Thursday 24 May
09:30
Session One | The Productivity Crisis
09:30 – 11:15
This opening session will examine the latest trends in labour markets and explore potential regulatory and industry strategies to enhance productivity in the current economic climate.
- How can the design, development and deployment of digital technologies and new labour models drive increased national productivity? What are the key issues that transcend national borders?
- In what ways do productivity challenges differ across developed and emerging economies? Is delivering growth through higher productivity becoming a priority?
- How should success be measured? Are metrics such as productivity still relevant?
- Can automation and artificial intelligence be utilized to boost productivity? What challenges and risks accompany this?
- Will rapid technological change be accompanied by social unrest and political upheaval? How is the decoupling between growth and real wages linked to a wider populist debate?
- How can policy help alleviate inequalities and promote inclusion in a digital age? Is universal basic income feasible or desirable? What are the alternatives?
Welcome and Chair’s opening remarks
Naomi Climer, Commissioner, Independent Commission on the Future of Work
Speakers
James Manyika, Director, McKinsey Global Institute
Bruce Reed, CEO and Co-Founder, Civic; Co-Chair, Future of Work Initiative, The Aspen Institute
Rachel Reeves MP, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee
Questions and discussion
11:15 – 11:45 Refreshments
Session Two | Technology and Job Disruption
11:45 – 13:00
This session will address how technological trends are changing the world of work, exploring policy implications as well as the impact of innovation across different jobs and industries.
- Who are the winners and losers of technology-driven change? Which sectors are likely to experience the most growth? Where can the greatest value be gained and how will effects differ across economies and regions?
- Will increasing automation put jobs at risk or will this create new employment opportunities? Are we seeing job losses as lower- and middle-income jobs become mechanized? What is the impact on highly skilled workers?
- In what ways will automation and robotics result in a reclassification and rebalancing of work? How can we better facilitate connectivity between humans and machines?
- How can governments, businesses and civil society work together to develop a responsible approach to governing the impact of technology on jobs? Should this include a clear discussion on the ethics of artificial intelligence? What is the best route for introducing ethics into the technological and societal agenda?
- In what ways has technological innovation impacted shifts in global economic power? Do emerging markets face the biggest challenge and will technology increase the gulf with the developed world?
Chair
Elizabeth Linder, Founder and CEO, Conversational Century
Speakers
Neil Lawrence, Director of Machine Learning, Amazon
Carl Benedikt Frey, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, University of Oxford
Margaret Boden, Research Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Sussex
Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Minister for Digital, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Questions and discussion
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
Session Three | Human Capital Investment and Enabling the Workforce of the Future
14:00 – 15:15
This session will examine potential policy frameworks and industry strategies to equip the workforce of the future and match worker supply to demand in a rapidly evolving marketplace with ever-changing and uncertain skills requirements.
- Are businesses hindered by a fragmented skills system and lack of systematic engagement between education and industry? What are the best strategies for encouraging collaboration between academia, industry and government at each stage of the innovation cycle?
- Has there been an ongoing investment shift from human capital to technology? Should there be an increase in research and development budgets at a fixed percentage of GDP?
- What strategies exist to enhance worker adaptability to new technologies and skills requirements? Can we harness technologies in such a way that they require minimal training? To what extent are digital skills becoming the fourth literacy?
- How can employers and educators build a flexible and agile workforce through continuing professional development and work experience? What is the role of incentives aimed at encouraging mobility, upskilling and lifelong learning?
- How can government foster home-grown talent while retaining existing skills capacities?
- What are the potential implications of ongoing political transitions on skills and labour shortages? How will Brexit affect the UK’s ability to attract highly skilled workers? Are migration policy responses adequate, or even appropriate?
Chair
Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive, NESTA
Speakers
Allen Blue, Co-Founder and VP Product Management, LinkedIn
Susan Hayter, Senior Technical Advisor on the Future of Work, International Labour Organisation
Ronan Harris, Managing Director for UK & Ireland, Google
Joseph Aoun, President, Northeastern University
Questions and discussion
15:15 – 15:45 Refreshments
Session Four | Transforming the Workplace
15:45 – 17:15
This closing session will focus on how technological change is reshaping working environments globally, examining the ways in which technology is facilitating new opportunities for smarter regulation, more flexible entitlements and new ways for people to organize in a digitally integrated workplace.
- How can corporate leadership promote a culture of innovation and collaboration across the traditional matrix that exists in organizations? Is a fundamental redesign of the workplace required?
- Are technological advances reducing worker dependence on traditional employment structures and infrastructure? How are employee expectations evolving?
- How can regulators enable access and flexibility in the gig economy whilst providing security to independent workers? Can gigs replace salaried employment altogether or is new regulation challenging the contractor model that underpins the on-demand economy?
- Is the traditional office becoming obsolete as cloud-based technologies make work infinitely more flexible? To what extent is the ability to work from anywhere, combined with advances in telecommunications, making workers geographically neutral? What are the implications of this?
- In what ways are territorial borders becoming increasingly permeable as a result of outsourcing and internationally mobile workforces? Does this place a renewed focus on supply chain issues and employment regulation?
Chair
Lesley Giles, Director, Work Foundation
Speakers
John Evans, General-Secretary, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (1985-2017)
Shail Thaker, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Alistair Shepherd, Founder and President, Saberr
Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School
Questions and discussion
1700 End of conference and reception hosted by Chatham House
© The Royal Institute of International Affairs 2018
