Nine Action Areas for Leveraging the Converging Technology Revolution to Improve Human Capital Outcomes

countries and sectors. Moreover, there are large uncertainties in how the technology metatrends will play out in the region. Instead, this study identifies key areas in which governments, development partners, the private sector, and local communities can act to accelerate building human capital. These action areas, described in the next section, aim to improve both public and private service delivery to address human capital challenges and inequalities, strengthen inclusion and empowerment, and build resilience and adaptability, thereby enabling further innovations.

The framework used in this study elucidates a complex relationship between technology and human capital. Technology can accelerate the building and protection of human capital through different stages of the life cycle by means of health, education, and social protection services, as well as other contributing sectors. The deployment and utilization of human capital in the economic system is affected by technology, but it also shapes the future use of technology. Technologies deployed in the production of goods and services disrupt employment and alter the demand for education and skills. At the same time, specialized human capital is required to help adapt and create the new technologies important for human development and other productive sectors. Equally important, whether technology contributes to greater equity in outcomes and the empowerment of human capital is critical because of the tendency of new technologies to deepen inequalities in their initial phases and because of the dual-use nature of many converging technologies and thus the potential for discrimination and exclusion.

Climate change and environmental degradation in South Asia pose new threats for human capital outcomes in South Asia. Mass displacement of populations, loss of incomes, the rise of vector-borne and other infectious diseases, and the perils to human health stemming from environmental pollution constitute a new spectrum of shocks that affect vulnerable populations.

The study team has identified nine action areas that would help to leverage the converging technology revolution to accelerate human capital outcomes along its three dimensions, with a strong focus on inclusion and empowerment (figure 8.1). These nine actions can be broadly categorized as improving service delivery, building future resilience and adaptability, and promoting inclusion.1 This categorization is intended to highlight the primary function of the action area, as there are clearly overlaps between the categories.

These action areas can also be classified according to their potential impacts, ranging from essential and cross-cutting to transformational. Cross-cutting actions enable impacts across all three functions. A second group of actions enable customization and integration for impact at scale. A third set of actions is more difficult to achieve but