New technogies in the 1990s: a socio-economic strategy

High unemployment in OECD countries, especially in Europe, and its concentration among certain groups, has focused attention on the need for structural reforms. This need is reinforced by technological change which not only offers new potential for work opportunities but is, simultaneously, a key agent of structural change. Hence, the advent of several new. technologies has been greeted by some as offering the panacea, while by some others as further complicating the process of adjustment. The variety of conflicting views expressed on the subject argues for careful analysis.

These considerations led the OECD Ministers of Labour, when they met in November 1986, to ask me to set up a Group of distinguished experts to examine "the great potential importance of the new technologies for growth, jobs and welfare", and to "report on their national and international implications both for employment and for our societies more generally". On their advice I set up the Group under the chairmanship of Mr. Ulf Sundqvist, Chief General Manager, Labour Savings Bank of Finland, former Minister of Education and former Minister of Industry, Finland. The members of this Group were people with wide experience in industry, labour relations, academia or public service. They served in their capacity as individuals: their Report does not commit OECD governments.

The Report examines a set of complex and controversial issues. It makes an important contribution in recognising the economic and welfare potential offered by the new technologies by stressing that technological change is a social process. If not accompanied by appropriate structural and institutional reforms together with a satisfactory rate of investment, it may fail to contribute to the extent it should to higher levels of jobs and welfare. In coming to policy conclusions the Report rightly takes into account economic as well as social and human factors, and pays attention to the increasingly interdependent nature of the global economy. It is especially noteworthy that the Group has produced a set of unanimously agreed recommendations, which call for action by a wider range of governmental and non-governmental groups, including policy-makers representing enterprises, business and labour organisations, and the authorities dealing with education, labour market, regional issues and international co-ordination.

The Report promises to be a valuable input to the OECD's continuing work on technological change and structural adjustment. I will be bringing it to the attention of Member governments. I believe that its analysis and recommendations will be found important and will be widely debated by policy-makers among business circles, trade unions, educationists and governments.