UAE announces reskilling initiative to boost job security in the AI era
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Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, on Wednesday announced a pioneering initiative aimed at training the UAE workforce to keep pace with advances in AI technology.
The minister made the announcement today during the Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2023 of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The new initiative aims to train, re-equip and retire UAE employees. He explained:
“If someone is going to be helped by AI, we want to retool them so they can actually use these tools, and if someone is a year or two away from retiring and has no interest in retooling, they have the option to retire early. “
Explaining the rationale for this forward-thinking initiative, Al-Olama saying:
“If people are part of a job class that will be completely displaced by AI, there is a need to offer government programs that completely retrain them in a new job class that will not be displaced.”
The session also addressed challenges around sustainable development, women’s empowerment, data equity, and the interconnectedness of climate and human development.
Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises, saying:
“We can no longer separate the climate agenda from the human development agenda or the nature agenda. It can no longer be a zero-sum game where we can advance one at the expense of the other.”
Nili Gilbert, vice president of Carbon Direct in the United Statesechoed this sentiment:
“Everything is interconnected and interdependent, and we need to organize ourselves as an ecosystem to be able to address the challenges as they are.”
Gilberto He further reiterated the moral imperative to maintain focus on social and equality issues, alongside climate and environmental goals, believing it was
“It is impossible to address the climate challenge without simultaneously addressing social and equity concerns.”
Lauren Woodman, CEO of DataKind in the US, emphasized the importance of data equity as a response to societal challenges. She stated:
“We begin with the action-oriented premise that we must move forward and take the necessary steps to ensure that this powerful technology, with its abundant promising opportunities, maintains its human-centered focus.”
Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO of Moms Firsthighlighted the importance of empowering women in future-oriented fields such as AI.
She noted:
“The majority of women around the world live in countries that have a broken care structure.”
The Annual Meeting of the Global Councils of the Future 2023 took place since October 16-18 in Dubai. It presented a critical opportunity for experts from around the world to come together and collaborate on solutions that will improve economic growth and development.
The event hosted 600 experts from academia, government, international organizations, business and civil society from the 30 members of the Global Future Councils, one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder knowledge networks.
News source: Emirates News Agency
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