Measuring the Digital Transformation
A Roadmap for the Future
Measuring the Digital Transformation: A Roadmap for the Future provides new insights into the state of the digital transformation by mapping indicators across a range of areas – from education and innovation, to trade and economic and social outcomes – against current digital policy issues, as presented in Going Digital: Shaping Policies, Improving Lives. In so doing, it identifies gaps in the current measurement framework, assesses progress made towards filling these gaps and sets-out a forward-looking measurement roadmap. The goal is to expand the evidence base, as a means to lay the ground for more robust policies for growth and well-being in the digital era.
Employment dynamics
Between 2006 and 2016, total employment in the OECD area grew by 6.9% (a net gain of about 38 million jobs). Examining the contributions towards these net changes shows that the sectors with the highest digital intensity made a strong contribution to employment gains in many countries: around four of every ten additional jobs in the OECD area, and as many as eight-in-ten jobs created in the Slovak Republic. In contrast, the contribution from medium-high digital intensity sectors was much smaller, on average, across the OECD (3.7%), as relatively strong positive contributions in some countries such as Poland, Chile and Mexico were balanced by strong negative effects in Greece, Finland, Italy and others. In almost all countries where aggregate employment fell between 2006 and 2016, the greatest declines were in low digital intensity sectors, while medium-low digital intensity sectors also experienced a decline in employment. Overall, this suggests that the more digitally intensive sectors have contributed to employment growth more strongly than other sectors.