4-6 December Rapid and far-reaching change, stimulated by technological innovation and global competition, is refashioning the economic and social organisation of the planet and forcing us to rethink the relationship between education, training and work. Each year, at least 10% of all jobs disappear and are replaced by new, different jobs in new processes and new enterprises, requiring higher or broader skills. The old mass-production system, in which the professional development of the individual is a linear progression - a single career based on the same qualifications and skills - is disappearing fast, and is being replaced by a more knowledge-based economy, where information and technology play a crucial role. What will the situation be like ten years from now, when 80% of the technology we use today will be obsolete? This challenge must first be met by the educational system, which can no longer limit itself to turning out people who have been "educated" once and for all. It must instead form individuals who are able to continue to learn new skills in continuously evolving situations. In the words of Unesco experts, the emphasis must be on "learning to be, learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together". But how, and how much, must educational systems change to reach this goal? Another challenge that our changing society must meet is to provide people with the means for lifelong learning. Lifelong learning has become an essential part of enabling workers to adapt and, above all, anticipate the evolution of technology and work, following flexible and personalised learning paths. This regards young people, those who already have jobs and, first and foremost, the unemployed, who without new and appropriate skills are unlikely to re-enter the active labour force. Despite the cost society bears to support them - 200 billion ECU per year in Europe alone - the unemployed are not learning anything new; in fact, they are de-learning. How can we transform this unproductive expenditure into investment in human capital that will enable people to escape the trap of unemployment? Can we develop a model of development that reconciles economic growth, full employment and an adequate welfare state?

Technological progress and investment in human capital Friday 5 June 1997 Technological progress has occurred at a rapid rate since the mid-nineteenth century as science has been applied to the economy. In recent years, dramatic technological progress is identified with computers and biotech, but important advances have occurred in other areas as well. Progress during the past two decades more strongly favors higher educated and other skilled persons than did progress in the past. These skill-biased technologies have increased the economic gap between individuals with different amounts of human capital, including education and training. In countries where labor markets are flexible, as in the United States and Great Britain, the wider gap has meant larger earning differences. In France, Germany, Italy and other European nations with less flexible labor markets than in America, the wider economic gap generated by human capital has meant much greater unemployment of young persons and other less skilled workers. To better prepare young people for the demands of modern technologies in the next decade, it is necessary to improve the quality of their schooling and training, especially of children coming from the bottom end of family income and education. I believe that greater competition among private as well as public schools is the most effective way to improve education quality, especially but not only for underprivileged students.