By Diego Bekerman*

We are living the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the revolution of knowledge and innovation, with great opportunities of development for our country and for the entire region of Latin America. The challenges were discussed during the World Economic Forum, with leaders from the region who gathered in Buenos Aires.

We talk about artificial intelligence, Big Data, Internet of Things and the fears these concepts cause for a labor market that is clearly going through a transformation process: are jobs going to be eliminated due to automation? Will artificial intelligence triumph over our capacity to understand it?

People and machines have different capacities. Powerful computers join artificial intelligence, which enables reasoning over massive quantities of data and find patterns that people cannot distinguish, together with human abilities, such as creativity, empathy, and emotion, the result is the growth of our capacity to solve the most critical problems we have as a society.

Currently, there are projects all over the world that aim to improve public transport, to find new ways to preserve the planet, to reinvent the healthcare system, to find the cure for every disease, to fight against poverty, to expand business. Several of these projects are also being developed in Argentina.

This is the essence of artificial intelligence: nowadays we have tools to analyze the large quantity of data we have around, and generate algorithms that enable predictions. All this data can be use smartly to solve some of the major problems of humanity. This is possible due to the cloud.

The greatest challenge we have ahead to truly promote a digital economy and capitalize the opportunity in the cloud is to close the digital skills gap.

We are talking about a cultural change through which technology can be integrated to our lives. As well as about the growing need of having professionals in technology and the study of computer sciences as main activity at schools to encourage a new way of thinking, enabling young people to develop skills that will make them stronger against the demands of the 21^st century and prepare them for jobs that do not even exist today.

It is important that, as an industry, we lead the evolution of the existing skills and the creation of new skills, both for current workers as well as for young people who are entering the labor market or becoming entrepreneurs. As an indicator of its importance, we have already invested 9 million dollars in Latin America in cloud initiatives, partners, developers, philanthropy and education, to help reduce the digital skills gap through the recent launching of free training programs for any person who might be interested in these interactive learning experiences.

Public-private articulation is key to learn new skills. By becoming entrepreneurs and programming we go from consumers to content creators, we become leaders and develop skills that provide us with an advantage and greater chances of getting a job.

Argentina is a country of opportunities, with great talent and a lot of potential for business development. Microsoft has experienced the history of the country and the impulse of local innovation during the past 26 years.

Our country outstands due to the large number of startups it has and their impact. It is one of the largest technology and added value services exporter of the world. Together, the age of innovation and our talent, will enable us to develop a true social and economic impact, capitalizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its opportunities, transforming us.

*Diego Bekerman is the General Manager of Microsoft, Argentina and Uruguay.

Source: La Nacion