We look forward to seeing you at the seminars!
Monday, 6 December 2021 at 14:00-15:00 via Zoom
A presentation by Dr Cath Sleeman (Head of Data Discovery in the Data Analytics Practice at Nesta in London, United Kingdom) and Dr Karlis Kanders (Senior Data Foresight Lead in the Discovery Team at Nesta in London, United Kingdom).
In this seminar, Nesta will present its latest report on automation and the future of work. To date, most automation research has focused on identifying which occupations are most at risk of automation. This report goes one step further, by providing guidance on how workers (in the UK, France and Italy) can transition out of these occupations and into lower-risk roles. This guidance is made possible by an algorithm that estimates the similarity between over 1,600 jobs, based on the skills and work experiences required in each role. The key finding from our research is that automation risk can be hard to escape: occupations that are at high risk of automation tend to require similar skills. As a consequence, at-risk workers, who predominantly reside in sales, customer service and clerical roles, will require more retraining to find an occupation that is at a lower risk.
Cath Sleeman is Head of Data Discovery and leads on projects that identify and fill gaps in data ecosystems. Her projects show the potential of novel data and methods to deliver new insights, and her work blends economics, data science and creative data visualisation. For her work on creative data visualisation, she has won an Information is Beautiful Award, as well as awards from the Bank of England and 360Giving. Prior to Nesta, Cath was a Gates Scholar at Cambridge University, completing a PhD in Economics.
Karlis Kanders is a Senior Data Foresight Lead working in Nesta’s Discovery team. He uses machine learning and network analysis to uncover emerging trends, promising technologies and interventions that will shape our future. Previously, Karlis has been working on data-driven innovations for navigating the labour market and connecting people to good work, as part of Nesta’s Open Jobs programme. Karlis holds a PhD in Computational Neuroscience at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
The seminar is organised by TalTech Industrial project.