Minister with responsibility for skills and digital transformation, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, is encouraging Jamaican youth to consider taking advantage of the more than 97 million new job opportunities that will come with increased automation.

She issued the charge while the World Economic Forum has predicted that 85 million jobs will be displaced due to automation and artificial intelligence, the positive advancements have not been disclosed.

According to Dixon, increased automation will create the “need for a skilled workforce adapted to the robotics era”.

“Recently, we heard the wonderful announcement of the new plant for National, and they intend to use robotics as a part of their plant. I’ve met with other manufacturing companies, and they too, plan to use more technology and robotics in manufacturing plants. What this means is that we are seeing a shift in our manufacturing sector in Jamaica, and we need to have the workforce in tandem with that,” Morris Dixon added.

The senator and government minister was addressing the opening ceremony for the WorldSkills Autonomous Mobile Robotics Invitational Training Camp at the Cardiff Hotel and Spa in Runaway Bay, St Ann, on Tuesday, January 16.

She charged parents and guardians to support their children, irrespective of their unconventional dreams.

“As parents, you may not be aware of all the new technological advancements, but it is the future. If your child says that they want to learn a skill through HEART, do not dissuade them…; the jobs of the future are skill-based,” she explained.

“We are inspiring our young minds to dream, create, and innovate, for in their hands lie, not just robots but the future of Jamaica and the world,” Morris Dixon added.

Managing Director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, Dr Taneisha Ingleton, shared that the agency has already commenced preparations for the ‘New World’.

“The HEART/NSTA Trust stands firmly on the edge of tomorrow, preparing Jamaicans for the jobs of the future… jobs that have not been invented yet,” she stated.

Ingleton noted that robotics is at the forefront of a revolution, promising advancements in industries from healthcare to agriculture, adding that “we are determined to position Jamaica as a leader in this transformative field”.

“We have purchased 60 autonomous mobile robotic kits and 20 aerial robotic kits. These kits will take our students from basic to advanced in designing, programming and installing, and even maintaining robots in just about any sector,” Ingleton said.