ILO regional forum explores pathways for inclusive and productive digital transformation

Nairobi (ILO News) – On 8-9 May 2024, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection hosted the regional forum "Driving an Inclusive and Productive Digital Transformation for Decent Work." The event convened tripartite partners, researchers, development actors and implementing partners of the ILO programme on Partnership for improving prospects for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (PROSPECTS) with operation in Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan and Uganda .

"We are here to share innovative evidence-based responses and create synergies to achieve digital inclusion and decent work," stated Caroline Mugalla, ILO Country Director for Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi, in her opening remarks. 

Digital technologies offer immense potential to propel structural change and job creation for countries in Africa and the Middle East. Turning to the case of Kenya, Dr William Kiprono, Secretary of Administration at the State Department for Labour, highlighted the forum's alignment with national priorities. “Part of our agenda is to leverage the digital economy to tackle inequality, poverty and unemployment, thereby enabling economic growth and job creation,” he explained. 

Bridging digital divides to meet sustainable development goals

Despite the catalytic potential of digital technologies to achieve the sustainable development goals, multiple global crises have hampered progress. Expounding on this, Rufus Karanja, Policy Officer at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kenya, urged participants to use the digital transformation as a tool to drive better responses to and solutions for conflict situations in fragile contexts, forced displacement, disasters or pandemics. 

Additionally, the digital divide remains stark both between and within countries, influenced by factors such as income, education, age, gender and location. Sangheon Lee, Director of ILO’s Employment Policy Department, stressed that the digital transformation needs to be strategically managed to advance the dual overarching goals of fostering inclusion and boosting productivity. “For this to happen, opportunities must be accessible to all people, including underserved groups like refugees and host communities, as well as all enterprises, large or small," he noted.  

Digital innovation transforming the future of work 

Technological advancements like artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming occupations and tasks, necessitating workforce reallocation and reskilling within and across countries, regions, and sectors. However, Sher Verick, Adviser to the Deputy Director General of the ILO, emphasized that “the biggest impact of emerging technologies on work is not on job loss, but on job distribution, quality and working conditions.” 

Echoing this, appointed representatives of workers’ and employers’ organizations present at the forum underlined the need for employment policies to adapt to the nature of emerging jobs in the digital economy. “For instance, the rise of digital labour platforms poses challenges to defining employment relationships, and the regulatory fragmentation of platform work can lead to unfair competition,” pointed out Argobasti Odero from the Federation of Kenya Employers. To realize decent work in the platform economy, Isaac Mbingi Okello from the Central Organization of Trade Unions Kenya, stressed, “There is a need for updated international labour standards and national legislation that uphold the effective realization of rights at work, such as social protection or freedom of association and collective bargaining.” 

Paving the way forward: strategic partnerships and social dialogue

The forum concluded with a strong consensus on the importance of coordinated efforts among tripartite actors and strategic partnerships with the international community. “Partnerships bring investment and allow organizations to complement interventions and avoid siloed interventions”, said Suhail Awan from the UN Refugee Agency. 

ILO constituents expressed the need to continue discussions at regional and national levels, including in countries where knowledge sharing and capacity building platforms for policies on digital economy are not yet established. Social dialogue and partnerships remain effective mechanisms to drive an inclusive and productive digital transformation for decent work.

“This occasion goes in the record of history of tripartism and social dialogue,” described Hellen Opiyo, Labour Commissioner at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection in Kenya. “This event should not be one-off, but rather move forward as a structure to sustain social dialogue. This will allow us to move from ambition to concrete action that scale up and accelerate policy changes and implementation,” she concluded. 

Key discussions: pillars to build an enabling environment

Through a series of cluster discussions over the two-days forum, participants identified key pillars to build a conducive environment for workers and businesses: 

1. Shaping a digital workforce and pathways into decent work
   Investing in upskilling and reskilling workers, including through the recognition of prior learning and apprenticeships, is a priority for countries in Africa and the Middle East to remain competitive and take advantage of future job opportunities. In addition to technical and soft skills, knowledge on labour rights was deemed essential. The alignment of training programmes with labour market needs was equally stressed, along with inter-ministerial coordination and private sector participation. 
2. Building connected and inclusive economies for all
   While the digital economy can create new income-generation opportunities for traditionally underserved groups such as women, persons with disabilities, rural communities and forcibly displaced populations, barriers persist. Impactful initiatives to facilitate access to digitally enabled jobs and livelihoods need the strong involvement of local and community actors to reflect the reality on the ground.
3. Harnessing the power of AI and digital technologies for business and work
   The digitalization of financial and other last-mile services were found beneficial in bridging service gaps that slow down the uptake of online jobs, e-commerce opportunities and innovation for business. There was also interest in leveraging AI and other emerging technologies to upgrade cybersecurity systems, which could strengthen protection and productivity in the digital space.
4. Governance frameworks for decent work and protection in the digital economy
   Updated regulation remains central to the design of effective governance frameworks for decent work. Some of the policy areas identified that warrant greater attention from policymakers is on social protection, algorithmic management, worker representation, formalization and the use of AI. Policy coherence and multi-stakeholder collaboration are critical to a smooth transition into higher-value-added business activities and higher quality digital economy jobs for the region.  

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This Forum was organized by the PROSPECTS Opportunity Fund project “Promotion, inclusion and protection of refugees and host communities in the gig economy” funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.