The Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies – EMNES and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association – EMEA, Prof. Rym Ayadi, participated at the 2019 Annual conference of the MED Confederation “The Mediterranean in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: the impact of digitalization on human capital and mobility” which took place at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis. The conference started with the welcoming address of H.E. Mr. Ridha Chalghoum, Minister of Finances, Government of the Tunisian Republic.
Prof. Ayadi, participated at the Session “Socioeconomic implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution in the Mediterranean region. The session was chaired by Jalloul Ayed, Président d’Honneur, MEDConfederation, Former Minister of Finance of Tunisia, and Member of EMNES Advisory Committee.
Prof. Ayadi highlighted the following:
“The Fourth Industrial Revolution threatens to disrupt the developing economies in the Mediterranean in at least three ways:
First, the threat of automation will impact and pace of change depending on the level of development. Automation and robotics will threaten to a prompt decline in manufacturing’s share of employment.
Second, cheaper technologies will make possible to produce closer to consumers and innovation centres fuelling a reshoring phenomenon that is aided by protectionist sentiments.
Third, greater technology threatens to make employment more skill biased, changing the task requirements especially in mid-level occupations.
Old Education systems will be challenged and with time and speed of change will become obsolete; AI enabled e-learning will be the way forward to enhance knowledge and develop new cognitive skills that must keep pace of the impressive growth in knowledge and applications.”
