Technological and Economic Change

Description

The dramatic progression of computing capabilities has spurred significant advancements in machine intelligence, evidenced by self-driving vehicles and the reshaping of long-standing business structures, signalling the impending revolutions.

Developments in genetic sequencing and nanomaterials promise to revolutionise health, medicine, and agriculture. Robotics, the internet of things, and 3D printing are set to alter manufacturing, supply chains, and control systems. Concurrently, the efficiency enhancement of renewable energy sources and the urgent need to cut carbon emissions are driving radical shifts in energy, transport, food, and other sectors.

Emerging technologies may disrupt economic growth, investment, savings, consumption, employment, income, pensions, careers, and productivity in ways not yet fully understood. The implications for the global economy, markets, cities, and societies are still largely unknown.

The Technological and Economic Change programme seeks to identify these technological disruptors and assess their impact on the global economy and society. This programme distinguishes itself by merging the expertise of top scientists and technology professionals with economists and social scientists.

The programme collaborates with researchers from the School's Technology and Employment programme in a consortium for the Horizon 2020 funded 'Tecnnequality' research project. This project strives to comprehend how technological innovations influence social inequalities and labour market outcomes in the EU, and explores policy and institutional strategies to mitigate technology-driven disparities.

The research, focused predominantly on the world's largest economies (USA, China, India, Japan, UK and Europe), endeavours to answer various critical questions, such as:

• What can be learned from previous eras of disruptive technological change and how does the current disruption differ?
• Is innovation decelerating or accelerating, and if accelerating, why is productivity growth stagnant in many leading economies?
• What are the anticipated impacts of disruptive technological change on key sectors, * firms, cities, and countries? What will be the effects on employment and inequality?
• What are the implications of these disruptions for savings and investment? Could these technologies trigger stagflation, unemployment, and more unequal growth?
• What does increased life expectancy mean for pensions, retirement, and savings?
• What risks do new technologies themselves pose, such as 'runaway' artificial intelligence and cyber warfare?
• How can policy, regulatory, and other interventions shape and influence technological change?

The programme aims to offer new insights into the nature of rapid technological and economic change and its implications for policy makers, governments, businesses, investors, and societies. It will provide perspectives on education, skills, and infrastructure, and examine potential changes needed to intellectual property, competition, and regulation frameworks to boost productivity, savings, investment, and equitable growth. It will also investigate whether traditional GDP and productivity measures sufficiently account for the different dimensions of progress and technological change.

The Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change forms part of a research partnership between the Oxford Martin School and Citi, which has generously funded research on Technology and Shared Prosperity.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University of Oxford
Oxford

University of Oxford
Oxford