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WEF to upskill 10m people by 2020

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 29 Jan 2018
The Closing the Skills Gap 2020 initiative calls on top global businesses to lead training, reskilling and upskilling initiatives between 2018 and 2020.
The Closing the Skills Gap 2020 initiative calls on top global businesses to lead training, reskilling and upskilling initiatives between 2018 and 2020.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) says it aims to reskill 10 million people by 2020. The forum has launched a new initiative, Closing the Skills Gap 2020, a global call for top global businesses to lead training, reskilling and upskilling initiatives between 2018 and 2020.

The drive for skills development was inspired by new research that suggests 96% of all workers at threat from technology could find similar or better work with adequate training.

The initiative forms part of the WEF's Closing the Skills Gap Project, which establishes global and national platforms to close skills gaps and reshape education and training for the future. To date, 26 global founding partners have signed up and have collectively committed to providing training, reskilling and upskilling opportunities to over 8.1 million people by 2020.

Closing the Skills Gap 2020 will be supported by a dedicated online platform, closingtheskillsgap.org, developed by Tata Consultancy Services. It will enable businesses to make measurable commitments to skills development and share insights and best practices.

"Digital technologies are transforming the world around us - including the way we work and the nature of relationships between businesses and employees," said Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services, India.

"So it's critical to provide people around the world with access to education that is relevant and contextual, to gain skills that move them from consumers to creators in this new digital economy. Only then will we harness the abundance of potential talent that's currently untapped," added Gopinathan.

Tata Consultancy Services has pledged to help reskill over a million people by 2020 as part of the initiative

The programme will use analysis from the founding commitments to develop insights into the emerging priorities of corporate champions and further strengthen education and training programmes. Top future skills reported by respondents include digital skills, problem solving, adaptability and interpersonal skills, in addition to specialised skills within occupations.

"What we need to prepare individuals for the future of work is nothing short of a reskilling revolution. The platform and our public-private collaboration model are designed to change the game on adult reskilling and unlock the holistic push that will be needed to bring the world's training systems up to speed for the challenges of the 21st century," said Saadia Zahidi, WEF head of education, gender and work.

The WEF's 48th annual meeting took place between 23 and 26 January in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

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