THE 11TH ADB International Education and Skills Forum, held in the institution’s Manila headquarters this December 3-5, revolved on applying a fresh lens to unlock the power of human capital. It was premised on the inescapable and unstoppable reign of technology -Artificial Intelligence (AI) mainly – all the way to the future which poses a big and creative challenge to individuals and institutions.
Moving on from the trendy discourse on the necessity and safety of AI, the sessions explored how AI and humans can co-create for better outcomes in teaching and learning, in support of sustainable development. This demands that the triple helix – government, university (or academe), and industry – must have a symbiotic relationship like one ecosystem.Collaboration, knowledge transfer, funding support among them can result in a dynamic system for innovation.
‘Panelists discussed the growing demand for workers with combined green and digital skills. Questions remain about whether education systems are equipping learners with the skills for more and better jobs. And where are the green jobs?’
GREEN AND DIGITAL SKILLS
Not surprisingly, environment (my column’s lens) is one field/sector eyed as critical not only for survival but as well for sustainability. Think of forests getting denuded, biodiversity being decimated, alternative energy as urgent, and of course, climate change that can collapse the earth system in just over two decades.
Generally, presenters expressed that governments have put in place programs and policies to protect our planet. Industries have evolved and are evolvingaccording to the call of the times – clean, green, efficient, inclusive, society-sensitive. The academe has integrated environment in the curriculum, from foundational learning stage to post-graduate level.
Across Asia and the Pacific, however, green infrastructure investments were said to risk underperforming without parallel development of the workforce, skills and institutions needed to support them. Panelists discussed the growing demand for workers with combined green and digital skills.
Questions remain about whether education systems are equipping learners with the skills for more and better jobs.
And where are the green jobs?
Renewable energy, energy-efficient construction, waste management and recycling, modern transportation, organic farming, land and forest management, conservation and environmental protection, research and consulting, are some of the fertile fields. As environment work is largely science-based, technology will certainly be of big help in data gathering, assessment, and application.
FUTURE-READY?
Transformative ideas have been shared by education ministers (among them Philippine Education Secretary Sonny Angara), educators, industry leaders, IT innovators, and top honchos of multi-lateral organizations (like ADB and World Bank) which fund very promising and necessary projects, coming fromthe Asia-Pacific, Europe, North and South America, and some island states. It was a most enlightening and engaging forum, a celebration of the brightest ideas, a shared goal of a better future, and inclusivity.
But a most heartwarming thought at the end of the 3-day gathering is the reassurance among presenters, facilitators, and the audience that the human brain and heart are still the driving force wherever technology can take us.
Which incidentally, is the lens I keep clear and untinted.