Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, Economic Impact of Automation and Advanced Technology in UAE

Abstract

In the light of recent and continued (at an exponential rate) increasing role of technology and machines in the daily human activities, such machine intervention is affecting different aspects of our different eco-systems, whether it is social, or economical (manufacturing) by impacting the labor market dynamics. This research aims at studying the economic impact of the advancing technology specifically on jobs (their demand and composition). The study scope focuses on the jobs composition and demand variations, during the period from 2006 to 2015 in the United Arab Emirates. The Aim of this study is to derive results and recommendations that might help in setting plans to forecast such changes and proactively implement strategies. In the presented research, a unique database for the UAE job advertisements within the aforementioned period was established. Furthermore, a thorough analysis was conducted with Data Mining techniques implemented using a Python® programming platform. The research exposes significant variations that were detected at two levels. The first level was on the occupational titles, reflecting the extrinsic effect of technology advancement, while the other level interrogated the intrinsic nature of each job and its accompanying skill sets and competencies. Among the findings were; the significant rearrangement of jobs on the demand map, where some job titles did disappear while others did emerge. The study did also highlight an increased demand for occupations associated with high cognitive load that required analytical, interpersonal, and complex thinking skills. On the contrary, the occupations with lower level skills (manual and repetitive) did decrease significantly.

Date of Award	Jul 2016
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Mohammad Omar (Supervisor)