Automation and digital skills are on the rise throughout the country, and Ohio is no exception. At nine percent, the state has the nation’s second-highest percentage of industrial robots. This finding points to how Ohio’s economy might shift in the not-so-distant future and is one of the many statistics highlighted in three new Ohio region-specific strategy guides released by KnowledgeWorks.
The Shaping the Future of Readiness regional guides for Southeast, Southwest and Northeast Ohio are meant to provide K-12 and postsecondary education leaders, as well as employment and community stakeholders, with key statistics and considerations to rethink what their communities will need in order to thrive in a new employment landscape.
“To maintain or regain their vitality in this increasingly technology-driven climate, communities must think outside the box,” said Katie King, director of strategic foresight engagement at KnowledgeWorks. “These guides can help stakeholders in their respective regions consider how they might better prepare for the future of work.”
To surface the reflections and insights found in these guides, KnowledgeWorks, with support from the Martha Jennings Foundation, held three convenings across Ohio in the fall of 2017. Participants from Southeast, Southwest and Northeast Ohio grappled with what the changing nature of work would mean for their regions.
As highlighted in the KnowledgeWorks 2017 publication, The Future of Learning: Redefining Readiness from the Inside Out, as artificial intelligence and machine learning improve, automation will continue to impact the workforce. The time is ripe for communities to ask what knowledge, skills and dispositions will enable all young people to thrive no matter what future of work emerges.
The insights and action steps in these strategy guides are meant to spark ideas, conversation and identification of first steps toward new approaches that will help meet the needs of the next generation.
