Literacy programmes have suffered severely during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet adult literacy and education have been absent in many initial education responses. Even before the crisis, 773 million non-literate adults and young people were failing to acquire basic reading and numeracy skills.

Smart technologies' revolutionary impact on manufacturing continues to grow, from design and engineering processes through to production, distribution, and customer experience; all while accelerating operational efficiency and driving enterprise-wide growth. Coined Industry 4.0, it is enabling a hyper-personalisation of the traditional value-chains and experiences of the (digital) workforce and customers, as well as reinventing organisations, their values, and dramatically shifting their revenue sources.