Future Skills with Gianna Sagazio: 'There is a long and challenging path ahead'

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The world is going through an accelerated transformation with the development of new technologies, increased global connectivity, and new production models that can significantly alter the nature of work. Jobs and skills are at the center of the changes unfolding, with experts foreseeing a significant shift in labor markets by 2030. The GFCC is releasing a new report on July 14, the Future Skills: Lessons and Insights from a Review of Innovative Skills and Development Initiatives. The launching will happen during the Frame the Future of Talent conversation. Every Friday, for four weeks, the GFCC will publish a new interview on the future of skills, jobs, human development, and the impact of advanced manufacturing on workers, with professionals working in government, business, and academia. The interview below features Gianna Sagazio, Innovation Director at the Brazilian Nation Confederation of Industries (CNI). In 2019, CNI commissioned the GFCC to research the Future Skills report, a mission our community truly appreciated.

GFCC: Why was CNI interested in creating a report on future skills? What incited the start of the project?

Gianna Sagazio: As the official representative of the industrial sector in Brazil, CNI is aware of the obstacles and demands from industrial companies in Brazil. Adding to this representative role, CNI also coordinates the Entrepreneurial Mobilization for Innovation (MEI), a movement of more than 300 innovative companies in the country that work together to promote the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) agenda. Therefore, CNI-MEI work to promote and foster modernization, productivity, innovation, and, consequently, competitiveness in the Brazilian industry. Being a country of more than 200 million citizens and the 12th largest economy in the world, Brazil has the resources to be a more competitive and innovative economy. But structural obstacles create gaps in the path of social and economic development. One of the main areas in the CNI-MEI agenda is focused on Human Resources for Innovation. Manufacturing is one of the productive sectors that is more exposed to the technological development applied to the production models and the evolution of work. Companies are always pressed to adapt their production processes to the new technologies to remain competitive, as Industry 4.0 is a consolidated reality, and their workers face the challenge to keep up with these changes. In this sense, knowing the main trends in professional skills for the industry in the future is essential for any company to create medium and long strategies and maintain or regain their competitiveness.

GFCC: How would you describe the current situation in Brazil concerning the development and preparedness of future skills? In which ways is that comparable to other emerging nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia?

Gianna Sagazio: Brazil faces serious challenges in basic and professional education, which is also an obstacle for companies to be more competitive. If we observe Brazil’s position in different international rankings, they are not reasonable considering the country’s potential. In the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) from the OECD, Brazil occupies one of the lowest positions amongst the 79 countries accessed by the survey. This weakness in education reflects directly on the productive sector. With deficiencies in basic education, especially in sciences and mathematics, Brazil also lost positions in international competitiveness rankings. Between 2011 and 2019, Brazil lost 18 positions in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, ranking 71 amongst 141 countries in 2019. For the skills section of the Report, Brazil placed 96th. In a new study from CNI in partnership with the Portulans Institute, addressing the Future Readiness Index, which analyses Innovation, Talent, and Technology aspects in different countries, Brazil is also at one of the last positions of the rank. To summarizing, we are aware of where our weaknesses are and where to act, but there is a long and challenging path ahead. Comparing to the BRICS countries, Brazil does not lead in basic education aspects but is competitive in scientific production. According to the Future Readiness Index, China is ahead, and Brazil and South Africa have comparable positions ahead of India. The fast pace of Asian countries' development in technology and innovation is a result of years of focused education and industrial policies and private investments and should be a reference for developing countries such as Brazil. Nevertheless, in the Latin American context, Brazil has significant advantages in terms of human resources for STI and the manufacturing sector. With the right goals, the entrepreneurial sector and the government can work together to promote major changes in our competitiveness.

GFCC: What are the critical areas to advance in Brazil? Could you identify the main available initiatives to address these areas?

Gianna Sagazio: Considering the industry point of view, professional training is one of the most strategic areas to prepare companies for the future. With the rapid changes imposed by technological development and disruptive innovations, companies and professionals have to keep up with new tools and processes applied to production. The rise of digital technologies, that lead to the now well-known Industry 4.0 context, impose new challenges to the traditional models of production. To respond to those challenges, companies need to invest not only in the modernization of their equipment and machines but also in the training of their workers to operate in this new context. So Brazilian companies, in an effort to reach out for a place in the global market, are searching for fast and effective ways to adapt to new product solutions and the new skills required to operate them. One of CNI’s branches, the National Service for Industrial Training (SENAI), has made important and notorious progress in professional training for the industry in Brazil. SENAI offers industrial companies the opportunity not only to qualify their workers in the latest technological and managing trends of the various areas of industrial production but also offers a countrywide network of research and development centers focused on Technological development and Innovation projects.

GFCC: What are the skills that you see as the most relevant and urgent to develop at scale?

Gianna Sagazio: The Covid-19 pandemic exposed many weaknesses and tendencies with the intense changes imposed by the public health crisis, social distancing, and economic crisis. Not only in our personal lives, but also in the way we work. And Digital Transformation is one of these tendencies. Considering the rapid expansion of applications of digital technologies in industrial production and in telecommunications, some skills are more demanded now and should be even more in the future. Digital abilities and flexibility should be trends in professional skills in the near future, in various areas of the market. Also, with more intense use of automation and artificial intelligence by companies, more skilled and qualified professionals should be required. Science, engineering, and mathematics are already highly demanded qualifications in the market, but soft skills, such as communication abilities and critical and creative thinking, are essential to future professionals.

GFCC: How has CNI contributed to advance this agenda and reduce the skills shortage in Brazil?

Gianna Sagazio: Since 2016, CNI and MEI have acted, through a working group composed of companies, public and private institutions of higher education, representative entities in the field of engineering and government agencies, in favor of strengthening engineering education and promoting the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) disciplines. The Engineering/STEAM WG has been dedicated to contributing to the modernization of the engineering National Curricular Guidelines of Brazil. The WG collaborated on a proposal for a new engineering curricular guideline to the government in the name of all its members. In 2019 it was approved by the Ministry of Education, and it has been disseminated all over Brazil since then. The WG has helped in this process, producing materials and organizing meetings to get together universities and companies to debate and share their experiences in implementing the new regulation. The WG is still active, and its members debate new alternatives and actions for the diffusion and adoption of STEAM disciplines by education and professional training institutions. Also, as a result of the Engineering/STEAM WG and to attend priorities of the Human Resources for Innovation agenda, MEI will create, in 2021, a platform to connect companies and universities, and in 2022, we plan to realize the National Forum for the University-Industry Articulation. The objective is to identify gaps in the relationship between universities and industry in the pursuit of innovation, as well as to promote the Interaction between them. Because professional training is such a high priority for the Brazilian industry, CNI and MEI have, once again, mobilized their companies to create a new initiative: the Professional and Technological Training Working Group. The new WG's main objective is to promote professional training in Brazil focusing on intermediary (High-School) education by interacting with federal and state governments and presenting its strategic value for the social and economic development of the country. The Professional and Technological Training WG had its first meeting this year and has already engaged large Brazilian and international companies and government and academia representatives in its agenda.

GFCC: Could you compare new models coming out of Brazil to other initiatives worldwide?

Gianna Sagazio: As mentioned above, the National Service for Industrial Training (SENAI), one of CNI’s branches, is an example of success in the professional training area. Although its foundation dates to the beginning of the 1940s, the institution could keep up with the evolution of industry in Brazil and with the latest technological trends worldwide. SENAI has, today, 58 technological institutes and 26 innovation institutes distributed in the 27 Brazilian states. SENAI’s model was inspired by European initiatives of industrial R&D and training centers. One of the inspirations was the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. Recently, in 2018, SENAI and Fraunhofer established a partnership to modernize SENAI’s institutes for innovation and guide their strategy in the Industry 4.0 context. This is an important initiative for the Brazilian industry not only because it proves that traditional institutions can evolve and provide companies what they need to be more competitive, but also because it makes clear the importance of partnership and connecting to evolve and innovate.

GFCC: What would you highlight as the main findings collected in the research that covered mainly the Brazilian landscape?

Gianna Sagazio: Some of the findings are undeniably more appealing to Brazil. One of these pressing trends in the digitization of education. As part of the larger process of digitization of the economy, education must be more digital to overcome the obstacles created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Particularly in Brazil, digital infrastructure and access to digital technologies (smartphones and computers) were a big issue when schools had to shut down, and students needed internet connection and devices to attend the online classes. To be more competitive, Brazil needs to improve its digital infrastructure and online education models. Along with digital and online education, flexibility is already an important subject to develop skills in Brazil. Professional education is one of CNI-MEI priority agendas. The digital technologies applied to the industrial process are causing a great impact on productivity, but also an impact on work structures. Industry 4.0 or Advanced manufacture demands the reskilling of professionals in factories and offices all around the productive sector. In Brazil, where we already have obstacles in professional training, flexibility is a central question. Industry and education institutions in Brazil are discussing new ways to solve the gap between the market’s demand for qualified professionals and the actual models of professional training and STEAM education. And flexibility should also be important not only in creating new models of reskilling the professional but also in including soft skills in the education of future professionals.

GFCC: What are the most interesting initiatives about skills that you have seen around the globe?

Gianna Sagazio: A major event that mobilizes young professionals from around the world and promotes the best practices in professional education is the World Skills. A competition in various areas of professional skills is held between students from different countries to stimulate exchange and inspire the new generations. In 2019, represented by SENAI students, Brazil ranked 3º amongst the 63 participant countries. Another dimension of skills that should be at the top of our priorities is gender equality in education. In this matter, the United Nations has been active and is promoting awareness about the persistent inequality between genders in STEAM education and professions. According to UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), while girls tend to outperform boys in reading and writing skills, they continue to be under-represented amongst top performers in STEAM. To reinforce the message that “careers have no gender,” the International Girls in ICT Day initiative has for ten years now encouraged girls and young women to pursue STEAM education and help to reduce gender inequality in science, technology, and innovation areas.