Human Capital as a Tool of Ensuring Sustainable Development

Abstract

Human capital is an innovative economic category introduced into scientific circulation in the second half of the XX century in connection with the actualization of the productive forces of post-industrial society and the formation of the knowledge economy. At present, human capital has become the main productive force for economic development and improving the quality of life. Noospheric perception of the surrounding reality, together with uncontrolled anthropogenic impact on the environment and the growth of social contradictions, has led to the emergence of a global direction for complex solutions to economic, environmental and social problems based on the concept of Sustainable Development. Investment in human capital is reliable and pays off faster than investment in other types of capital. It takes at least 5–10 years to create a new human capital. Human capital has become the foundation of the modern knowledge economy, the foundation for the formation of a free civil society, the generator of a cultural environment, and the solution of various social and environmental problems. For the formation of modern human capital, it is necessary to modernize and create innovative educational technologies. IT is a product of the application of human capital and is used for its reproduction and more efficient use. As a result, human capital has become a factor shaping post-industrial society. Human capital is the main force for achieving the set of sustainable development goals that have been formulated at international forums under the auspices of the United Nations for the foreseeable future.