·
Nearly
7,000 millennials, ages 15-30, surveyed across seven countries in Asia,
including Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan and
Singapore
BANGKOK /OSLO, 11 August 2017
–
It’s
International Youth Day, and organizations around the world are
celebrating young people’s contributions to conflict prevention and
transformation, as well as inclusion,
social justice and sustainable peace. Telenor Group recently reached
out to Asian youth on these topics, and the majority say that they view
artificial intelligence and access to education as crucial for building
peace and improving their communities.
The
findings were gleaned from two surveys of Asian youth, assessing their
attitudes toward peace-building, harnessing technology for social good
and securing the jobs of the tomorrow.
Together, Telenor Group surveyed nearly 7,000 millennials, ages 15-30,
in seven markets in Asia. The two Telenor online surveys were conducted
in May of 2017 and September-October 2016.
Artificial intelligence: Best peace-building technology
When
asked which technology has the largest potential to give rise to peace,
32 percent of the respondents placed their bets on artificial
intelligence, followed by the Internet of Things (30 percent), and
virtual reality (28 percent). Across all markets, artificial
intelligence, the Internet of Things and virtual reality rank
consistently in the top three – suggesting the vast potential seen
in these future technologies by the millennial generation.
Youth to leaders: More education, more inclusion
Among
social causes that can lead to peace, including environmental
protection, unemployment mitigation, education inclusion and civil
rights, Asian youth responded that they are most passionate about
education. Thirty-seven percent of survey takers ranked this as their
top cause. Forty-seven percent of them say that leaders should invest
more in developing inclusive education systems that
give equal access and opportunities to all. Youth respondents’
second-ranked cause was climate change and global warming (21 percent).
Other global issues prioritized by Asia’s millennials include mental
health (17 percent), youth unemployment (17 percent),
and gender inequality (8 percent).
Innovative, entrepreneurial spirits
One
thing that united all markets surveyed was the youths’ own perspectives
of their place in the world. Uniformly in all surveyed
markets, nearly 40 percent of the youth described themselves as ‘the
most innovative and entrepreneurial generation in history’.
Assessing tomorrow’s jobs
In
a second Telenor survey, youth in Singapore, Malaysia, India, Myanmar,
Bangladesh and Pakistan were polled on their attitudes about
their future career, technology’s impact and the skills they need to be
best prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. The results indicate that while
Asia’s young adults embrace the importance of technology, non-technical
human skills still play an important role.
The
highest numbers of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi youth maintained
that the most important skills to obtaining a great job
in the future will be the ‘ability to inspire others, and leadership
capability’ (37-, 36-, 34 percent respectively). More than one of four
surveyed Singaporean youth cited ‘people management and emotional
intelligence’ (27%) as needed skills. Nearly one in
three Myanmar youth said that ‘creativity, cognitive flexibility’ (29%)
are critical. The standout in this category was Malaysia, where 24% of
the surveyed youth stated that tech-related ‘mobile and web development,
and super coding skills,’ were most important.
“Today’s
youth have opportunities unlike any generation before. They were born
into a connected world, and we want to know more about
the roles that they believe technology can play, both in their own
lives and in bettering the world around them. At Telenor, we believe
that connectivity and digital services play a fundamental role in
improving lives, and it’s inspiring to learn that Asia’s
youth are with us in this mission,” said Ola Jo Tandre, Head of Social
Responsibility, Telenor Group.
“This
is exactly why we work with them every year through our Telenor Youth
Forum, where we have them innovating new solutions to
some of the many challenges facing their generation,” he added.
Telenor Youth Forum in final stages of recruitment for 2017 program
Initiatives
such as the Telenor Youth Forum provide a global stage for youth to
brainstorm and create innovative concepts that can
drive real change in the world.
Recruitment
for the Telenor Youth Forum 2017 is nearly closed in many Telenor
markets. Youth between 20-28 years of age in markets
where Telenor is present are strongly encouraged to apply – find out
if applications in your markets are still open here:
www.telenor.com/youthforum
Designed
as a year-long program in partnership with the Nobel Peace Centre, the
Telenor Youth Forum challenges its delegates with
solving major socioeconomic crises facing youth. They are put in teams
and paired with mentors from organizations such as UNICEF, Interbridge,
the Red Cross, Techfugees and Telenor Research. Delegates learn skills
such as service/product design and prototyping,
in addition to insights on issues that can only be gained through
hands-on experience.
