Pillars

We further develop and test the conceptual and theoretical basis to understanding the relation between technological developments, skills and inequalities. We also provide measurements of key concepts (most notably: education systems, technology adoption and automatisation risk), and evaluate to which extent current technological innovations and their labour market impact are different from earlier developments by placing them into larger trends. 

We provide novelties in forecasting as well as an innovative method to predict the impacts of technological change. In particular, we explore and quantify how technological innovations will likely affect European labour markets in the coming decade. Indeed, the scientific debate about how many jobs will be transformed, created or disappear due to automation is currently unresolved, with estimates varying between 8% and 50%. The goal of our project is therefore to provide more reliable estimates.

We also create new evidence for how technological innovations impact social inequalities and show how education, social welfare and taxation can be used to reduce these inequalities, focusing both on intended and unintended consequences. We chose these three policy areas (education, social welfare and taxation) because of the pivotal role they play in theoretical frames on reducing inequalities, and because they provide the basis for a range of concrete policy interventions.

We systematically extract the policy implications of our projects' findings. By triangulating these findings with policy debates, TECHNEQUALITY develops policy briefs with bold and actionable concrete policy recommendations. In addition, we co-create our recommendations with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that they are followed. This guarantees that our policy recommendations are state-of-the-art, anchored in reality, actionable and astute.