What skills will be needed for the workplaces of the 21st Century? Workplaces are changing, but is the way we prepare for them? This project with Orange will explore future organisations and how to survive them.

We are frequently told that the knowledge economy has arrived and that the workplaces of the future will be radically different to those of twenty years ago, but what does this mean for the people working in them? Which skills will they need to thrive and survive? What will be needed to give businesses competitive advantage, and to improve our public services?

This project will:

• explore some of the skills needed by employees working in increasingly open, democratic and innovation-driven organisations, and
• examine how we prepare people for organisational life, both though the education system and in the workplace.

We will be exploring a set of skills that go beyond traditional expectations around numeracy and literacy, that we are calling Organisational Literacy. This might include aptitudes such as: ‘organisational savviness’, communication skills, teamworking, creativity, and the ability to pick up new ideas and new skills quickly.

The research will involve interviews with leading business thinkers and 'doers', some thought-provoking case studies, and some opinion polling. If you know of organisations already engaged in this type of work, or of a fantastic book on the subject, just drop Duncan O'Leary an email by clicking here.

Otherwise, postings on the Demos weblog relating to the project will be listed below, and we would welcome your comments.