G7 Italy-digi

Investing in innovative Italy
G7 offers a unique forum for members
to rethink labour and social policies
Welfare systems need to be reshaped
so they can include new forms of work
PIXELFUSION3D/GETTYIMAGES
summit it will host in July in Hamburg and
for the discussions of G20 labour ministers
in Bad Neuenahr on 18–19 May. Given
the reflections and the experiences so far
collected, it also is time to address these
issues at the G7 level, focusing on the nature
of our economies and bearing in mind the
added value that the G7 could provide to
identifying common solutions, although
they may vary around the world.
The pace and scale of technological
progress concern some of our citizens, as
the world may appear to be more complex,
more volatile and more uncertain. Some
are increasingly sceptical or even hostile to
globalisation and fear changes brought by
technological progress such as automation,
artificial intelligence and digitalisation.
One key objective of policy interventions
is therefore to restore trust in the future of
work, reaffirming social ownership over
the process of innovation. Our aim is to
explore opportunities to address concrete
objectives and propose operational follow-up
models and forms of structured and stable
collaboration. The G7 is a unique forum
to share our experiences and rethink our
labour and social policies with a coordinated
approach to our common challenges.
Tackling inequalities
Some issues deserve special attention. One
is social protection, which is crucial in order
to ensure that workers and families can get
the most out of technological change and
contribute to it. We also need to tackle the
issue of inequalities, the non-neutrality of
technological change and governance of
technological trends. Low-skilled workers
and disadvantaged groups face serious risks
of exclusion from social and economic life.
However, technological change is not neutral:
technology may produce different results
in terms of employment and inequality,
depending on different policy choices. A
deeper, shared understanding of where jobs
Giuliano
Poletti
Minister of Labour
and Social Policies
Italy
Giuliano Poletti was appointed
Italy’s Minister of Labour and
Social Policies in 2014. A trained
agronomist, before entering politics
he was President of Legacoop Imola,
the national cooperative federation
of Italy; President of Coopfond, the
fund for the cooperative promotion
of Legacoop); and President of
the Alliance of the Cooperatives,
the national coordination unit
consisting of AGCI, Confcooperative
and Legacoop.
@PolettiGiuliano
www.lavoro.gov.it
are likely to be created and lost and of what
needs to be done to ensure the potential
benefits are equitably shared is the essential
foundation for sound policymaking and
strengthened social cohesion.
With regard to ageing populations and
the demographic challenge, the changing
world of work may need welfare systems
to be reshaped so they are more responsive
and flexible to include new forms of work.
Work based on digital platforms and the
gig economy are issues we still need to
fully understand, and here cooperation
and the exchange of experiences may be
extremely useful. Above all, we need to pay
special attention to youth, to ensure that the
opportunities offered by innovation will be
spread across generations.
We are confident that we can agree on
a concrete operational follow-up to make
our cooperation strong and permanent and
to strengthen the G7’s leading role, with a
view to securing strong continuity on policy
discussions, the dissemination of good
practices and the achievement of better
coordinated national solutions.
Including people and communities
Our ministerial meeting takes place during
a G7 week in September dedicated entirely
to the challenges of the fourth Industrial
Revolution. G7 ministers of labour and
social policies as well as ministers of
industry, education and research will
discuss those challenges in separate sessions,
focusing on their specific competencies, but
with an integrated and coordinated approach.
We commit to making labour a vital
ingredient of the change: the way we shape
the future of work and welfare systems will
have a significant impact on the innovation
process itself. We must make every effort
to ensure that people and communities are
not left behind, and that fundamental rights
and principles are respected throughout
this process of change. G7
g7g20.com May 2017 • G7 Italy: The Taormina Summit 29