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G20 group agrees to work out mechanism for digital skill mapping as three-day meet concludes in Lucknow
Digital skills gap may cost global economy $ 11.5 trillion by 2028, say Nasscom and Unesco as G20 Digital Economy Working Group concludes in Lucknow
The G20 Digital Economy Working Group has agreed on working out a roadmap for the creation of a framework for mapping a digitally skilled and future-ready workforce.
“A consensus has been evolved on working out a roadmap to create a framework for digital skill mapping to enable movement of digitally skilled workforce among member nations,” said a senior officer aware of the developments at the three-day DEWG meeting (February 13 to 15) that concluded in Lucknow on Friday.
This was the first of four scheduled DEWG meetings to be conducted in India during its presidency. The next DEWG meetings are scheduled in Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru. At Bengaluru, both the ministers and officers of member nations would attend the meeting. The ministerial declaration on the issue, if any, may come there.
Nasscom, a trade body and chamber of commerce of the tech industry in India, and Unesco shared at the meeting that the global economy could lose up to $11.5 trillion by 2028 due to the digital skills gap.
Those aware of the developments said the European Union’s experience may come in handy for working out a roadmap on the issue of digital skilling. There was a proposal to set up a centre of excellence for the purpose of skill mapping. It was, however, felt that not much bureaucratic structure should be created. An online platform may be considered and if an agreement is worked out after further discussions on the issue and this could pave the way for lateral hiring.
“On the third day, the DEWG meeting focused on the priority of Digital Skilling. India proposed mechanisms for digitally skilled future ready workforce. The member nations appreciated the inclusion of digital skilling in the DEWG agenda and supported India’s proposed priority areas broadly. Summary discussions were also held on three key priority areas, namely digital public infrastructure (DPI), cyber security in digital economy and digital skilling,” said a press communiqué released after conclusion of the DEWG meeting.
Secretary, union ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) Alkesh Kumar Sharma, who was accompanied by additional secretary MeitY Bhuvnesh Kumar and joint secretary MeitY Sushil Pal, briefed media persons.
He thanked the G20 member states, guest countries and international organisations for invigorating conversations on the priority areas. Sharma said the discussions held in Lucknow would lead to series of successful and impactful meetings in future. He said Lucknow has definitely set the bar high with excellent arrangements made here.
Sharma said the immersive digital mobile van, travelled to over 75 destinations and provided an interactive and immersive experience to about 120,000 persons on the India’s digital transformation journey. He said the exhibition and experience centre, showcasing virtual realities and innovative solutions, attracted around 18,000 visitors. He used the occasion to thank the state government for support and said, “The guests were thrilled to feel vibrancy of culture.”
Besides the G20 member nations, eight guest countries participated in the deliberations. The guest countries include Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. International organisations namely ITU, UNDP, OECD, UNESCO and World Bank also participated as knowledge partners
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had inaugurated the meeting on February 13.
