Issue Technology investment conditional on a workforce with the skills

Summary

The Megatrends 2040 report stresses that the presence of a technologically skilled workforce is a prerequisite for attracting investment. The point follows its discussion of an Ernst and Young survey showing Europe hosts more than a third of the cities most likely to produce the next technology giant. Investors in that survey identified digital technology, clean technology and energy as Europe's main growth industries. The report also lists the digital divide and illiteracy as crucial to social cohesion, implying that uneven skills can limit who benefits from technology investment. Building technical capabilities therefore appears as a condition for participating in the technology-driven economy.