1. Youth in the Digital Age

The realities of young people are influenced by the changes that digital technologies bring in the society. The extent of this influence is not really known, it is also constantly evolving.

OECD (2018) has drawn a picture of the future ahead in the report about the impact of transformative technologies. Some of the key messages most relevant when thinking about young people are:

• A wide-ranging digital transformation is underway, affecting all economic sectors, characterised by almost universal connectivity and ubiquitous computing, and drawing on the generation and utilisation of vast amounts of data.
• The wide scope of technological changes creates significant uncertainty about their future directions and impacts. Indeed, predictions about technological timelines are often inaccurate and overestimation of their short-run impacts is common.
• Data is the essence of the digital transformation and increasingly underpins trade and the globaal economy, as well as science and innovation.
• Digital technologies can potentially also promote social inclusion by creating better access to quality education, offer new opportunities for skills development, enhance access to health care, or improve access to free and low-cost information, knowledge and data.
• Enhancing access to technology to all groups in society can help ensure inclusive innovation, as can the application of new technologies for enhanced well-being.
• More generally, inclusive innovation calls for inclusive, anticipatory governance of technological change that includes assessment of benefits and costs and an active shaping of future development.
• While there is uncertainty about the speed of these changes, it is clear that the types of jobs that are being created are not the same as those that are being lost. Moreover, the workers affected by job loss in declining activities may not be those benefitting from the new job opportunities emerging in expanding areas.
• Labour markets appear to be polarising, with middle-skilled jobs declining and low- and high-skilled jobs growing. Going forward, low-skilled workers are most likely to bear the costs of digital transformation, but are currently the least likely to receive training.
• Investing in skills. People, especially youth, need to prepare for the jobs of the future by being equipped with the right mix of skills required to successfully navigate ever-changing, technology-rich work environments. To thrive in the digital era, all workers will need to be equipped with a wide set of skills, encompassing cognitive as well as non-cognitive and social skills (notably information and communication technology [ICT] skills; science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM] skills; and self-organisation skills).
• A people-centred “adaptation agenda” needs to be formulated so that all individuals may benefit from a positive, forward-looking plan that does not leave anybody behind and puts welfare at the forefront.
• Better understanding the likely scope of the digital transformation, the sectors, jobs and regions likely to be affected, as well as the likely time frame, can help in devising better policies.

From the youth work practice and practice in formal education, from the policies for youth and from   research done in many areas of the impact digital changes have in youth life, some interesting themes for further analyses emerge:

• self-determination and social connections: constructing identities, self-images; interconnections, interactions, being alone; co-operation; etc.
• youth experiences and generational gap: values,contacts, no generational advice etc.
• young people as agents in digital developments: rights, protection, youth-led content, peer-advise etc
• young people and the relationship with the state, the citizenship: participation, e-participation, online-offline activism etc.

And there are many more and much more in-depth themes emerging as we go on in the age where artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, constant online presence etc. are making it extremely difficult to draw any line between the “real” and “virtual”life.

To discuss the impact these changes have on young people of today, especially with young people themselves, is of utmost importance for all those working with young people in any environment. And to adopt new methods, tools, areas of work etc in order to support young people.