This report examines the human resources development and training dimensions of the gradual, but inexorable, shift towards knowledge-, skill-, and service-based economies and societies, and the stupendous growth of the information and communications technology sectors. Its four chapters explore the following: (1) globalization, technological change, and new organizations, including the development of new skills and competencies; (2) training for improved competitiveness, employability, and shared prosperity; (3) youth employment and training; and (4) training policy and system change, including governance, dialogue, and new partnerships. The report offers the following four conclusions: (1) all countries will feel the impact of these changes; (2) older, more mature economies with skilled workers may resist change and suffer from a mismatch between skills and needs, and so need to stress education and training and make them more widely available in order to maintain employability and productivity over a lifetime; (3) in developing countries, more workers need to be educated so that they are not forced into unemployment, and young workers are most likely to benefit from training programs undertaken in a well-established institutional context; and (4) in all countries, major structural reforms are needed to adapt training continuously to the changing nature and dynamics of labor markets and to improve access to training for everybody throughout life. The report raises points for discussion of the role of human resources development in all types of economies. (KC)