ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines

WELCOME TO THE ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL PROTECTION WEEK 2023!

The first webinar in the new series focused on the opportunities and challenges of ensuring the accelerated transition to the digital economy is jobs-rich and inclusive. The discussion explored three different models that leverage technological innovation to help marginalized groups access digital work.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 90% of the world's student population is affected by school closures. Governments, development organizations, and private companies mitigate this through remote learning.

Coursera, one of the leading educational technology companies providing massive open online courses, shared its COVID-19 initiative. Panelists from Asian universities presented their experiences as well.

The webinar was jointly organized by ADB's Digital Technology for Development Unit and the Education Sector Group.

Urbanization is widely believed to be an engine of growth. Cities host dynamic firms and create productive jobs, with agglomerations resulting in better matches between workers and jobs, strong input-output linkages, and more knowledge spillovers. But there is some concern that the nature of urbanization underway in developing countries today may undermine the potential for cities to serve as engines of growth and generate productive and well-paying jobs for workers at large.

Some Asian economies are aging at unprecedented speed. While there are other economies that remain young, no Asian economies will be safe from risk of growing old before becoming rich. In addition to this, technological advances such as robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will no doubt play a role in reshaping the future of work.