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Technology

Technology, globalisation and the future of work in Europe: Essays on employment in a digitised economy

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Abstract in English: 
The industrial structure of European economies and the types of occupation that they support are changing. This change takes many forms in different national contexts, but there are some common themes. There has been an increase in service-sector employment, both in low-skilled customer service work and in high-skilled ‘knowledge’ occupations, and a corresponding drop in manufacturing employment. This has contributed to a ‘polarisation’ of the workforce in many countries, with more high-skill and low-skill jobs but fewer requiring mid-level skills. At the same time, young people are finding it increasingly hard to get a foothold in the labour market, and the proportion of the workforce employed on full-time, permanent contracts has shrunk.

Some of the changes are cyclical, the result of recession followed by a stuttering recovery. The rise in temporary work, for example, might be expected to recede when European economies are again growing strongly enough to bring unemployment down towards its pre-recession level. Other changes, however, are the result of major structural forces operating in the global economy: the rapid pace of technological innovation, globalisation and demographic change. These forces are likely to continue to cause dislocation and disruption in European labour markets for the foreseeable future. As a result, there will be a fundamental shift in the types of jobs that are available for workers and in the skills demanded by employers across Europe. Understanding the likely changes in the European labour market over the next decade is essential if policymakers and firms are to set Europe onto a path towards permanently lower unemployment through the creation of many more well-paid jobs.
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124
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Present and Future of Civilian Drones

Title Original Language: 
Présent et futur des drones civils
Abstract Original Language: 
L’Académie de l’air et de l’espace (AAE) et l’Association aéronautique et astronautique de France (3AF) s’efforcent de focaliser leur attention et leurs réflexions sur des sujets qui leur semblent importants en matière de développement innovant des activités dans l’air et dans l’espace.
Ainsi les progrès technologiques permettent-ils aujourd’hui de concevoir et réaliser des aéronefs sans équipage à bord. Dans le domaine militaire, on assiste depuis des décennies au développement et à l’utilisation opérationnelle de drones de reconnaissance et même, plus récemment, de drones armés. Dans le secteur des drones civils, dont le développement est beaucoup plus récent, le foisonnement des idées est très impressionnant, accompagné d’une montée exponentielle du nombre d’opérateurs et de drones en opération. Les technologies permettent de réaliser des drones de petite taille dont les coûts d’acquisition et d’exploitation sont faibles. Émerge ainsi un marché de services proposés bien souvent par de jeunes entreprises innovantes. Les maires de nos villes et villages achètent des vues aériennes de leur territoire. Les agriculteurs peuvent surveiller leurs cultures, et définir les traitements appropriés. Les propriétaires d’infrastructures comme EDF, SNCF, GRT Gaz envisagent une utilisation de plus en plus intensive des drones pour inspecter les voies, les lignes, les viaducs, souvent difficiles d’accès. Après la télévision, depuis plusieurs années déjà grande utilisatrice de drones, le cinéma à son tour commence à utiliser ces systèmes innovants.
Cette multiplication des applications des drones pourrait représenter un danger potentiel pour les personnes et les biens et rendre difficile leur intégration dans un espace aérien déjà très encombré.
Original Language: 
Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Abstract in English: 
The Air and Space Academy (AAE) and the Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France (French Aerospace Society, 3AF) endeavour to focus their attention and reflections on important issues linked to innovative development activities in air and space.
Today, for instance, technological progress has led to the design and manufacture of unmanned aircraft. In the military field, recent decades have witnessed the development and operational use of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for Intelligence/Surveillance/Reconnaissance missions and even more recently, for weapon delivery. In the more recent civilian drone sector, the explosion of ideas has been impressive, with an exponential rise in the number of drone operators and missions. We now have the technological capacity to produce small RPAS that are cheap to buy and to run. This is inspiring a services market, often proposed by innovative young companies. The mayors of our cities and towns are purchasing aerial views of their area. Farmers can monitor their crops and define appropriate treatments. Infrastructure owners such as EDF, SNCF and GRT Gaz are envisaging using drones in an increasingly intensive way to inspect tracks, lines and bridges that are often difficult to access. For several years, television has been a major user of drones and now filmmakers are also starting to use these innovative systems.
This proliferation of drone applications may represent a potential hazard to people and goods and makes their integration into an already congested airspace very complicated.
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76
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Recommendations to avoid a strategic downgrading of Europe in the field of Combat Aviation

Title Original Language: 
Recommandations pour éviter un déclassement stratégique de l’Europe dans le domaine de L’Aviation de combat
Abstract Original Language: 
L’Académie de l’air et de l’espace (AAE), observant, au travers des nombreux exemples récents, qu’aucun conflit ne peut désormais plus se passer d’une aviation de combat performante, considère que l’Europe court le risque de perdre l’avance et l’indépendance de sa puissance aérienne alors que l’industrie d’aviation de combat est le moteur de la haute technologie et des emplois de haut niveau.
Comment faire pour éviter cette mort annoncée face à une concurrence internationale de plus en plus vive ? Comment protéger la base industrielle solide qui existe encore aujourd’hui mais qui nécessite d’être entretenue par des projets concrets de démonstrateurs et de développements européens ?
Si l’Europe souhaite conserver son indépendance stratégique dans les systèmes aériens de défense et ainsi conserver son rang dans le monde multipolaire de demain, des décisions importantes doivent être prises et financées rapidement.
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Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Abstract in English: 
The Air and Space Academy having noted, through a study of the many recent examples, that air warfare scenarios without advanced combat aircraft are no longer feasible, considers that Europe is running the risk of losing its advanced air power independence, in spite of the fact that the combat aircraft industry is a driving force for advanced technologies and qualified employment.
How to avoid this imminent demise, faced with stiffer and stiffer international competition? How to protect the strong industrial base which still exists today but which must be maintained through concrete demonstrators and European development
programmes?
If Europe wishes to secure its future strategic air power independence and thus maintain its place in the newly emerging multipolar world, urgent action must be decided on and funded.
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13
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The BBC’s future: Charter renewal and beyond

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Monday, November 30, 2015
Abstract in English: 
As the renewal of its royal charter approaches, this essay collection offers a diverse array of views on how the BBC can be reformed and renewed as a democratic, public institution that enriches the modern media landscape and rises to new challenges.

A popular national institution that shapes and sustains core elements of our public culture, the BBC enriches the UK, and gives us influence and prestige around the world. But there are also more utilitarian justifications for it: with the licence fee costing 40p a day, the BBC is great value for money, and is the bedrock of our economically dynamic creative sectors.

That is not to say, however, that the BBC can stand still while all around it changes, or that it does not need to be reformed in order to address its inefficiencies and inadequacies, as well as its vulnerabilities.

As the broadcaster approaches the renewal of its royal charter in 2016, this collection of essays addresses the modernisation as well as conservation of the BBC. Discussing issues of competition, governance, transparency, plurality, regulation, decentralisation and, of course, the future of the licence fee, the authors examine the BBC and the wider context in which it operates from a rich variety of viewpoints. As it approaches its centenary, we offer ideas for how the Beeb can be reformed and renewed as a democratic, public institution that serves the UK of the 21st century just as well as it did that of the 20th.
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190
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Japan's Security Role and Capabilities in the 2020s

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Friday, November 13, 2015
Abstract in English: 
Security challenges in East Asia are becoming acute. North Korea is developing a missile-deliverable nuclear weapon, and the long-term stability of the Pyongyang regime is questionable. Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of Chinese territory, is about to have a presidential election in which a candidate from a pro-independence party is the front-runner. China has also become increasingly assertive in its territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian countries. Meanwhile, Japan's leaders are attempting to redefine the role Japan plays in regional security affairs. Indeed, Japan's legislature recently enacted revisions to the country's national security laws that would loosen limitations on the use of Japan's armed forces, and the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to increase defense spending
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40
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The Future of FinTech: A Paradigm Shift in Small Business Finance

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Monday, October 26, 2015
Abstract in English: 
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are often cited as the major driver of economies and a force in job creation, but they still have difficulty securing proper financing to prosper.
The global financial crisis of 2007-2008, coupled with higher regulation and capital costs for loans to SMEs, has made it even more difficult for SMEs to secure financing. However, the financial crisis has also created a plethora of disruptors in the FinTech area (“FinTech”, a contraction of “finance” and “technology”, is defined as the use of technology and innovative business models in financial services) who, with their innovative ways to originate, assess credit risk and fund SME loans, have provided alternative ways for SMEs to secure funding for their growth.
Over the last year, the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Financing & Capital, formed of industry leaders, academics, finance ministers and central bankers, has tackled the question of the lack of financing for SMEs, although ample cash is ready to be deployed.
This report synthesizes the authors’ efforts to take stock of what the finance industry has provided to date and how the FinTech industry has taken over some of the funding with its innovative business models and products.
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Number of pages: 
36
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The Future of Productivity

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Monday, July 6, 2015
Abstract in English: 
Productivity is the ultimate engine of growth in the global economy. Raising productivity is therefore a fundamental challenge for countries going forward. This new OECD report on The Future of Productivity shows that we are not running out of ideas. In fact, the growth of the globally most productive firms has remained robust in the 21st century. However, the gap between those global leaders and the rest has increased over time, and especially so in the services sector. This implies that knowledge diffusion should not to be taken for granted. Future growth will largely depend on our ability to revive the diffusion machine, both within and across countries. At the same time, there is much scope to boost productivity and reduce inequality simply by more effectively allocating human talent to jobs.
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Number of pages: 
102
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APEC Connectivity Blueprint

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Abstract in English: 
Connectivity is the high-level framework toward which many APEC work streams will focus their efforts. The Blueprint is a strategic guide for current and future initiatives that will bring the APEC region closer together to strengthen economic integration. Connectivity is an ambitious target for a diverse regional organization such as APEC, but it is precisely that ambition that will drive strong and tangible achievements. Connectivity will be important not only for governments and businesses, but also for the APEC community as a whole. By connecting APEC’s developed and emerging growth centers, the region’s quality of growth will improve, contributing to the Asia-Pacific’s economic prosperity and resilience.
The Blueprint contains existing connectivity-related initiatives, encourages reviving those initiatives that require further progress, and proposes creating future initiatives to lead APEC progress. The Blueprint is also broad in scope and adaptable to the ever-changing conditions in the Asia-Pacific.
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88
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Finland 2020 – From thought to action

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Friday, August 6, 2010
Abstract in English: 
The Growth Initiative working group, a working group seeking to strengthen long-term economic growth, proposes measures to boost productivity growth in Finland in the 2010s. In the long term, beyond the current economic cycle, growth in productivity will be the only driver of the nation’s average income growth or GDP per capita. In the short term, improving the employment rate is also important.
The Growth Initiative working group’s final report begins by providing a brief introduction to issues vital to productivity growth. It then presents the working group’s policy recommendations, divided under the following ten headings: 1) Science and innovation policy, 2) Education policy, 3) Life phase policy, 4) Competition policy, 5) Enterprise policy, 6) Public sector operating policy, 7) Public sector information system policy, 8) Public sector procurement policy and the general availability of publicly collected information, 9) Broadband network and intelligent transport policy and 10) Transport infrastructure policy.
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Number of pages: 
42
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A Multiverse of Exploration: The Future of Science 2021

Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Abstract in English: 
Invisibility cloaks. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence. A Facebook for genes. These were just a few of the startling topics IFTF explored at its Technology Horizons Program conference in on the “Future of Science.” More than a dozen scientists from UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, Scripps Research Institute, SETI, and private industry shared their edgiest research driving transformations in science.
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7
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