Upskilling for the Future is a workshop organized by the worlds leading accounting, assurance, tax and advisory services provider PwC Luxembourg, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Limited.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) took part in this workshop. Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Laurent Probst, Partner, Economic Development, Digital transformation and innovation at PwC Luxembourg exhibits the The Future of Knowledge: A Foresight Report which is launched by MBRF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the Knowledge Summit 2018 in Dubai. The study explored the future fields of knowledge that will transform the transition to knowledge-based societies.

The workshop bought together more than 300 experts in the sector from around the globe. It emphasized on the methods and practices to embrace future-ready skills tailored to the job market.

The report presents a pilot study that covers around 20 countries in the future fields of knowledge shaping the future of knowledge societies. It is an attempt to understand the technological advances that are drastically reshaping future in the current scenario and adopting new approaches to occupying and analyzing real-time data in co-relation with the five future fields of knowledge that is, cybersecurity, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, biotechnology and future skills.

MBRFs CEO His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, said: The Fourth Industrial Revolution has created unprecedented opportunities across various sectors. Nonetheless, it also produced numerous challenges, raising the bar in terms of the skills required for future jobs, which, in turn, brings a necessity to adequately train personnel and invest in human resources.

The future of skills is undoubtedly a topic of great interest around the world, where governments strive to move forward along their plans to build a better tomorrow, H.E. bin Huwaireb added. We, at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, are committed to playing a central role in the efforts to outline future strategies for skills and jobs, drawing from our robust and extended partnership with the United Nations Development Programme under the umbrella of the ambitious Knowledge Project.

The MBRF CEO went on to note: With the Knowledge Project, we sought to determine the fundamental skills that will be indispensable in the future, and then track countries around the world to verify their readiness to incorporate these skills into their academic curricula, improve the quality of education, and promote lifelong learning, which will effectively minimise the indirect impact the skills gap can have on unemployed youth. This, in turn, helps achieve more progress towards sustainable development goals, particularly those pertaining to the quality of education and providing adequate employment for economic growth.

Our work on the Knowledge Project culminated in the launch of the Global Knowledge Index in 2017 and its second edition in 2018. The Index measures knowledge using a multi-dimensional approach canvassing 134 countries across seven sectors, H.E. explained. The Indexs importance lies in its ability to provide decision makers, researchers, the private sector, and the wider community with the necessary data to set plans and implement policies that center around knowledge as the engine of sustainable development.

An analysis from the findings from the Readiness for the Skills of the Future sub-index for 2018 in the UAE showed that online activities qualified the youth with essential skills for the job market of the future. The results also showed that the effectiveness of the bright vision has empowered the youth with future-ready skills certifying the competitiveness in the global market.