The Royal Society of Arts has warned that, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the equivalent of five years' worth of automation and digitalisation has taken place, with jobs in hospitality, retail and manufacturing being some of the hardest hit. They argue that the response to the virus is potentially giving false hope to many workers in these industries without a long-term future in the age of automation.

The world of work is undoubtedly changing. More people are working remotely, and we want to see that continue as the norm beyond the crisis. The way services work, and how tasks are performed, are also being redesigned as digital transformation and automation take place. It's not just a case of what we do, but how we do it that is transforming. The pandemic has forced us to rapidly adapt at an individual level, with many businesses also shifting to new delivery models as customer habits and expectations have changed.

Despite the scale of the changes, we should recognise the positive role digital innovation has played, and will continue to play, in modern society. There are some real benefits in releasing people from mundane tasks, creating new innovations and supporting higher-skilled jobs of the future. We need only to look to Caerphilly, where parents looking for immediate support from the council for free school meals no longer have to wait five agonising days for a decision, but can now enrol immediately. Robotic process automation, embraced by the council, and developed in partnership with Codebase 8 Ltd, a small digital business in Llanelli, has taken away the paperwork, improving the service for the citizen, and freeing up staff from repetitive tasks to help with other urgent work.

But best practice is often a poor traveller. It's for this reason we've established the Centre for Digital Public Services in Ebbw Vale, who are creating a hub of expertise. They are already sharing best practice in using digital approaches to improve public service delivery, and, crucially, offering practical help and training to design services based on the needs of the user. The first of their digital transformation squads are currently working with three local councils to understand from the users of adult social services how they can improve the service for them. And that's what digital is about: tackling old problems in a new way to benefit the citizen, and creating new skills and innovation as we do it.

The pandemic has forced the pace of change. Wales has led the way in issuing IT equipment to support individuals to connect with the world, from home schooling, to providing access to those in care homes. We've witnessed the rapid advances being made in healthcare video appointments through the Attend Anywhere service. In all of these cases, deployment was based on an immediate need, and the teams involved should be applauded for their efforts in introducing services in weeks that in normal times could take years to deliver.

But despite our successes, I'm keen to avoid complacency. There are lessons we should be learning from the roll-outs, including the sometimes uneven application of services. For example, more than a third of the devices requested by care homes have yet to be switched on, which shows that providing equipment alone is not enough. We need to build the confidence and the skills of everyone to use technology. And it's a reminder that more needs to be done to ensure users continue to be put at the heart of service design.

Dirprwy Lywydd, Wales is punching above our weight when it comes to tech jobs and skills, and the most recent Tech Nation visa report was highlighting the standout success for Wales. We've seen a seismic shift in demand for cyber and artificial intelligence skills in Wales, and a 200 per cent increase in demand for AI jobs over the past three years. The forthcoming economic recovery plan promises to build on that. Taking on Professor Brown's recommendations to accelerate industrial transformation, a focus of the plan will be to encourage the evolution of digital innovation clusters. This will include working with industry, research institutions and other stakeholders to co-produce the partnerships that these clusters will need to thrive.

Later this week, we'll be engaging with employers in an online event to accelerate the take-up of digital in their businesses. Our Superfast Wales programme continues to offer practical help, and the most recent findings of our digital maturity index will show the progress we are making.

Universities play a crucial role, too, and I'm very encouraged that Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor universities have come together in a joint project for a data nation accelerator. This was a specific recommendation of the Brown review, and has the potential to give Wales an edge in applying research, development and innovation in AI and data science. We're engaging with the UK Government and UK funders to make the case for this partnership to be supported.

Today, we are ready to launch a new digital strategy for Wales, but instead of publishing it as a finished product, I'm keen to embrace a crowd-sourced approach. We're putting it online, in draft, for people to comment, criticise and improve. Digital is not about just technology, Llywydd, it’s about an open approach to innovation, and in that spirit, I'm also publishing the first in a series of blog posts for citizens to shape our digital strategy. We will take on board suggestions and aim to publish a final version in March.

Members will be aware that this is a policy area I've been passionate about since I joined the Senedd in 2016. We have made some progress over the past four years, but there is certainly a lot more to be done. I recognise the role Government can play in providing direction for this agenda, but this journey is not exclusively for Government to lead. Government alone cannot move fast enough to keep up with the rapid pace of digital change, and citizens, businesses and institutions must play their part to effectively grow this movement in Wales. Change is not an option, and unless we are content to let it happen to us, we must all work together to harness the change to benefit the citizens of Wales. Diolch.