Publication: Connecting to Work : How Information and Communication Technologies Could Help Expand Employment Opportunities
Date
2013-09
ISSN
Published
2013-09
Author(s)
Abstract
Information and communication technology
(ICT) has grown as a sector and now employs millions of
people worldwide. The proliferation of ICTs has also helped
digitize how people find and do work. The world will need to
create over 600 million jobs by 2030 for unemployment to
remain at current levels. ICT-enabled employment may help
address some of this problem both by creating jobs in the
ICT sector and by helping to make labor markets more
inclusive, innovative, flexible, and transparent. What can
governments do to prepare for these changes and maximize
employment opportunities? This paper is a first step in an
effort by the World Bank to understand how ICTs are shaping,
changing, and transforming labor markets. It explores how
governments and other stakeholders might respond to leverage
the growth of ICTs to help increase employment
opportunities. This paper is structured as follows: section
1 serves as an introduction; section 2 defines the scope,
focusing on the types of employment opportunities due to ICT
as a sector and as a tool; section 3 considers the impact of
the ICT sector on software programming, IT services, and
telecommunications; section 4 describes how ICTs as tools
empower and include more workers in labor markets; section 5
analyzes the challenges and risks that appear alongside
these opportunities; section 6 discusses human capital,
infrastructure, financial, regulatory, and social systems
that will enable ICT in employment; and section 7 identifies
strategic themes for governments to consider as they
maximize the gains from ICT's increasing role in the
world of work.
Citation
“Raja, Siddhartha; Imaizumi, Saori; Kelly, Tim; Narimatsu, Junko; Paradi-Guilford, Cecilia. 2013. Connecting to Work : How Information and Communication Technologies Could Help Expand Employment Opportunities. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16243 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”