Although the term, ‘the future of work’, suggests something that is to come, what is happening in today’s workplace is shaping that future. In this our final exploration of the topic, the future of work, for 2020, Dr Maurice McNaughton, of the University of the West Indies, shares his thoughts on a broad range of issues, including, how tertiary-level institutions can better prepare students for the future of work, and what should be the priorities of developing states as it relates to the future of work.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes, Google Play Music and on Stitcher!

Regardless of whether we have realised it or not, the year 2020 has been a transformational year. Across both our personal and professional lives, we have all been forced to change our routine and behaviour, and organisations have had to adopt a more digital posture, particularly with regard to their operations and managing their staff.

As a result, the workplace has been irrevocably changed, with individuals and organisations having to leverage technology more than they ever had before. Although it could be argued that this attitude and behaviour change was inevitable, it has changed the trajectory – the pace of evolution – of the workplace, and consequently, what the future of work will be.

One of the last gateways that most us of pass through on our way to the workplace – and hopefully becoming productive citizens in our societies – is college or university, which to a considerable degree, shapes our professional lives. To that end, and in what will be our final episode on the theme, the future for work, for 2020, we will discussing that topic through the lens of education, but more specifically, universities and tertiary level institutions.

 

Introducing our guest

Dr Maurice McNaughton

Dr Maurice McNaughton is the Director of the Centre of Excellence for IT-enabled Business and Innovation, at the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM), at Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, in Jamaica. He is also no stranger to the Podcast. On his last visit, we discussed Open Data in the Caribbean.

Dr McNaughton has over 20 years of senior management and leadership experience in the planning and direction of enterprise-level IT in organisations. He is an Engineering Graduate of the University of the West Indies and holds a PhD in Decision Sciences from Georgia State University. His research interest spans the domain of emerging Open ICT ecosystems, and integrates extensive industry experience with focused academic research about the strategic use of ICTs as an enabler of business innovation in small and large enterprises, as well as a growth-enabler for developing economies.

 

Insights into our conversation

Although Dr McNaughton is an academic, due to his extensive private sector experience, along with the initiatives in which the MSBM has been involved over the years, such as Open Data and digital literacy, to name a few, Dr McNaughton is able to share a broad range of interesting insights and perspectives. Hence, although the plan was to examine the future of work through the lens of education, the conversation quickly veered into other areas, such as work-life balance and the role ‘silver foxes’ can play in the work space of the future. Below are key questions that were posed during the course of our discussion:

  1. What are some of the trends you have been noting or observing in the workplace?
  2. How and in what ways do you think COVID-19 has been affecting tertiary education and institutions?
  3. How might tertiary institutions, such as the UWI, adjust to the changing workplace and better prepare students for the future of work?
  4. Can we, in the Caribbean, prevent the skills gap from widening? And if yes, what can we do?
  5. There has been a growing focus on work-life balance and quality of life, especially among Generation Zers. How might the workplace be affected?
  6. What might be some of the considerations and implications to our economies, and even to the workplace, as we are living and working longer?
  7. Finally, looking into the future, what should be the priorities of developing states, such as those in the Caribbean region, as it relates to the future of work?

 

We would love to hear from you!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse.

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits: Pixabay (Pexels); M McNaughton

Music credit: Ray Holman