The Pen | Technology ALSO affordable solution to societal challenges

Jan Jambon presented the coalition agreement on Sept. 30. A balanced agreement. Technology, innovation and digitalization are central, as is an activating labor market policy. This is important for Flanders because technology is often the most sustainable, efficient and affordable solution to many social challenges. So we are pleased that this message is also carried by the coalition agreement.

The Flemish government aims to spend 3% of gross regional product on research and innovation by the end of the legislature. Agoria Flanders does advocate the maximum demand-driven deployment of these resources, in the interest of the Flemish economy and society. Economically, this means supporting companies in their transformation process towards an Industry 4.0. Research and innovation are only really relevant when their results are also maximally deployed and used in concrete applications. In that respect, it is also good that the new Flemish Government puts forward the smooth rollout of superfast Internet in Flanders as a top priority.

Around climate, we look forward to the concrete measures within the coalition agreement. It is good that measures will be taken to emit 80% less greenhouse gases by 2050, but a doubling of wind and solar energy by 2030 will probably be too little, as was already evident from the reactions to the Flemish energy and climate plan. Agoria Flanders itself also called for a green tax shift, a super smart mileage charge, support for the circular economy in Flanders and a renovation obligation.

The approach around excellent education lacks concrete elaborated proposals to enable the much-needed transformation in education. For Agoria Flanders, it is important that education and the labor market cooperate even more. Especially in the context of STEM, this cooperation is indispensable. We cannot accept schools folding back on themselves and not interacting with companies and sectors. To make learning engaging, interesting and excellent, a multidisciplinary approach inside and outside the school is crucial. More digitalization also plays an important role here to enable customized learning.

Finally, if Flanders wants to become an innovative top-3 region in Europe, it should not only look to the government. It is also up to citizens to embrace technology and digitalization. A study by Agoria showed that the impact of digitalization on the labor market will lead to 348,000 unfilled vacancies in Flanders by 2030 if the policy remains unchanged. This puts 56.6 billion of our prosperity at stake. In addition, 185,000 Flemings will have to retrain and 2.7 million Flemings will have to brush up their skills regularly. We therefore applaud the Lifelong Learning Platform in the coalition agreement and are pleased that this will be a collaboration between the policy areas of work and education.