Making life richer, easier and healthier
Robots, their future and the roles for public policy
This paper addresses the current and emerging uses and impacts of robots, the mid-term
future of robotics and the role of policy. Progress in robotics will help to make
life easier, richer and healthier. Wider robot use will help raise labour productivity.
As science and engineering progress, robots will become more central to crisis response,
from helping combat infectious diseases to maintaining critical infrastructure. Governments
can accelerate and orient the development and uptake of socially valuable robots,
for instance by: supporting cross-disciplinary R&D, facilitating research commercialisation,
helping small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) understand the opportunities for
investment in robots, supporting platforms that highlight robot solutions in healthcare
and other sectors, embedding robotics engineering in high school curricula, tailoring
training for workers with vocational-level mechanical skills, supporting data development
useful to robotics, ensuring flexible regulation conducive to innovation, strengthening
digital connectivity, and raising awareness of the importance of robotics.
Published on July 29, 2021
In series:OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papersview more titles