IPTS Futures Conference
10 February 2000 - 10 February 2000
Belgium
The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre is organising the IPTS 'Futures' conference on 10 and 11 February 2000 in Brussels.
Philippe Busquin, the European Commissioner for Research will open this major event, where participants will discuss the results of the 'Futures' project, the IPTS's current flagship project.
Launched in 1998, the 'Futures' project looked at the individual and combined effects of key technological, economic, political and social drivers up until 2010. Some examples of these drivers are information and communications technology, life sciences, the single currency, EU enlargement, demographic changes, sustainability concerns and globalisation.
Key issues are likely to include:
- Consolidation of technological competencies in some fast-growing areas, especially basic ICT and life sciences;
- The need to exploit the potential synergies of operating at European level (and globally through alliances), in order to gain scale effects in knowledge transfer and the use of resources;
- The growing risk of 'skills mismatch' created by accelerating technological change and an ageing workforce with skills that need updating;
- The increasing need for firms to be 'agile' to compete;
- The creation of a 'knowledge paradox' where under-investment in people and their skills could occur at exactly a time when competitiveness increasingly depends upon workers' 'know-how'.
The conference will be webcast live on the Internet on 10 and 11 February by Belnet.
A full description of the Futures project and conference is available from:
http://futures.jrc.es/(opens in new window)
Philippe Busquin, the European Commissioner for Research will open this major event, where participants will discuss the results of the 'Futures' project, the IPTS's current flagship project.
Launched in 1998, the 'Futures' project looked at the individual and combined effects of key technological, economic, political and social drivers up until 2010. Some examples of these drivers are information and communications technology, life sciences, the single currency, EU enlargement, demographic changes, sustainability concerns and globalisation.
Key issues are likely to include:
- Consolidation of technological competencies in some fast-growing areas, especially basic ICT and life sciences;
- The need to exploit the potential synergies of operating at European level (and globally through alliances), in order to gain scale effects in knowledge transfer and the use of resources;
- The growing risk of 'skills mismatch' created by accelerating technological change and an ageing workforce with skills that need updating;
- The increasing need for firms to be 'agile' to compete;
- The creation of a 'knowledge paradox' where under-investment in people and their skills could occur at exactly a time when competitiveness increasingly depends upon workers' 'know-how'.
The conference will be webcast live on the Internet on 10 and 11 February by Belnet.
A full description of the Futures project and conference is available from:
http://futures.jrc.es/(opens in new window)