A new talent model for the digital age

Viewpoint

GCC countries have ambitions to become leaders in the digital economy, taking advantage of their young and tech-savvy populations to boost productivity and prosperity. However, they cannot achieve that goal through incremental change. Instead, they need to overhaul their digital talent model. A new talent model requires creating a deep pool of domestic and international experts. These experts include alternative reality/virtual reality developers, blockchain engineers, edge computing architects, software engineers, data scientists, and cloud engineers. They accelerate the economy’s digital transformation by scaling up startups and dynamic smaller companies, while enabling large enterprises to grasp digital opportunities. Simultaneously, workers in all professions must learn new skills, as technological progress increasingly disrupts the labor market, including in sectors previously seen as “future-proof,” such as banking and the law.

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GCC governments have made strong commitments to digital transformation and education, and have made important investments in digital infrastructure.

For instance, Saudi Arabia spent 7.8 percent of GDP on education in 2020, as compared with a global average of 4.3 percent and an average of 3.3 percent in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). GCC countries are also among the best endowed for basic digital infrastructure, have the seventh-highest internet penetration rate globally, and have top levels of internet usage and basic digital skills.

An action plan for a new talent model

Although GCC countries have made considerable progress, they need a new talent model to propel themselves into the global digital vanguard.

Develop an ecosystem that fosters human capital and builds a strong learning culture

GCC countries need an ecosystem in which education frameworks are aligned with development needs. More broadly, that means encouraging a society that adopts a digital approach to life, including use of digital services and payments as well as digital social interactions. A primary objective of digital literacy and awareness programs is to create “digital citizens” by inculcating the ability to make discerning choices that can maximize the benefits of technology.
Improve the proficiency of the labor market to provide digital economy roles

Education changes provide digital talent over the medium and long term, but GCC countries also need short-term reforms to close their existing talent gap in the digital economy. That means acquiring sufficient skilled talent for a broad range of areas beyond obvious needs such as AI, cloud computing, and software development.
Enhance the global relevance of GCC countries as a destination for talent

GCC countries need to become more attractive destinations for digital talent. This effort is a short- and long-term endeavor that should reverse the brain drain of regional talent while attracting international talent. The attraction of talent demands careful identification of which skills are needed and what are the correct methods to bring in such specialized workers. Governments should avoid broad-brush approaches that attract people who have easily replicable skills and whose presence creates a disincentive to cultivate domestic talent.

The government’s role as the orchestrator and enabler of the digital economy

Create a dedicated body for digital human capital
Develop a digital jobs taxonomy and skills framework

Governments need a dedicated body for digital talent to orchestrate their digital human capital efforts. The dedicated body plays important roles in understanding the state of the current talent pool, discerning future digital labor requirements in terms of competencies and specializations, and outlining the possibilities for international talent mobility. The result is a talent fulfillment strategy that synergizes the entire supply ecosystem to meet the demand requirements of the digital economy.

Governments require a national digital jobs taxonomy. Such a taxonomy contains and codifies the current and future skills requirement for the digital economy. Armed with this mapping, governments can engage with their ministries of education and labor, leaders of corporate HR, and digital economy executives to ensure that all stakeholders play their role. Stakeholders can include public-and private-sector employers, education bodies, and
organizations that evaluate education.

Conclusion

Creating a new digital talent model involves considerable effort. It is a painstaking multi year process. What matters most, however, is recognition of its centrality to the development of the digital economy and the need for a structured approach. GCC countries already have recognized the importance of building digital capabilities and the significance of strengthening digital talent. Now is the time for them to take the vital next step and create a digital talent model for the future and the prosperity to come.