Discussing Skills and Talent Mobility at the Summit on the Global Agenda

By Yoko Ishikura*

The Summit on the Global Agenda 2011 marks the fourth of its kind since we began in Dubai in 2008. I recall the enthusiasm about the council and at the same time, some concerns about its sustainability then. Thus, I am delighted that we are about to start the fourth Summit and feel honored to have been involved with such an ambitious initiative in the past four years.

Our council is the Skills & Talent Mobility council. I am convinced that the issue of talent mobility and more broadly human capital is such a critical issue today for all of us, both short term and long term.

Unemployment and jobs have become the No. 1 issue for many countries. And yet, there are millions of jobs which remain unfilled because of the shortage of people with the necessary skill set. Short-term solutions are required to resolve the mismatch. Education & training of youths, in particular, for newly required skills, needs long-term solutions. But the planning and action for the overhaul should start immediately.

Our council has focused on mobility of talent across countries, industries, jobs and skill sets on the global level, as we recognize that the unemployment and unfilled jobs can be resolved if we balance human capital markets on the global level.

By developing the workforce in such a way to meet the needs required for the new reality of complex and inter-related global competition, and by extending the talent pool by enabling those left out from the market to join, we hope to stimulate economic growth in developed and developing countries.

For these purposes, we have developed specific action plans, both for the short and long term. For the short term, we are about to launch the knowledge bank of good practices so that sharing and collaboration takes place. In the long term, we want to design specifics of the collaborative mechanism so that stakeholders – policy makers, business leaders, academics and international institutions – can continue dialogue on the practice of talent mobility measures and their economic impact.

At the Summit on the Global Agenda, I hope that we can review and share the past research results, develop timetable for launching the knowledge bank of good practices and decide on the specific steps to ensure that dialogue mechanism continues. In other words, review, reflect, share, brainstorm and keep the momentum going. As we meet with other councils, we hope that even broader collaboration will take place.

*Yoko Ishikura is Professor of the Graduate School of Media Design at Keio University, Japan. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Skills & Talent Mobility and is attending the Summit on the Global Agenda 2011 held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 10-11 October.