Reports

Addressing 21st century development challenges requires investments in innovation, including the use of new approaches and technologies. Currently, many development organisations prioritise investments in isolated innovation pilots that leverage a specific approach or technology rather than pursuing a strategic approach to expand the organisation’s toolbox with innovations that have proven their comparative advantage over what is currently used. This Working Paper addresses this challenge of adopting innovations. How can development organisations institutionalise a new way of working, bringing what was once novel to the core of how business is done? Analysing successful adoption efforts across five DAC agencies, the paper lays out a proposed process for the adoption of innovations. The paper features five case-studies and concludes with a set of lessons and recommendations for policy makers on innovation management generally, and adoption of innovation in particular.

Un nombre croissant de pays membres de l’OCDE fait face à un défi d’attractivité de leur fonction publique, et ce, alors même que la gestion des politiques publiques, de plus en plus complexe, requiert de nouvelles compétences. Ce document cherche à identifier les facteurs d’attractivité de la fonction publique dans les régions françaises et à travers les pays membres de l’Union européenne, notamment dans un contexte de grandes tendances de l’emploi public en constante évolution. Le premier chapitre vise à éclairer le diagnostic d’attractivité de la fonction publique d’État dans les territoires français, par le biais d’un focus principalement qualitatif sur quatre régions (Grand Est, Hauts-de-France, Île-de-France, Normandie) confrontées, en tout ou partie, à des difficultés pour attirer, recruter et fidéliser leurs agents publics. Le second chapitre, au-delà d’une meilleure compréhension des grandes tendances affectant l’emploi public à travers l’Union européenne et les pays membres de l’OCDE et des implications pour la fonction Ressources Humaines (RH), explore les mesures mises en œuvre par d’autres administrations des pays membres de l’OCDE ainsi que dans le secteur privé pour développer ou adapter leurs politiques de ressources humaines afin de mieux planifier les efforts d’attractivité.

This work leverages globally consistent data on parks from Google Maps, in combination with the computational power of Google Maps Directions API to quantify accessibility to parks across nearly 500 metropolitan areas in six countries: Estonia, France, Greece, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. We combined high resolution population data from Worldpop with parks data and navigation estimates to measure: (1) Fraction of the population with access to parks within a 10-minute walk; and (2) the median walking time to the closest park. We find large differences in access to parks between countries, as well as large variability across cities and their respective commuting zones. To demonstrate how this framework can support cross country comparisons and efforts to track progress towards SDG11, we assessed access to parks by income group in selected countries, finding that the median walking time to a park is shorter for residents of low income neighbourhoods both in French and American metropolitan areas.

The paper discusses the implications of recent advances in artificial intelligence for knowledge workers, focusing on possible complementarities and substitution between machine translation tools and language professionals. The emergence of machine translation tools could enhance social welfare through enhanced opportunities for inter-language communication but also create new threats because of persisting low levels of accuracy and quality in the translation output. The paper uses data on online job vacancies to map the evolution of the demand for language professionals between 2015 and 2019 in 10 countries and illustrates the set of skills that are considered important by employers seeking to hire language professionals through job vacancies posted on line.

New OECD surveys of employers and workers in the manufacturing and finance sectors of seven countries shed new light on the impact that Artificial Intelligence has on the workplace —an under-researched area to date due to lack of data. The findings suggest that both workers and their employers are generally very positive about the impact of AI on performance and working conditions. However, there are also concerns, including about job loss—an issue that should be closely monitored. The surveys also indicate that, while many workers trust their employers when it comes to the implementation of AI in the workplace, more can be done to improve trust. In particular, the surveys show that both training and worker consultation are associated with better outcomes for workers.

Le profil sur le cancer par pays identifient les forces, les faiblesses et les domaines d’action spécifiques de chacun des 27 États membres de l’UE, de l’Islande et de la Norvège, afin d’orienter les investissements et les interventions aux niveaux européen, national et régional dans le cadre du plan 'Vaincre le cancer en Europe'. Le profil sur le cancer fournit une synthèse des points suivants : la charge nationale du cancer, les facteurs de risque du cancer (en mettant l’accent sur les facteurs de risque liés au comportement et à l’environnement), les programmes de détection précoce, (les performances en matière de soins oncologiques (en mettant l’accent sur l’accessibilité, la qualité des soins, les coûts et l’impact de COVID-19 sur les soins oncologiques).

This report discusses the costs and benefits of the transition from cash to accrual accounting in the public sector for SIGMA partners in the Western Balkans and the European Neighbourhood. The countries are attracted by the promises of accrual accounting and the corresponding IPSAS standards that it will improve transparency, accountability and financial decision-making. This report investigates whether the reform towards accrual accounting is indeed recommendable given that the reform towards IPSAS-based financial statements also carries a higher administrative burden and often requires government-wide adaptation or adjustment of the financial information systems. In this report, evidence from case studies of five EU Member States and four SIGMA partners is combined with a review of the academic literature to understand the balance of the benefits versus the costs of the reform.

Being able to swim empowers individuals to make choices, have agency, and be free to choose core aspects of their life, such as working safely on or near water. It is also associated with lifelong health benefits and reduces the risk of drowning. Using data from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll 2019, this paper provides the first global estimates of adults’ ability to swim without assistance. Individuals in high-income countries are considerably more likely to report being able to swim without assistance than individuals in low-income countries. Disparities also exist within countries. In particular, women are less likely to be able to swim without assistance than men in virtually all countries, birth cohorts, and levels of education. Investing in reducing inequalities in life skills, such as swimming, can foster economic development and empowerment, especially in light of threats, such as climate change.