Researchers from the University of Wolverhampton are part of an international project which aims to predict the types of occupations that will appear in the near future and the skills these will require.

'Reshaping Labour Force Participation with Artificial Intelligence' has been awarded €110,400 of funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

The lead organisation is Kadir Has University from Turkey and Professor Sibel Yamak from the University of Wolverhampton’s Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences is leading an element of the project. Professor Yamak said:

“For this project, we will be looking at different disciplines and sectors and the required training which will need to be obtained for the required skills. To achieve this goal, an innovative skill-based modelling and skill development methodology armed with AI techniques will be designed for the labour force.

“This novel methodology will be the building block of a web portal, which will serve as a recommendation tool for individuals, companies, institutions, and policymakers.

“This research is important because it has potential to offer solutions to some of the social sustainability problems that the digitalisation might create.”

The project consortium consists of eight institutions and industries from the UK, Turkey, Ireland, and Spain. Members of staff from both the University’s Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science and Engineering will be involved.