 18.

Dr. Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, President, Aeris India, and co-author of the book, Enterprise IoT, which covers Internet of Things (IoT) project management frameworks, talked about the time when the industrial revolution started in the western world and all the people who spun the wheel in India lost their jobs. He mentioned that whenever there is a technological advancement, there will be a transformation and a disruption. In 1986, when the computerization of railways was initiated in India, people were completely against computerization. However, advancement in technology will not stop, and we will have to adapt ourselves. He pointed out that policymakers need to come up with ideas for skilling resources and creating capacity-building for futuristic jobs.

Asish Thakur, Executive Director, Glocal Pvt. Ltd. talked about automation in Nepal, and mentioned that there has been a lot of work going on in terms of automation in different sectors. He mentioned the research conducted by UNICEF in 2019, which said that by 2030, more than half of the students would come out of school without the skills needed for future jobs. So, we need to adapt to technological advancements and focus on skilling. He also added that a lot of young people have now started taking up upskilling and reskilling programs, and observed that they are now getting into coding, designing, & different activities, which are equally or even more at times, providing them with opportunities and resources. Therefore, there needs to be a bridge between academics and job opportunities. He concluded that there will be a need to learn futuristic skills to adapt to technological advancements.

Mr. Suresh Yadav, Deputy Head, Secretary General Office, The Commonwealth Secretariat, quoted from the Sustain-Able Automation report how the total market value of Apple is much higher than the total GDP of many countries combined together, which brings a perspective that how much control companies have on automation and how they define and decide the direction and areas of automation. He mentioned the shift of power from the government to the private sector and how the private sector controls important assets and determines changes in policies. Mr. Yadav also remarked that technology has the power to disrupt, and neither the government nor individuals can stop this disruption. Hence there is a need to look for the best ways to adapt and prepare ourselves for those changes. He emphasized shifting from ‘continuous lifelong learning to continuous and lifelong skilling.’

Mr. Pooran Chandra Pandey, former member of the Board of Trustees, United Nations World Food Program, and currently International Visiting Fellow, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Taiwan (R.O.C) discussed how to balance technology in a way that does not get on the wrong side of human centricity. He elaborated on how technology is evolving and creating disruptions at a very large scale- throwing people out of jobs, bringing upheaval in the labour market, and which is waiting to be accelerated by excessive technological application brought into the offices. He remarked that it is the joint duty of the government and private sector to identify areas, sectors, and people to skill and give them basic social safety and security. He concluded by saying that automation is not only going to displace people from several sectors but also create social disorder. Therefore, there is a need to mitigate the downsides of automation urgently.

Toward the end of the session, the majority of the participants opined that it is time to consider ‘Sustainable Automation’ either as SDG-18 or under the existing SDG which covers sustainable industrialization  i.e. SDG-9

The session ended with a vote of thanks from the Chairman, Dr. Rajendra Pratap Gupta.

For more information on Sustainable Automation, please visit the webpage https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/dynamic-coalition-on-internet-jo…