CivicSabha 2.0 - Bridging AI Skilling Gaps for an Inclusive and Future-Ready Workforce

As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly shapes economies and workplaces, building equitable access to AI-related skills has become critical for creating inclusive and future-ready workforces. However, gaps in digital literacy, access to training, and institutional capacity risk widening existing inequalities. Addressing these challenges requires rethinking education and training systems to equip learners, especially non-technical professionals with practical data and AI competencies relevant to real-world contexts.

The roundtable discussion “Bridging AI Skilling Gaps for an Inclusive and Future-Ready Workforce”, as part of CivicSabha 2.0, brought together practitioners, educators, and development partners to explore approaches for strengthening inclusive AI skill ecosystems. The discussion highlighted the collaboration between CivicDataLab (CDL) and Digital Skills to Succeed (DS2S) initiative of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which aims to build foundational data literacy and AI competencies among non-technical learners across India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam.

The roundtable was co-moderated by Dr. Alireza Ansari, Leipzig University and Preyansi Mani, GIZ highlighted several themes related to AI skills development and the future of work. Participants also discussed innovative learning approaches such as living labs, which connect universities, industry, and public institutions to address real-world challenges through collaborative experimentation.