The New global Challenges that redefine our environment
The 4th industrial revolution and the disruptive technologies that accompany it create a larger and faster scale of disruptions than the previous ones on the labor market, involving job displacement, a significant economic and human cost. They are changing the way we interact and work in a more knowledge-based world that is increasingly dependent on technology.
From now on, it is no longer just a gap between the skills offered and those requested, but also between the skills currently required and those needed in the near future.
Global education systems are not yet in line with these changes and the new needs they entail. By continuing to focus on student learning, they leave older generations with the educational level attained in their youth: the educational optimization of the under-25s is close to 75% while the figure drops to 51% beyond this age range. In the absence of adequate changes to education and training systems, by 2020 a global surplus of about 30 million unskilled workers and a deficit of 85 million highly skilled workers are expected. [1]
Unequal access to education leads to unequal access to opportunities and leaves a permanent gap, even as new career paths are rapidly changing and require constant adaptation.
In this shifting context, formal qualifications alone are meaningless. The notion of competence needs to be re-thought strategically and productively. Ideally, the implementation of this new vision supported by the Education 2030 agenda, coordinated by UNESCO, requires 15–20% of public spending to be devoted to education. But states can not do it alone.[2]
Education is a vector of development and investment in this area can generate a virtuous circle: a more cultivated population generates greater wealth, enjoys greater equity, sees its population grow and increases its demand for education and skills. With an additional 2.4 billion people by 2050, the education and training market must simultaneously grow at an annual rate of 19% by 2020; in this area, that of education technologies will reach 17%.[3]
There is an urgent need to mobilize synergies for holistic, fluid and adaptive learning systems that can provide appropriate skills in the short and long term. Faced with this desperate need for new models, technological innovation is a solution and, integrated with lifelong learning, can rebalance the game.
This rebalancing requires a sustained dialogue between all stakeholders: the business community, businesses, governments, education providers and civil society.
Technological innovation can radically transform the education landscape and offer solutions to address inequalities in access to knowledge: in the production of educational materials, content distribution or the assessment process. It provides a broader, deeper, and more personalized learning experience. It can reach all audiences at all ages. By being an integral part of the educational experience, it can enable individuals to remain flexible and adaptable to the needs of society and the market, offering them opportunities for learning and continuing education at all stages of their careers. In this race for skills and employability, digital solutions can enable companies to identify gaps and fill them faster.
Ludovic CHEVIRON President
[1] World Economic Forum’s 2016 New vision for education report & Human capital report
[2] United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation — Education 2030 — Incheon Declaration
[3] EdTechXGobal & IBIS Capital — 2016 Edtech Trends, a map for the future of education
