The Future of Education

Digital transformation is increasingly an imperative for the success of modern organizations to improve efficiency, optimize resources, and enable data-driven decisions. Supported by significant public and private investment, digital transformation is driving a wide range of opportunities, but also a number of significant challenges. In an increasingly interconnected society, new technologies such as artificial intelligence are accelerating the process of automation, introducing new operating models and potentially threatening traditional jobs, raising ethical issues and creating new cultural and social tensions. This research aims to describe how the rapidity of current technological changes can create a digital divide [3] that excludes those segments of the population that do not have access to IT tools or lack the appropriate skills to use them [5]. Countless reports and statistics show that Italy is at the bottom of the league in terms of digital literacy, both globally and in Europe, and highlight how many workers do not have the advanced basic skills needed to perform at their best. In addition, the Italian scenario ignores a further gap in terms of developed digital skills, producing only about 25 percent of annual graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects [2]. These shortcomings, on the one hand, create barriers to adapting to the new tools and, on the other hand, highlight the skills gap even more, making the whole process of digital transformation socially discriminatory for the part of the population that is weaker and more reluctant to adopt new technologies [1] if it is not accompanied by adequate training and reskilling. Italian programs aimed at creating an inclusive ecosystem capable of enabling all citizens to actively participate in the digital revolution will also be examined, highlighting how they are integrated into an organic complex of initiatives aimed at increasing skills [4]. Finally, the paper explores the need for continuing education in both the public and private sectors, and how the synergy between academia and business can direct a positive contamination that can provide the right tools to minimize the digital skills gap.

Keywords: digital divide, upskilling, reskilling, ICT, social exclusion, educational inequality

References:

[1] Huyskes, D. (2024). Tecnologia della rivoluzione. Il Saggiatore, 158-172 - ISBN 9788842833109

[2] Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (2023). Livelli di Istruzione e Ritorni Occupazionali | Anno 2023, 7. https://www.istat.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/REPORT-livelli-istruzione.pdf

[3] López-Aguado, M., Gutiérrez-Provecho, L., Quintanal Díaz, J., & García Llamas, J.L. (2022). Social exclusion and the digital divide. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society, 18(3), 74-82. https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1135660. s.d.

[4] Ministro per l’innovazione tecnologica e la digitalizzazione (2020). Strategia Nazionale per le Competenze Digitali, 12-14, 23-25, 34, 39-40. https://docs.italia.it/projects/strategia-nazionale-competenze-digitali-docs/downloads/pdf/1.0/

[5] Save the Children. 2021. Riscriviamo il futuro: una rilevazione sulla povertà educativa digitale. https://s3.savethechildren.it/public/files/uploads/pubblicazioni/riscriviamo-il-futuro-una-rilevazione-sulla-poverta-educativa-digitale_0.pdf