Foundation Seminar Series (FSS) 2016 - The impact of digitalisation on work: Building up national agendas for better implementation of digital changes - Session 2

The Foundation Seminar Series is a tripartite learning scheme organised by Eurofound and open to national representatives of governments, trade unions and employers.

Digitalisation is profoundly altering all aspects of our working lives with the potential for job creation as well as job losses. Through peer learning, workshops and plenary sessions, the 2016 Foundation Seminar Series examines the effects of the digital revolution and its impact on employment and civil society.

This first session of the Foundation Seminar Series took place in Dublin 26-27 May, providing participants with a basis to examine the topic of digitalisation and its implications for work organisation, skills at work, employment and working conditions.

The second session took place in Berlin 13-14 October and built on the progress made at the first session. A key part of the exchange in Berlin focused on national contributions that tripartite teams from the 15 participant Member States produced; these address particular aspects of their own country’s experience of digitalisation in the workplace. It also gave an opportunity for participants to hear about direct experiences from companies and sectors on the ground in a panel debate that included representatives from Hewlett Packard, BBVA, Microsoft, AGV (Insurance) and Technopolis Group.

National contributions

• Croatia - The impact of digitalisation on work in most relevant sectors of Croatian economy
• Estonia - Sharing economy in Estonia
• Hungary - Increase general knowledge of digitalisation in society
• Ireland - The future contract
• ​Germany - Fundamental demands for a Work 4.0 White Paper
• Italy - Risks and opportunities of Italian digitalisation e-skills for e-growth
• Latvia - Health and safety at work challenges and opportunities facing digitalisation
• ​Slovenia - Future working conditions
• Portugal - Impacts of digitalisation
• Spain- Vocational training for employment in Information and Communication Technologies in Spain

Background note

Agenda

Programme highlights

• National approaches to digital challenges - Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras, Research Officer, Working Conditions and Industrial Relations, Eurofound
• Framing the digital change into the Future of Work - Maria-Luz Vega, Coordinator of the Future of Work project, International Labour Organisation (ILO)
• Implementing digital change: experience from sectoral and company level - Panel session & Open forum with companies and sectoral representatives
• Reconfiguring the workplace in the digital world - Thorben Albrecht, Permanent State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), Germany and Jutta Steinruck, MEP (S&D Group, DE).

Key quotes from speakers

'We are facing a new regime and need to think in a holistic way'  - Maria Luz Vega, Coordinator Future of Work project, ILO

'EU social model enables more gentle and collaborative change than the Silicon Valley model' - Thorben Albrecht, State Secretary BMAS

'[The] Digital Single Market is more than a technical issue: it has social and labour market impacts' - Jutta Steinruck MEP

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