Little Miss Inventor

Little Miss Inventor is as bright as a button. In fact she’s as bright as two buttons…

(R. Hargreaves, 2018)

Last week saw the conclusion of the G20’s work stream on the digital economy in Salta, Argentina. The end product was a Ministerial Declaration recognising the importance of digital technologies to future economic growth.

“A thriving digital economy relies on quality, affordable, secure, accessible and inclusive digital infrastructure, an environment that supports innovation, appropriate policy frameworks, the capacity of people and businesses to adapt to digital transformations, and the free flow of information, ideas and knowledge, while respecting applicable legal frameworks, and working to build consumer trust, privacy, data protection and intellectual property rights protection.”

While the document covers issues relating to inclusion and infrastructure and skills, the phrases “digital trade” and “cyber security” are completely absent from the document.

To be fair, consensus in a multilateral forum like the G20 is a tough ask. Trying to get 20 people to agree on where to go for lunch is hard enough; asking them to agree on complex and nuanced issues around digital trade, competition impacts, taxation arrangements, measurement and ethics seems impossible. Ultimately, these issues proved all too byzantine for the forum to address.

Where the group was able to reach consensus was around the need to improve female participation in the digital economy.

Across the G20, access to, and use of, digital technologies by women lags that of men. The data shows that females are less likely to be enrolled in STEM disciplines, have a more limited use of digital tools and relatively scarcer presence or activity on business platforms. The OECD in their (forthcoming, Australian Government commissioned) report, Bridging the Digital Gender Divide, cites access difficulties, affordability, skills and technological literacy and inherent biases and socio-cultural norms amongst the reasons why this is the case.

Looking ahead, as the economy becomes more digitised, the gender gap is only expected to grow. The OECD finds that while men out perform women in some competencies, and women outperform men in others, the skills in greatest demand by the digital economy are more frequently displayed by men.
Proficiencies in self-organisation, management, communication and advanced numerical skills were all paid a premium by digital-intensive industries (see chart below).

Overcoming the digital gender divide will be no easy task. 15 year old girls are two times less likely to aspire to a career as an engineer or a scientist and three times more likely than boys to expect to become health professional. And while the Declaration provides some guidance on where to start, the irony that only one of the G20 member countries (Australia) was represented by a female delegate seems somewhat pertinent.

Additional labour market returns for various types of skills in digital intensive industries, 31 OECD countries and partner economies, 2012 or 2015.
Source: OECD forthcoming.