New technologies offer a pathway to poverty reduction and can usher in a wave of greater productivity and growth across Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new report from the World Bank.
At a time of growing fears of a future where automation replaces workers, technological innovation can create more and better jobs in the coming years — for both skilled and unskilled workers in the region, the report Jobs of Tomorrow: Technology, Productivity, and Prosperity in Latin America and the Caribbean concludes.
“We must embrace and promote technology and innovation to drive economic growth, reduce poverty, and increase opportunities for all, rather than create barriers,” said Jorge Familiar, Vice President of the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Better education and training will be key to ensuring that young people can fully leverage the digital world and prepare for the jobs of tomorrow.”
According to the report, Latin America and the Caribbean have lower rates of digital technology adoption than similar countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), providing ample room to boost productivity. Barriers also often drive up the price of productivity-enhancing technologies. For example, smartphones and tablets in some countries in the region are among the most expensive in the world. Tariffs and taxes on technology may be holding back per capita GDP growth by more than 1 percentage point per year across the region.
“With more technology comes more productivity,” said report author Mark Dutz, lead economist at the World Bank in the Global Practice of Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment. “Companies can reduce variable costs, expand production, reach more markets, make more money, and in the process, create more and better jobs.”