Effective approaches to address skills and capabilities needs - Insights from workshop

OECD-DSIT Workshop hosted by Digital Catapult STI systems in transitions: Effective approaches to address skills and capabilities needs

17-19 April 2023

Summary

1. Key takeaways

The discussions in the workshop covered a variety of topics related to science, technology and innovation (STI) skills and capabilities for the digital and green transition, i.e. the shift towards a sustainable, environmentally friendly economy and society that leverages digital technologies to achieve shared socio-economic objectives such as inclusiveness, competitiveness, and well-being, regarding both the situation in the United Kingdom (UK) and across the OECD.

The following key takeaways emerged from the discussions:

• A wide range of skills across different education levels and stages of the innovation cycle are needed to advance on the digital and green transitions

There is a need for high-tech and specialised research skills for the development of cutting-edge technologies (such as further research and development of hydrogen as a new renewable energy source in the context of the green transition or new forms of artificial intelligence in the digital transition). However, a workforce with a versatile, technical background and advanced skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is also needed downstream in the adaptation and implementation phase of new technologies, not only at the technological frontier in the development stages In addition, cross-cutting skills, such as management, leadership, commercial, sales and problem-solving are equally important for the commercialisation and diffusion of innovations that support transitions throughout the economy.

• The need for re-skilling is increasing with population ageing and also because of technological advancement and changing demands of employers as they implement new technologies. Re- and upskilling requirements are important across all skills levels, not only due to automation through technology, but also to implement new technologies (e.g. using green material for construction). Population aging will likely require further efforts to invest in upskilling in the future, esp. for those skills that are high in demand across all countries.

• Educational infrastructures are being challenged in keeping up with changing demands on the labour market. The accelerating rate of technological change in a number of sectors and the resulting needs of companies is difficult to match by linear education providers with slow curricula adaptation processes. New private learning providers, offering digital, flexible, modular courses, are filling the gap. At the same time, the relative importance of informal to formal training appears to be rising, but there is not enough data about in-company training to say exactly to what effects.

• Small andmedium-sizedenterprises(SMEs) arehavingtroublerecruitingand training a workforce that best matches their needs. SMEs have fewer resources to offer high-level training to their existing or new staff and cannot always compete with the employment offers of large companies. In addition to the shortage of sought-after skills, mismatches contribute to skills gaps, which can result from the difficulty for employers to invest in identifying the right employees and for the employees tosearchfor themost suitableposition(particularlyif takingit upwould require relocating elsewhere).

• Theincreasingpaceofchangeandtechnologicaladvancement underscoresthe relevance of foresight exercises. On all levels of government, policymakers and experts are aiming to improve their decision-making with regard to future needs of skills.ForesightprogrammessuchastheWorkforceForesight HubofInnovateUK, the UK’s innovation agency, and sector-level strategies, such as the Materials and manufacturing vision 2050 report, are aiming to bring together a variety of actors in order to have early conversations on emerging skill needs. This could, for example, help educational institutions keep pace with business needs and adapt curricula in a timely manner.

• Short, flexible re-skilling courses can be designed help respond to rapidly evolving demands from industry and the workforce. Flexible online re-skilling courses are often the first step back into the learning sphere for employees wishing to acquire new skills Moreover, rather than re-designing entire university courses which can take a lot of time to adapt, such shorter, module-based up-skilling courses can be useful in an environment of rapid technological change, where prioritiesforinnovationandindustrydemandsareevolvingquickly, delivering“the right skills, in the right place, at the right time”

• Skills development for transitions would benefit from effective cross-sectoral governance arrangements. STI policy has a central part to play, such as in providing resources and thematic guidance for educational programs that develop the skills required for emerging technologies and innovative industries. It can also provideincentivesforfirmstoinvestinskillsupgradingandoffercapacity-building programmes. Engagement and exchange across different policy areas on such educational programmes, including labour market, environment, education and regional development, can create the facilitating conditions in which future skills can support the advancement on system transitions.

• Improving the inclusivity and attractiveness of the STI system can help addressing skills gaps. According to a study from the United States, there is considerable potential for innovation that never materialises because the would-be innovators either never reach their potential – the “Lost Einsteins”, i.e. women, minorities and children low-income families who face barriers to succeed in the STI system or lack awareness of the opportunities – or because other sectors are more pro-active in attracting highly-educated STEM graduates into other non-STI professions, as found by the Technology Council of Australia.

• There is an important regional dimension in skills requirements for the STI ecosystem. The characteristics of STI systems differs substantially across regions as they often have different core sectors and consequently face different developments with regards to innovation. Labour supply differs also as labour is not as mobile as other types of capital.

OECD-DSIT WORKSHOP: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESS SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES NEEDS

2. Overview of the workshop and key insights

Advancing on climate protection and the digital transformation requires implementing sweeping change in a variety of areas, from lifestyles to the ways scientific research is carried out. Many different types of actors, including research organisations, industry, government, entrepreneurs and civil society are involved. Yet many individuals and organisations lack skills and capabilities conducive to enabling and shaping the digital transformation and the green transition. Addressing such new skills and capabilities requirements is a key challenge for the STI system, but also requires collaboration with a number of other policy areas, such as labour market and education policies.

This event contributed to the debate on how to best address the challenges the STI system faces amongglobal crises.Commencing with thelaunch of theOECD’s STI Outlook 2023: Enabling transitions in times of disruption (OECD, 2023[1]), which provided a factual basis for discussion and food for thought on the future of STI, the event then featured input from and discussions among experts from government, industry, academia and civil society.

The event generated learnings and insights on advancing skills and capabilities in the STI system, highlighting perspectives and evidence from relevant institutions of the United Kingdom, but also offering context and insights from other OECD countries.

This event aimed to address the following questions:

• Which methods and policies are available to identify skills and capabilities gaps in STI systems?

• How can STI actors assess which skills and capabilities will be needed to create innovation to advance transitions in the future?

• How can policy, in conjunction with industry, academia and civil society, support the development of such skills and capabilities? Which respective roles should the different sectors play?

• How can the development of skills and capabilities be conducive to advancing inclusiveness of the STI system?

3. Pre-workshop field trip

On 17 April 2023, delegates of the OECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Party (TIP), members of the OECD-TIP Secretariat as well as representatives of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Innovate UK visited the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London to learn about thetransformation of thepremises into aninnovationcluster.

Emma Frost, Director of Innovation, Francesca Colloca, Head of Innovation, and Nick Turner, Digital Innovation for Social Impact and Urban Futures, at SHIFT, led the tour along the inclusive innovation district, London’s testbed for urban futures.

The various locations and examples throughout the field trip showed the different types of skills and capabilities that are needed to use innovation to advance on transitions.

• The University College London’s robotics centre at the Here East campus exemplified how skills for high-tech innovation are developed and put to use;

• The start-ups coming together at Plexal Innovation Centre and co-working space illustrate the type of entrepreneurial innovation skills needed to commercialise new technologies and innovative solutions;

• The short apprenticeship-like trainings on construction with green materials at the Build East Skills Centre exemplify how innovative solutions for transitions are disseminated through different sectors;

The question of inclusivity regarding gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status and across regions was also raised on several occasions. One open question is to what extent skills gaps are increasing for those currently excluded from connecting to transitions.

4. Day 1 (18 April 2023): Skills and capabilities for transitions

4.1. Welcome and introductory remarks

Jeremy Silver, CEO at Digital Catapult, Tyler Rickard, Lead Analyst on Innovation Policy, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Caroline Paunov, Head of the Secretariat of the OECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy, and Alessandra Colecchia, Head of the Science and Technology Policy Division at the OECD, opened the workshop, welcoming delegates and speakers.

Jeremy Silver spoke about the role of the Digital Catapult in shaping digital infrastructures and the need to develop skills and capabilities for the jobs of the future that are yet to emerge in the course the digital transformation.

Tyler Rickard emphasised the role of data to identify skills and capabilities gaps, noting the recently released research and innovation workforce survey and highlighting the potential of connecting this with other data.

CarolinePaunovnotedimportance ofthisworkshopasanopportunitytoexchangebetween different OECD countries on shared challenges with regard to green and digital transitions and to inform the current projects of the OECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy, emphasising also the uncertainties that come with the ever-increasing pace of transformation and its unequal impact across different sectors.

Alessandra Colecchia provided context for the workshop in the wider science and technology policy debate, reporting on the OECD’s S&T Policy 2025 initiative as well as the upcoming Meeting of the Committee on Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) at ministerial level in 2024, both of which aim to address the question, among others, of how to nurture skills and capabilities for STI-enabled transitions.

4.2. UK Launch of the STI Outlook 2023: Setting the scene – the STI context for transitions

After an introduction by Alessandra Colecchia, Michael Keenan, Senior Policy Analyst, OECD, presented insights from the recently released OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2023: Enabling Transitions in Times of Disruption (OECD, 2023[1]). Overall, the report recommends a stronger emphasis on cross-governmental, whole-ofecosystem thinking, as well as more of use foresight methodologies and scenario planning.

Main takeaways included the rise of China in a number of STI statistical indicators as well as intensifying competition for and with technology (and lower STI cooperation, at least between the United States and China), based on the new paradigm of “technological sovereignty” These trends may lead to lower diffusion of knowledge, among other drawbacks.

With regard to sustainability, the presentation emphasised that public R&D is relatively low and business spending focusses on existing technologies, relying heavily on a few

OECD-DSIT WORKSHOP: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESS SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES NEEDS

geographically concentrated minerals, while the majority of emissions reductions will be achieved by technologies not yet on the market.

Rosie Cornelius, Head of Analysis and Performance, UK Research and Innovation, commented on the presentation of the Outlook. She underscored the call for foresight exercises, but introduced an additional element of futures consideration, namely the demographicelement,noting,ontheonehand,theunderrepresentationofwomeninSTEM skillsandengineeringprofessions,and,ontheotherhand, thelackofstrategiesandfunding to fill skills shortages for transitions amid an ageing population and falling fertility rates. The discussion focussed on the multi-disciplinarity of skills needed to diffuse technology across different domains, such as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing, life sciences, agri-tech, and the need for diversity of ideas and talent with new approaches.

4.3. Keynote speeches

The keynote speeches, given by Will Hutton, President of the Academy of Sciences, Kate Pounder, CEO of the Technology Council of Australia, and Dave Wilkes, Director –Ecosystem, Innovate UK, focused on national approaches on STI human capital formation

Will Hutton contextualised human capital in STI as one of six dimensions of capital (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural), emphasising that, in order to develop all of them, a shared vision on the way forward is needed. He also called for a national wealth fund for the United Kingdom to invest in startups, innovation skills, and clean technology, noting the need for the government to stimulate the economy and support for the green transition.

Kate Pounder reported on Australia’s “Getting to 1.2 million” initiative, a plan to create 1.2 million tech jobs, addressing concerns about job losses due to technological changes. The strategy involved collaboration with industries to work across sectors and identify shortages across different job categories (see Figure 1) A gap analysis was used to identify the most needed skills and career pathways. Two important reasons for skills gaps stood out: international graduates trained in Australia are leaving the country, and a number of STEM graduates are opting for careers in other industries than tech sectors.

The study also found that there was a strong demand for vocational training pathways, and that upskilling of the existing workforce and migration of talent were necessary to respond to future skills requirements to develop the industry further. The plan focused on the following key elements: i) increasing awareness and understanding of job opportunities in the tech sector through outreach campaigns and work experience offers, ii) fixing gaps in education and training products and pathways, such by defining industry standards, developing digital apprenticeships models and improving recognition of innovative learning frameworks, iii) improving diversity in the tech workforce, e.g. with mentoring programmes for women, iv) reforming the system for skilled migration system to improve processing times for migration applications for applicants with high-in-demand skills and by simplifying pathways to permanent residency, and v) improving workforce planning through joint analysis and monitoring by government and industry (for further details, see the “Getting to 1.2 million” report (2022[2])).

Source: Technology Council of Australia, Accenture, Digital Skills Organisation (2022[2])

Dave Wilkes reported on the current landscape of skills development programmes offered by Innovate UK. He also stressed the need to embed more innovative skills and thinking throughout the economy to drive business innovation. Upcoming initiatives of Innovate UK in this regard include the use of foresight on long-term skills (Workforce Foresighting Hub (WFSH)), the implementation of a “Skills Value Chain” approach to promote connectivity between the UK’s innovation and skills systems (see Figure 2), the creation of new skills academies in different sectors (industry-specific apprenticeship programmes, as already existing in cooperation with the Catapult network in areas such semiconductors and manufacturing) to help skills development for innovation.

Source: High Value Manufacturing Catapult (2020[3])

The discussion that followed focused on what government body should take the lead for the visionary plan to transform the economy, the issue of slow changes to university curricula to changing (technology) circumstances, the career disincentive of mobility between academia and business, and the importance of re- and upskilling the existing workforce, given the reduced inflow of new talent: according to 2019 study by the IndustrialStrategyCouncil,anindependentnon-statutorygovernmentadvisorygroup,80%

OECD-DSIT WORKSHOP: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESS SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES NEEDS

Figure 1. Job categories in the tech workforce in Australia

Figure 2. Scheme of the “Skills Value Chain” approach

of the workforce the UK will have in 2030 is already in the labour market today (Industrial Strategy Council, 2019[]).

4.4. Panel discussion: Policy responses – Novel tools and approaches to build STI capabilities

The first panel discussion, moderated by Caroline Paunov, centred on novel policy tools and approaches to build STI capabilities, and included Tom Kenyon, Head of Enterprise Design, The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), Debbie Johnson, Head of Innovation Talent & Skills, Innovate UK, Tim Vorley, ProfessorandDean,OxfordBrookesBusinessSchool andKathieBowden,SkillsManager, Satellite Applications Catapult.

Key takeaways from the panel and the discussion include:

• Reconsidering the definition of skills needs for innovation: Often innovation skills needs are equated to STEM skills. However, cross-cutting skills, such as technical, management, leadership, commercial, sales, problem-solving also play a central role. When adopting a task-based approach to skills, it becomes evident that not all innovation skills are high-tech, but an interdisciplinary understanding of technical concepts is also part of innovation skills – for example, lawyers and accountants do not need to be able to develop software, but they need to understand technology’s implications and underlying concepts.

• The importance of complementary roles of formal university and industry onthe-job training: The role of formal training should not be to equip graduates with cutting-edge skills to perform specific jobs, but rather with a good technical background. Further on-the-job training provided by industry would then complement and deepen skills needed.

• Accredited short, flexible re-skilling courses are important tools for reskilling. Flexible online re-skilling courses are often the first way back into the learning sphereforthosealreadyintheworkforce.Ratherthanre-designingentireuniversity courses which can take a lot of time to adapt, such shorter, module-based re- and up-skilling courses, could be accredited with digital badges, providing information about skills to industry and thus spell out clear career pathways (Linton, 2020[]), delivering “the right skills, in the right place, at the right time”, such as the Cities of Learning programme led by the RSA, which has resulted in new local networks of local government, employers, employability providers, cultural institutions, as well as formal and informal learning providers (Kenyon, 2022[])

• Bringing together educational providers with industry can facilitate matching skills development with skills needs. The Workforce Foresighting Hub (WFSH) by Innovate UK is one such forum aimed at better understanding future business needs and how this requires adapting curricula, as well as at accelerating the scope, scale and pace of the development and application of foresighting future workforce skills

4.5. Panel discussion: Building STI human capital at regional and local levels

The discussion was moderated by Ashmita Randhawa, Head of Innovation, Digital Catapult North East Tees Valley, and included: Phil Smith, Co-Chair, Digital Skills Council; Sarah Haywood, Managing Director, Advanced Oxford; Abby Burr, CPI, HVM Catapult, North East England; and Anna Lundgren, Senior Research Fellow, Nordregio.

Key takeaways from the panel and the discussion include:

• The skills development landscape in the UK would benefit from a more coherent, simplified approach: Simplifying the landscape of skills development programmes would increase businesses’ awareness of all opportunities to develop skills in their locality. This would make it easier, particularly for SMEs, to make use of such opportunities.

• Skills needed vary by stage of innovation: Different skills are needed at the development, start-up and scaling phase of an innovative business. The mix of technical and commercial skillsto help start-upsscaleand grow changes depending on their development phases. Access to a pool of talent consequently is a critical component in nurturing innovative start-ups.

• Innovative approaches to skills development can improve efficiency and inclusivity: Modular, self-paced programmes to fill gaps in existing skills provisions can make sure re- and upskilling efforts are used at the right places in the skills value-chain, recognising the existing base and targeting skills training to the needs of emerging technologies, such as electric and autonomous vehicles, but also make learning accessible for all. In combination with train-the-trainer approaches, i.e. focussing on teaching a few trainers how to teach a new skill to a greater number of trainees, to be used across different local employers, these can ensure broad coverage and avoid redundancies.

• Improving governance is a key policy lever, across different levels government: A whole-of-system approach whereby policy action is jointly taken across different policy areas is essential, joining policy efforts on education, labour market, regional development and innovation

• Theinequalitybetweenregionswillplayaroleforskillsdevelopment: Thetwin transitions and other grand societal challenges such as ageing, depopulation or low education, are cross-regional, but are affecting different regions unequally – due to the relative immobility of a skills base, addressing these issues could benefit from a system transformation approach and coordination between local, regional and national levels, as geographic area classification (e.g. in education and labour market policies) can lead to barriers for firms and individuals to access training.

4.6. Panel discussion: Key factors influencing STI human capital and how to determine the future of skills

ThediscussionwasmoderatedbyClaudiaDeFuentes,AssociateProfessoratSobeySchool of Business at Saint Mary’s University (virtual) and Nikolas Schmidt, Policy Analyst at the OECD. The following speakers participated in the session: Joniada Milla, Assistant Professor of Economics at Saint Mary's University, Canada; Daniel Meredith, COO, Enginuity; Will Gibbons, Director, Data Science, Development and Research, Results Division, Expenditure Management Sector, Treasury Board of Canada; Andy Handouyahia, Director, Employment and Social Development Canada; and Stephen Stewart, Head of Skills & Apprenticeships, Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult

Key takeaways from the panel and the discussion include:

• Skills gaps start before tertiary education and can result in lost talent, particularly among lower-income groups. Foundational skills for science, technology and innovation can be developed in secondary education to provide an informational basis ahead of choices for continuing educational pathways, as

choosing certain subjects depend on the perception of one’s own skills, awareness of and interest in a certain subject and perception about future job opportunities in the field, among other factors. Students from lower-income groups may lack awareness of certain opportunities due to time and resources constraints and may perceive a barrier to pursue STI educational pathways.

• Investing in good teachers and incentives to teach matters for the talent pipeline. Good teachers at all stages of the education cycle are important to ensure that talent across all groups in society is nurtured. This also requires providing for good pay conditions and incentives to provide good education, particularly at the tertiary education level where publications are given high importance in rewards.

• Coordination of programmes that provide research, grants, and funding for different STI programmes to develop skills and capabilities is important. Canada’s Future Skills programme provides such a coordinative framework, by bringing together actors across different sectors to identify and take action on common priorities, testing and evaluating innovative approaches to skills assessment and development, and aimingto ensure that policies and programsmeet jobseekers’, workers’ and employers’ evolving needs.

• Impact evaluation of STI training programmes can yield important insights on “what works for whom” in terms on skills and capability development Connecting different sources of data on such programmes and their beneficiaries can inform policy to understand which skills programmes are particularly wellreceived in certain geographic areas and with certain demographics, giving an indication on the regional distribution of the skills base and potential future needs, as well as the inclusivity of the programmes with regard to different groups in society

• Using foresight methods can useful, particularly if applied on different levels of where skills may be needed in the future. This can be at the technology level, such as hydrogen or other green technologies, at the regional or local level, consideringtheskillsneededinacertainplace,andatthelevelofsectoral/industrial structure, considering the various skills needed by and large companies and SMEs, respectively.

• To forecast and steer future skills, a better analysis of the present is necessary. Recognising existing workforce capabilities on an individual basis is currently already a challenge and should not be disregarded in considering future needs. Inclusivity challenges, for instance, need to be addressed to provide for a wider skilled workforce of the future.

• A well-developed basic skill set is fundamental for future skill improvement. For inclusive skills development to work, a strong foundation of skills is needed. Up- or re-skilling is feasible but often extremely challenging if even basic skills are missing.

5. Day 2 (19 April 2023): Inclusivity in STI skill and capability development

5.1. Panel discussion: Inclusive approaches for developing STI skills and capabilities

This panel discussion, moderated by Tyler Rickard, Lead Analyst on Innovation Policy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, included reflections from: Emily Nott, Head of Diversity and Inclusion Programmes, Innovate UK; Melinda From, Head of Unit, Inclusive System Innovation, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden; and Teresa Torzicky, Head of the Foundation and Project Development, Innovationsstiftung für Bildung, Austria

Key takeaways from the panel and the discussion include:

• A diverse talent and skills pool is available to support innovation and transitions – their inclusion is both necessary and yields underused tremendous potential. The “Lost Einsteins” report (from the United States), based on data between 1996 and 2014, suggest that the rate of innovation (patents) could be quadrupled, if women, minorities and children low-income families became inventors (individuals who hold patents) at the same rate as men from high-income families.

• Complementing grant programmes for inclusive skills development with awareness, exposure and mentoring campaigns can increase their effectiveness. For example, a 2016 study found that , only 1 out of 7 applicants for innovation funding in the UK is female. Programmes such as Innovate UK’s Female Innovators Awards, Young Innovators and “Know No Limits” campaign can develop role models, promote awareness of opportunities and encourage participation. Trusted intermediaries into underprivileged communities and mentoring/coaching offers can address the lack of awareness. Furthermore, rethinkingeducational routes, and creatingopportunities for exposureto innovative business at key moments over the course of an educational life would be beneficial, since “lack of work experience” is a common barrier

• Participation processes benefit from user-centric design, such as rethinking decision-making processes around the person who is most affected/closest to the solution and by bringing in the perspective of the “the odd-one-out” for the right reasons and by challenging existing tools for innovation (even novel ones, like incubators/accelerators). Consequently, the focus of inclusion programmes should be on co-creation of common formats, on improving the outcome together with the groups to be engaged.

5.2. Breakout session: Working groups on key topics of inclusiveness in STI policy

This session further developed the learnings from previous sessions based on input from participants’ expertise and experience

Group1“EngagingunderrepresentedgroupsinSTI” ,wasmoderatedbyTylerRickard, Lead Analyst on Innovation Policy, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and delegate to the OECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy and Nikolas Schmidt, Policy Analyst at the OECD. It explored innovative approaches and strategies for enhancing the participation of underrepresented societal groups in science, technology and innovation (STI), addressing the following questions:

• What are the difficulties on engaging underrepresented groups in society?

• What is needed for policies to succeed in overcoming these obstacles?

• What can be learned from specific examples?

Key takeaways from discussion in Group 1 were:

• Policies to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion in STI can have different motivations and purposes: One motivation may be to make STI more representative of wider society as a matter of principle, but there is also the benefit of raising hitherto underused potential for innovation. Inclusion in STI and skills development can be a means of progress and a promise of success for groups which are underprivileged in society at large, but equal opportunities in the STI system itself are the main priority.

• Engaging with underrepresented groups can succeed in different ways. Policies to target certain groups and communities (e.g. socio-economic or local background) such as outreach and mentorship programmes and “influencing the influencers”, can help improve representativeness Improving the conditions for all to participate in innovation is similarly essential (such as offering childcare opportunities to allow mothers to engage in the innovation economy).

• Some potential innovators may consider the STI system unattractive. Better use of existing policies and programmes (PhD stipends, maternity leave) and adaptation to life realities can help attract a wider talent pool.

Group 2 “Building STI skills and capabilities for transitions: ensuring equity in support for transitions” was moderated by Caroline Paunov, Head of the Secretariat of the OECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy and David Legg,Regional Manager, Innovate UK. The group discussed the rapidly changing skills required for developing and adopting new technologies in the context of digitalisation and the push for green development, addressing the following questions:

• What is different from the past in terms of skills needs for technology development and diffusion?

• What are implications for STI policy? How can policies best address such rapidly changing requirements? What is the role of the private sector in this context?

Key takeaways from the breakout discussion were:

• Skills requirements have a strong regional dimension due to the relative “immobility” of the skills base, particularly given the regional differences in the skills base and technical capabilities.

• The acceleration of technological advancement requires future planning. Rather than adapting to the status quo to avoid automation and catch up with the technological state-of-the-art, future planning for skills by way of considering different scenarios can be a way of addressing the uncertainties about the future.

• Theresponsibilityforskillsdevelopmentisdistributedamong differentactors Rather than expecting universities to produce job-ready graduates, co-development of staff between universities and the private sector can contribute to skills development.

• By aligning top-down target with local delivery, skills development can contribute to reaching innovation objectives. While local needs should have input to national level, andvice versa, using a coherent method can align objectives of different strategies.

• SMEs and large companies have different capacities for skills development and attraction. SMEs tend to be more at risk with regard to skills gaps, as they may not have the resources to attract skilled personnel or further train their staff,

5.3. Panel discussion: Policy and analysis – what questions remain for the future of STI policy?

Thispanel discussion,moderatedby CarolinePaunov,HeadoftheSecretariat oftheOECD Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy, included reflections from: Jon Cooper, Head of UK R&D Policy Analysis, DSIT; Thomas Sweetman, Management Consultant, PA Consulting; Paul Nightingale, Professor of Strategy, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex; and Steve Newell, Assistant Director for Innovation and Equity, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. They highlighted policy implications of the issues discussed during the workshop and reflected on the next steps that governments can take to advance on new skills and capabilities requirements and inclusiveness

Issues raised included the need for:

• Improving the availability, interoperability, granularity and understanding of cross-country data related to STI skills and capabilities: tools such as surveys as well as modern tools such as web scraping and machine learning could be used more in this regard.

• Developing better concepts for understanding innovation beyond manufacturing: the lack of understanding well what happens beyond those traditionalsectorallimitsalsoknowingwhatrolesskillshavetoplaygoingforward.

• Providing a framework on adopting a mixed method for STI skills policies. Top-down targets set by governments can only work if they are met by bottom-up solutions from diverse actors including the workforce, industry and higher education institutions as well as the diverse regional government entities.

OECD-DSIT WORKSHOP: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESS SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES NEEDS

References

High-Value Manufacturing Catapult. (2020). Manufacturing the future workforce. Retrieved from https://hvm.catapult.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Manufacturing-the-Future-WorkforceFull-Report.pdf

Industrial Strategy Council. (2019). UK Skills Mismatch in 2030 . Retrieved from https://industrialstrategycouncil.org/sites/default/files/UK%20Skills%20Mismatch%202030%20 -%20Research%20Paper.pdf

Kenyon, T. (2022). Learn, unlearn, relearn. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Retrieved from https://www.thersa.org/comment/2022/03/learn-unlearn-relearn

Linton, J. (2020). 5 reasons digital badges are great for students and jobseekers. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Retrieved from https://www.thersa.org/cities-of-learning/articles-blogs-and-reports/badges-for-jobseekers

OECD. (2023). OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2023: Enabling Transitions in Times of Disruption. doi:10.1787/0b55736e-en

Technology Council of Australia, Accenture, & Digital Skills Organisation. (2022). Getting to 1.2 million - Our roadmap to create a thriving Australian tech workforce. Technology Council of Australia. Retrieved from https://techcouncil.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-Gettingto-1.2-million-report.pdf