Innovation

Automation is an idea that has inspired science fiction writers and futurologists for more than a century. Today it is no longer fiction, as companies increasingly use robots on production lines or algorithms to optimize their logistics, manage inventory, and carry out other core business functions. Technological advances are creating a new automation age in which ever-smarter and more flexible machines will be deployed on an ever-larger scale in the workplace. In reality, the process of automating tasks done by humans has been under way for centuries. What has perhaps changed is the pace and scope of what can be automated. It is a prospect that raises more questions than it answers. How will automation transform the workplace? What will be the implications for employment? And what is likely to be its impact both on productivity in the global economy and on employment?

The technology-driven world in which we live is a world filled with promise but also challenges. Cars that drive themselves, machines that read X-rays, and algorithms that respond to customer-service inquiries are all manifestations of powerful new forms of automation. Yet even as these technologies increase productivity and improve our lives, their use will substitute for some work activities humans currently perform—a development that has sparked much public concern.
This report assesses the number and types of jobs that might be created under different scenarios through 2030 and compares that to the jobs that could be lost to automation.
The results reveal a rich mosaic of potential shifts in occupations in the years ahead, with important implications for workforce skills and wages. Our key finding is that while there may be enough work to maintain full employment to 2030 under most scenarios, the transitions will be very challenging—matching or even exceeding the scale of shifts out of agriculture and manufacturing we have seen in the past.

A decade after the beginning of the global financial crisis, the fallout continues to reshape the financial system. Gross cross-border capital flows are 65 percent lower in absolute terms than they were in 2007, representing a sharp break from the past. Roughly half of the decline is due to large European and US banks retrenching from foreign markets. But these developments do not signal an end to financial globalization—although there will be risks. Rather, we see a healthy correction from pre-crisis excesses, and a return to a potentially more stable and risk-sensitive era of financial globalization. Lessons have been learned. Moreover, we are beginning to see global finance broaden to a larger number of countries and players, many of them developing economies that are becoming more financially connected. Looking forward, we see that global finance is set for another major disruption. The increasing presence of new financial technologies, including digital platforms for financial transactions, blockchain, and machine learning, have the potential to reinforce financial globalization by making it faster and cheaper to transact across borders—but may also pose new challenges.

The April 2018 edition of Fiscal Monitor is focused on two broad themes: the burden of high global debt and the opportunities and challenges of digital government.
Chapter 1 explores how strong and broad-based growth provides an opportunity to rebuild fiscal buffers now, improve government balances, and anchor public debt.
Chapter 2 discusses how digitalization presents opportunities and challenges for fiscal policy and the ways in which it can change how governments design and implement current and future policies. The chapter also discusses how digitalization can positively transform governments by improving tax policy and administration, increasing spending efficiency and enhancing fiscal management.

The World Trade Report is an annual publication that aims to deepen understanding about trends in trade, trade policy issues and the multilateral trading system.
The 2017 World Trade Report examines how technology and trade affect employment and wages. It analyses the challenges for workers and firms in adjusting to changes in labour markets, and how governments can facilitate such adjustment to increase the positive impact of open trade and technological progress.

The EU has so far mostly focused on the electricity sector to reduce her greenhouse gas emissions. To meet its target, though, Europe will have to focus on other sectors, such as heating and cooling. The latter is Europe's single largest energy consumer, covering half of Europe's energy demand. 42% of Europe's current energy supply comes from natural gas. Therefore, the gas industry needs to understand the implications of the decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector on natural gas demand.
However, the role of those sectors in the natural gas demand is still not properly understood. This paper tries to fill this vacuum by studying the heating and cooling sector in Europe, with a special focus on the implications for the gas industry, especially for the natural gas demand.

Social media are becoming the dominant source of information for significant parts of our societies. There are numerous positive aspects of these media, such as their ability to mobilise for a political cause. Yet at the same time, social media may sometimes negatively impact the public debate. This paper analyses how social media platforms influence democracy in Western countries and makes recommendations on how to address the risks that arise effectively.
Short-term solutions to eradicate fake news include considering social media platforms as full-fledged media companies-thus regulating them through a revised version of press laws which suits new technologies.
The key long-term solution is developing e-literacy among the general public.

The progress made in space exploration and digital technology have long been dis-synchronized. This is no longer the case- space programs are now both an actor of the digital revolution, since most of the data are being communicated through satellites, and themselves revolutionized.
The point of this study is to understand the tremendous changes affecting this sector, through the inclusion of new technologies and new actors, and to outline a way for Europe to remain an independent and strong actor in the space exploration sector- which is key to remain a credible global power.

When regulating the digital health services, lawmakers are confronted to a difficult challenge-finding the right balance. Medical data and new technologies are both exciting and sensitive-On the one hand, their massive usage will help improve the quality of treatments and reduce the cost of our health services. On the other, they pose moral questions (e.g. the possible re-identification of the patient).
Ambition and Care must be the guidelines for the digital health services regulation. We do not give technical recommendations, but outline our advice along four strategic axes- Put the patient back at the heart of his/her medical data, Consolidate the infrastructure of medical data and use it to its full potential, Rethinking the regulation of the development and commercialization of digital health technologies, Strengthening the digital and data culture among physicians. For each of those axes, we propose concrete initiatives which will hopefully inspire the different actors of the health sector and help them in their decision-making.