Overview
On October 2, 2023, more than 70 corporate partners (including Fortune 500s, Chambers of Commerce, and small businesses), the National Skills Coalition, and Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships (BLU) released a set of principles to bring attention to role of digital skill building in digital inclusion and offer a roadmap for centering digital resilience in the nation’s workforce and education policies. The announcement was part of national Digital Inclusion Week, an effort led by National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) to promote awareness, recognition, and celebration of digital inclusion efforts across the country.
This work was informed by an analysis conducted by the National Skills Coalition and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that 92% of jobs require digital skills, but one-third of the U.S. workforce has not had an opportunity to develop basic, foundational digital skills. The analysis notes that the ‘digital skill divide disproportionately impacts workers of color, low-income individuals, and individuals living rural areas.
The set of principles underscores the importance of access to broadband and high-quality devices plus the importance of digital adoption:
- High quality hardware in all hands - The pandemic laid bare the connection between access to notebooks, laptops, and other connected devices and access to education, training, jobs, healthcare, support services, and social networks.
- Every community connected - Broadband is a foundational service to which all Americans must have access.
- A digital skill foundation for all - Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. need to build foundational digital skills to harness the power of the Internet through connected devices. Every person should have the opportunity to develop broad-based, flexible digital problem-solving skills for current technologies and ongoing technological shifts.
- Upskilling for every worker in every workplace - Technology is impacting nearly every industry and occupation in different ways. We can empower workers with industry- and occupational-specific digital skills to adapt and advance in their careers.
- Rapid reskilling for rapid re-employment - Each industry has specific technical demands. Overnight the pandemic brought structural shifts to our labor market, reminding us that America’s workers must have access to rapid reskilling to move from one industry to another.
Examples
Examples of efforts supporting access to broadband and high-quality devices and digital adoption:
- Federal: There is significant attention to close the digital skill divide through federal investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Corporate: Project UP is an example of major corporate efforts to address the digital skill divide. Project UP is a comprehensive initiative to advance digital equity by leveraging programs and community partnerships across Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky that connect people to the Internet, advance economic mobility, and open doors for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, storytellers, and creators. The initiative is backed by a $1 billion commitment by Comcast to help further close the digital divide through a number of investments to include: (1) Additional support for its ongoing Lift Zone initiative which establishes WiFi-connected safe spaces in 1,000+ community centers nationwide for students and adults by the end of 2021 (Comcast estimates students will be able to complete more than 25 million hours of remote learning lessons to further address the “homework gap” at the hundreds of Lift Zone locations that have already opened or will open soon); (2) New laptop and computer donations. (3) Grants for nonprofit community organizations to create opportunities for low-income Americans, particularly in media, arts, technology, and entrepreneurship. (4) Continued investment in the company’s Internet Essentials program.
Resources
Full list of principles and signatories: here
More information about digital inclusion efforts by the signing corporate partners: here