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This report was presented to the Working Party on the Information Economy (WPIE) in December 2004. It provides an overview of information and communications technology (ICT) skills and employment across OECD economies and analyses some of the impacts on economic performance. It describes a new approach to identifying the diffusion of ICTs in the economy. Two measures of ICT-skilled employment are developed. The first is a narrow measure that uses occupational data to identify ICT specialists (e.g. programmers, software developers but also cable layers). The second is a broad measure that includes those who intensively use ICTs to perform their work (both basic and advanced intensive users), as well as the specialists. These measures are calculated for the economy as a whole and also by sector. The report provides a brief review of earlier attempts to identify the presence of ICTs in the economy and describes a new measurement approach developed for the 2004 ‘OECD information technology outlook’, which attempts to capture the diffusion of ICTs throughout the economy based on the degree of their actual use. The industry rankings based on the share of ICT-skilled employment in total employment are then compared to the results of other studies that classify industrial sectors on the basis of ICT usage. Some preliminary results from the analysis relating the ICT skills measures to productivity measures are presented. The report has expanded the analysis of ICT-skilled employment from the 2004 ‘OECD information technology outlook’ and extended it to include Canada. The analysis revealed that the narrow measure of ICT specialists followed a similar pattern across countries (European Union (EU)15, US, Canada and Australia), but that the trends for broad measure of ICT-intensive users and specialists diverged. The share of broad ICTskilled employment is increasing in the EU15, but decreasing in the US, Canada and Australia. The broad ICT-skilled employment measure was also analysed at the sectoral level. Findings reveal that many business services sectors have a very large share of ICT-skilled employment (e.g. computer and related services, financial intermediation services, and research and development), as well as certain manufacturing sectors (such as manufacturing of office machinery and computers). Personal services tended to have a relatively low share. Most sectors were found to have increased their share of ICT-skilled employment somewhat, particularly those that already had a relatively large share. Show less

Economic and cultural globalisation has ushered in a new era in higher education. Higher education was always more internationally open than most sectors because of its immersion in knowledge, which never showed much respect for juridical boundaries. In global knowledge economies, higher education institutions are more important than ever as mediums for a wide range of cross-border relationships and continuous global flows of people, information, knowledge, technologies, products and financial capital. Even as they share in the reinvention of the world around them, higher education institutions, and the policies that produce and support them, are also being reinvented. For the first time in history every research university is part of a single world-wide network and the world leaders in the field have an unprecedented global visibility and power. Research is more internationalised than before and the mobility of doctoral students and faculty has increased. The specifically global element in academic labour markets has gained weight, especially since the advent of global university rankings. This working paper explores the issues for national policy and for individual institutions. Part one provides an overview of globalisation and higher education and the global responses of national systems and individual institutions of higher education. Part two is focused on certain areas of policy with a strong multilateral dimension: Europeanisation, institutional rankings and typologies and cross-border mobility.

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The conference on 'Industrial competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy - the new role of government', held in Stockholm on 19-21 February, 1997, provided a policy forum to discuss the implications of the trends towards increased globalisation and the knowledge-based economy for the role of governments with regard to industrial competitiveness. This report brings together most of the contributions including the general introduction by the Swedish Minister of Industry, the opening address of the Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, and a summary of the conference debate. The contributions are as follows: Welcome and opening remarks / Anders Sundstrom; Opening address / Joanna Shelton; Industrial competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy: the new role of government / Keith Drake. Part I focuses on the changing nature of the firm and comprises the following papers: Technology and the changing boundaries of firms and governments / John H. Dunning; Human-resource aspects of the changing nature of the firm: issues, evidence and public policy implications / Gordon Betcherman; Foreign direct investment, country characteristics and lessons for policy / James R. Markusen; Firms, executives and models of action: dominant views vs. empirical business research / Lars Engwall; The changing nature of the firm: what's new?: velocity / Douglas C. Worth. Part II asks if we are moving towards a borderless economy and includes the following papers: Notes on a borderless world / Everett M. Ehrlich; Europe's industrial policy: promoting openness, flexibility and innovation / Stefano Micossi; Human capital formation and industrial competitiveness / Naohiro Yashiro. Part III examines the national agenda and increasing interaction between macroeconomic and structural policy. It contains the following papers: Macroeconomic and structural policy in the knowledge-based economy / Luc Soete; Structural economic policy in an integrated world / Everett M. Ehrlich. Part IV looks at intangible assets within the following papers: Evaluating the importance of intangibles: how are they managed and accounted for and how do they contribute to growth and employment? / Ulf Johanson; Economics and the working environment and human resource accounting / Heikki Rouhesmaa; Human resource accounting and reporting / Willem Dercksen. Part V discusses knowledge infrastructures and flows. The papers are: Knowledge flows in national innovation systems / Jean Guinet; The effectiveness of the diffusion-oriented technology policy of Switzerland: the case of advanced manufacturing technologies / Heinz Hollenstein; Part VI on enterprises and social responsibility contains the paper: The social responsibility of enterprises: a new role for governments? / Stefan Wolter. Part VII examines intellectual property rights and the papers are: Collective research and IPRs in the global environment / Georges Ferne; Turning research into results / John N. Adams; The appropriation of technology: the situation in French industry / Jean-Paul Francois. The final session is contained in the paper: Learning to govern in the knowledge economy: policy co-ordination or institutional competition? / Peter J. Sheehan. Show less

Reform of education, training and human resource development is an integral part of the transition to a democratic society and a market economy. This book gives a brief overview of regional issues and the history of post-secondary education in Kazakhstan and describes the development of higher and tertiary education in the country since the transition began. It presents an analysis of the education system, identifying key directions for the reinforcement of the reforms in light of the challenges encountered by officials, communities, enterprises, educators, parents and students under very dynamic conditions. It concludes with a set of key recommendations concerning the structure of the system and its labour market relevance; access and equity; financing; governance and management; internationalisation; and research, development and innovation.

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Catalonia is the main contributor to Spain's economy. For a long time it has led strategic investment in research and development in Spain and developed highly successful programmes to attract talent. The region also has a unique identity with its own language and a distinct cultural heritage. Catalonia is now feeling the effects of the economic crisis. How can it prepare for the post-crisis economy with the help of the university system? How can it balance attracting expertise from abroad with nurturing talent among its diverse population? How can it unleash the potential of universities to contribute to local and regional development? This publication is part of the series of OECD reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development. These reviews help mobilise higher education institutions for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. They analyse how the higher education system impacts upon regional and local development and bring together universities, other higher education institutions and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and to work towards them.

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This chapter examines the importance of local partnerships in securing the effectiveness of United Kingdom (UK) welfare-to-work policies and in particular of the New Deal program. It aims to be useful to those, in the UK and elsewhere in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), who are actively pursuing welfare-to-work policies which have a local design or delivery component. It outlines the nature of UK welfare-to-work programs, focusing on the New Deal and Employment Zones and assesses the importance of the local dimension in such policies and the need for local partnerships. In the main part of the chapter, key lessons are set out from local partnership practice and research, which can be used to inform partnership formation, management and development, together with their implications for welfare-to-work programs in the UK and other countries. The following two sections contain reflections on the UK New Deal local partnerships, based on their early experience so far and conclusions on the future development of welfare-to-work partnerships in the light of the issues discussed.

This publication is indexed at TD/INT 61.539. Show less

This report notes that Colombia has made major economic and social advances in recent years. The combination of strong economic growth and policies targeted at the most vulnerable groups improved considerably the living standards of the Colombian population. Today, the country enjoys higher employment and labour force participation rates than the average of OECD countries and unemployment is steadily declining. Nevertheless, despite these positive trends, deep structural problems remain. Labour informality is widespread, the rate of self-employment is high and many employees have non-regular contracts. Income inequality is higher than in any OECD country and redistribution through taxes and benefits is almost negligible. In addition, half a century of internal conflict and violence has displaced a significant part of the population, and many of them are living in extreme poverty. Despite considerable progress, violence continues to be a challenge and also affects trade union members and leaders.

The Colombian government has undertaken important reforms in recent years to address these labour market and social challenges, and the efforts are gradually paying off. However, further progress is needed to enhance the quality of jobs and well-being for all. The main thrust of this report is to support the Colombian government in tackling labour market duality, generate trust between the social partners, develop inclusive and active social policies, and get the most out of international migration. The contents are as follows: Strong growth but unequal Colombian society; Towards more equal job opportunities in Colombia; Enforcing labour rights in Colombia; Improving redistribution in Colombia through social policy; Making the most out of international migration for Colombia.

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OECD Factbook 2008 is the fourth edition of a comprehensive and dynamic statistical annual from the OECD. More than 100 indicators cover a wide range of areas: economy, agriculture, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health and quality of life, industry, information and communications, population/labour force, trade and investment, taxation, public expenditure and R&D. This year, the OECD Factbook features a focus chapter on productivity. Data are provided for all OECD member countries with area totals, and in some cases, for selected non-member economies. For each indicator, there is a two-page spread. A text page includes a short introduction followed by a detailed definition of the indicator, comments on comparability of the data, an assessment of long-term trends related to the indicator, and a list of references for further information on the indicator. The next page contains a table and a graph providing - at a glance - the key message conveyed by the data.

The 2005 edition is indexed at TD/TNC 82.131, the 2006 edition is indexed at TD/TNC 86.81, the 2007 edition is indexed at TD/TNC 90.87 and the 2009 edition is indexed at TD/TNC 95.740.

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Outside the Netherlands Rotterdam is best known for its port - once the busiest in the world, and still the busiest in Europe. But the docks have moved steadily downstream and the centre of Rotterdam is very different from what it was even 50 years ago. A young and dynamic city, Rotterdam is one of the few in Europe where the average age of the population is decreasing. It is ethnically and culturally diverse and has high potential for attracting the 'creative class'. The Rotterdam region is home to two leading research universities and several other innovative higher education institutions. This report looks at how to encourage growth in the Rotterdam region, through the transfer of technology and knowledge, and through realising the potential of its people. This publication is part of the series of OECD reviews of Higher Education in Regional and City Development. These reviews help mobilise higher education institutions for economic, social and cultural development of cities and regions. They analyse how the higher education system impacts upon regional and local development and bring together universities, other higher education institutions and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and to work towards them.

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We see the expression ‘sustainable development’ everywhere these days, but what does it mean? Can we really pursue sustainable economic growth without harming our societies and the environment? And if we pursue prosperity today, are we condemning our children and grandchildren to poverty tomorrow? The OECD works on many issues related to sustainable development - climate change, growth in developing countries, corporate social responsibility and much more. Using straightforward language and real-world examples, [this publication] draws on that expertise to explore these vital issues. [It] provides an essential introduction to the complex relationships between the economy, society and the environment. As global inequality and climate change become mainstream concerns, it asks the questions our generation needs to ask in terms everyone can understand.

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