IGF 2020 NRIs Collaborative Session: Future of jobs/work in the digital age

NRIs Collaborative Session: Future of jobs/work in the digital age

Theme: Inclusion
Policy Questions: 

• What are the contemporary challenges for work in the digital age?
• How do environmental issues, such as natural disasters or pandemics, affect the job market?
• Do employers and employees have conditions and skills to adjust to these? 
• What are the existing good practices? Learning from experiences of the IGFs in Cameroon, Colombia, Haiti, Italy, Nigeria, Panama, and South Sudan?
   

Relevance to Theme and Internet Governance: 
New technologies are changing our working environments. Some jobs are threatened by redundancy, while others face rapid growth. These challenges come with a number of policy implications. They call for preparing workers for using new tools and even evolving toward new jobs, to improve social protection to ensure inclusion and addressing risks of security, transparency, and privacy, among others, that utilisation of digital technologies often comes with. 

Description: 
This session will focus on understanding what are the priorities and good practices on local levels. It will specifically look at the examples coming from the national IGFs of Cameroon, Colombia, Haiti, Italy, Nigeria, Panama, and South Sudan. For example:

[Panama IGF input] Panama has developed teleworking without regulation for years. Recently, the National Assembly approved a Law that regulates telework[1], later sanctioned by the President of the Republic. The law is currently in the regulatory phase, however, it has had to start its rapid implementation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This situation shows us several things: our country is not at the forefront and is quite conservative in its labour policies, it does not take into account that we live in a globalized world and that we live in the digital age. If we do not improve our inclusion or adaptation, this will have immediate consequences for our workforce and economy.

[Italy IGF input] In Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a very significant experience was developed ‎concerning the creation of components for lung respirators and modification of existing ‎breathing equipment through 3D printers. This has been done by sharing the instructions ‎necessary for their reproduction through the "Open Source" logic. This emergency experience ‎shows how a new production method is taking root. It would be interesting to understand how ‎this can generate a universal production model that starts precisely from the logic of the ‎network, its potential and innovation, and what the demand for new skills and future works will ‎be.‎
‎To meet the demand and offer of jobs among young people and businesses new initiatives ‎have been developed in Italy including the activation of digital platforms that share the ‎demand for new skills and the related training. As an example, the innovative "Tipo" platform ‎funded by the Tim and Infocamere Foundation was presented during IGF Italia 2019. Tipo ‎platform fosters the activation of young communities, addresses them towards training and ‎job opportunities, promotes dialogue between young people and the businesses (they use ‎Tinder app).‎

Format of the Session: 
60-minutes interactive roundtable discussion with introductory remarks and open floor for questions and answers.

Expected Outcomes:  
Understanding specific challenges and examples of good practices on local levels.

Discussion Facilitation: 
The moderator will follow the agreed set of policies and will allow for introductory, case study remarks by the NRIs speakers. This will be followed by engaging other present participants in developing an interactive discussion.

Online participation: 
A dedicated online moderator will be placed next to the onsite moderator. All participants will be using the online speaking queue to be treated equally in their requests for interventions. All input presentations will be made available at the IGF website and links will be shared via the online tool.

Co-Organizers and delegate speakers:

1. Cameroon IGF
2. Colombia IGF
3. Haiti IGF
4. Italy IGF
5. Nigeria IGF
6. Panama IGF
7. South Sudan IGF

Rapporteur:
Federica Tortorella, Dominican Republic IGF

Onsite and online moderator. Mr. Osvaldo Larancuent, Dominican Republic IGF

Connection to SDGs:

• GOAL 1: No Poverty

• GOAL 2: Zero Hunger

• GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being

• GOAL 4: Quality Education

• GOAL 5: Gender Equality

• GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

• GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality

• GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• GOAL 13: Climate Action

• GOAL 14: Life Below Water

• GOAL 15: Life on Land

• GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

• GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal