4th Industrial Revolution requires re-examination of opportunities

In the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution when automation looms, people's opportunities and well-being have to be re-examined, according to India's Deputy Permanent Representative K. Nagaraj Naidu.

"Anxiety about the impact of technology on the world of work is not new," he said on Thursday at a high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the centenary of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

While a large number of jobs could technically be automated, the ones where the automation technology is adopted will depend on a number of complex factors like labour protection policies, he said.

The other determining factors include the cost of labour, levels of education and skills required, legal frameworks for innovation, and the social and cultural norms that shape attitudes towards technological change, he said.

"The fourth Industrial Revolution characterised by its convergence of the physical, digital, and the biological worlds will add the dimension of unpredictability to the change factor," he said.

For a secure future of work with dignity, economic security and equality in a carbon-neutral digital age, the rights and the widening people's opportunities will need to be localized and re-examined, Naidu said.

The representative recalled that India was a founding member of the ILO - even before it became independent - and member of its governing council since 1922.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)

--IANS

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