Notably, Florida anticipates that a healthy chunk of its $1.1 billion in BEAD funding will be available for so-called “non-deployment” uses that can bolster the state’s broadband deployment projects. Fully $200 million in nondeployment funds is expected to be invested, with Florida explicitly prioritizing workforce development activities.

National Skills Coalition reviewed Florida’s publicly available plans for its broadband initiative and spoke with staff from the Florida Office of Broadband to learn more about their work.

Thinking broadly about broadband jobs

The phrase “broadband jobs” often brings to mind roles like fiber splicers or tower technicians. But Florida officials are also thinking about the occupations that will be needed over the longer term. State officials want to make sure that networks can be maintained after they are built, and so their plan also explicitly emphasizes the role of IT, cybersecurity, and customer service positions for long-term success.

This bigger-picture perspective is unusual among states, and is crucial to ensuring the long-term success of BEAD funding. By thinking holistically from the beginning, Florida is ensuring that its workforce planning takes into account the kinds of roles that will be essential to making sure that broadband is not only installed, but is widely adopted and effectively used.

The state’s BEAD proposal notes also notes that having a skilled workforce “is an important part of the ‘capital stack’ in Florida economic development [for other industries]. For most companies looking to [begin] or expand operations, the number-one factor affecting their ability is access to workforce talent and workforce training.”

Engaging industry and other stakeholders from the beginning  

By convening industry, education, and workforce partners early in the planning process, Florida was able to get a clear snapshot of the existing landscape (such as in-house training programs offered by a major employer) and identify potential opportunities for expansion (such as replicating an effective apprenticeship model from another industry via a local community college).

But state officials didn’t stop with a single convening. Over the past two years, they’ve held dozens of meetings across the state with more than 500 local stakeholders, and last month hosted a Florida Broadband Summit. The office is maintaining an ongoing connection to stakeholders: There are local technology planning teams for each of Florida’s 60-plus counties, who can serve as boots on the ground throughout the implementation process.

Using BEAD funds to support proven upskilling models

Taking advantage of federal flexibility, the state plans to select its subgrantees for nondeployment funds simultaneously with subgrantee selection for deployment funds, rather than waiting until deployment projects are underway.  Florida officials see a direct connection between having enough skilled workers and being able to meet the BEAD deployment mandate for getting high-speed internet to the places that need it most, noting:

[Our] approach of simultaneously selecting subgrantees for workforce-related initiatives will be imperative to expand [internet] coverage to remaining unserved and underserved locations. Without the proposed upskilling opportunities, Florida may encounter workforce shortages that hinder its ability to serve remaining locations.

Among the specific upskilling and reskilling activities the state expects to fund:

• Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs
• Support services that can help individuals transition into and enter the broadband workforce
• Pathway programs that define the various pathways to pursue a career in broadband and successfully support on-ramps to broadband jobs

Blending additional workforce resources to support broadband training

Florida plans to braid BEAD funding with other public workforce investments such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). This funding will go to state and local agencies, academic institutions, and community organizations with a track record of success.

The state anticipates using these other funds to support activities such as broadband apprenticeships: “[T]here are funds through CareerSource Florida and local workforce development boards to subsidize wages up to a year for an apprenticeship program and then expand to on-the-job training to defray some of the employer costs (such as labs and test gear).” 

Getting creative about finding job candidates

Florida officials have identified three potential populations of workers who may be a fit for broadband jobs, which they describe as:

1. Employed Floridians in need of hard skills;
2. Unemployed and job-seeking Floridians who likely need hard skills; and
3. Floridians who are not actively in the workforce (including students) but could be enticed if a clear pathway was presented to them.

Conversations with industry partners revealed that traditional word-of-mouth recruitment strategies for entry-level workers into the industry are no longer sufficient. Similarly, the “pay your dues” model by which workers were prepared for higher-level managerial roles is also not yielding sufficient numbers of candidates. This has opened the door to consider alternative approaches to recruitment and advancement, a vital need if the industry is to staff up in time to complete Florida’s ambitious plans.

As states around the country hurry to develop their talent pipelines and put new broadband workers to work, Florida stands out for its bold, holistic, and evidence-informed approach.

The post A bright plan for broadband workforce development in the Sunshine State appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Advocates can borrow questions from these studies to use (with acknowledgement!) in their own data collection. Using storytelling frames developed by peer organizations and piggybacking on existing measures or question banks allows advocates to benefit from prior work while adding a local twist to illustrate the impact of these issues in their communities. Advocates can also juxtapose their findings with peers’ data to see how issues may be similar or different across jurisdictions.

The reports highlighted in this post are:

• Centering Digital Equity in Workforce Development, from the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County (WDC). This robust evaluation reviewed a $1 million publicly and privately funded digital navigator program serving 2,400 people. Data was collected via surveys, focus groups, and interviews in more than a half-dozen different languages.
• Statewide Assessment of Hawaii’s Digital Economy, from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Hawaii Broadband & Digital Equity Office (HBDEO). This study surveyed a broad sample of 1,000 Hawaii companies (including both for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations) about their participation in various digital economy activities.
• Conexus Indiana’s AI in Indiana and Industry 4.0 Technology Adoption Survey. The former document analyzed data about the use of artificial intelligence by Indiana employers, while the latter is based on a survey of advanced manufacturers in Indiana about a variety of types of technology usage.

Illustrating the pent-up demand for digital skills

The Seattle WDC report used a few vivid metrics to illustrate the demand for digital skills among several thousand mostly low-income residents, including many multilingual individuals. The pre-survey administered to program participants showed:

• At intake, just 7% of people reported that they were “not at all comfortable” using a smartphone, but fully 27% weren’t comfortable using a [desktop or laptop] computer, and 40% weren’t comfortable searching for or applying for jobs online.
• The single most popular reason for why people wanted to learn to use technology was to “get more education” (78%). And 63% said they wanted to “get a job or a better job.”

These simple findings upend the assumption that just because people own smartphones, they must also be adept using other common types of technology. Similarly, the findings illuminate the strong demand for learning and economic mobility among adults with low digital skills.

The report also affirms earlier research that having a working computer at home is correlated with people being more comfortable performing technology-related tasks. While this may seem like common sense, collecting this data helps advocates to illustrate how the different elements of digital inclusion (internet access, devices, and skills) reinforce each other.

Highlighting how employers see new technology as connected to worker upskilling

The Indiana survey of advanced manufacturers found that in general, businesses report that adopting Industry 4.0 technologies such as cobots (collaborative robots), sensor technology, and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) is leading to worker upskilling rather than layoffs.

• Specifically, 61% of businesses said the adoption of new technologies will minimize repetitive human tasks.
• 52% said technology adoption will upskill their workforce.

By contrast, just 12% said technology adoption would reduce payroll and eliminate positions.

When asked about their motivations for implementing new technologies, the top answer (from 86% percent of employers) was to increase efficiency and lower costs. But notably, 52% of employers said that “shifting the workforce to higher-value functions/tasks” was a motivation.

Digging into which artificial intelligence technologies are being adopted

The Indiana AI survey is useful in highlighting exactly what kinds of artificial intelligence technologies manufacturers are adopting. The report notes:

Of survey respondents that have adopted AI in at least one or more business units, most have implemented computer vision systems or physical robotics These are AI capabilities that directly and immediately impact a manufacturers’ shopfloor production efficiency and productivity.

This kind of data shows how advocates can go beyond the AI hype to gather specific data on what AI adoption looks like among local businesses, and what that might mean for workers and learners.

Describing business participation in the digital economy

Hawaii’s digital economy survey has fascinating insights for advocates trying to understand how businesses are using technology, and the implications for workers and economic development. The Hawaii data illustrates how local economic revenue can be impacted when internet services go down, and how many businesses employ workers who work remotely from other states.

Hawaii used definitions from the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis to inquire about several areas of digital economy activity:

• Digital services such as cloud services, cybersecurity, and digital content creation.
• E-commerce via business-to-business sales (B2B) and/or business-to-consumer sales (B2C).
• Infrastructure products or servicing, such as computer equipment manufacturing, software publishing, and custom computer programming services

Overall, the survey found that half (51%) of private businesses surveyed engaged in digital activities to generate revenue. Notably, 11% of businesses had employees who work remotely from outside Hawaii, and a startling 67% of businesses experienced interruptions of internet accessibility, with average internet downtime of nearly 9.8 hours per month, or more than a full day.

Understanding business and worker concerns about cybersecurity and scams

A notable finding from both the Indiana employer survey and the Seattle individual survey is that people are deeply concerned about scams, fraud, and cybersecurity attacks.

For businesses, cybersecurity was far and away the top risk that manufacturers voiced about the adoption of AI technologies. For individuals, being afraid of scams and identity theft was the number two reason given for not using technology.

Advocates can use these findings to dig deeper into the real-life experiences that may lie behind these concerns and identify areas for future advocacy and policy change.

The post Using data to advocate for digital skills appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

We are at a jump ball moment when it comes to AI’s impact on the labor market. We can either use AI to foster economic opportunity for people without a bachelor’s degree and grow the middle class, or we can let it widen existing inequalities and leave workers sitting on the bench.

The trajectory is up to us as a nation. Most experts predict that AI will create new jobs, augment existing ones, and eliminate others. But how and to what extent depends on decisions that leaders make now. With the right set of public policies, workforce policies included, our nation can ensure humans and AI are playing fair together and creating outsized impact for working people and businesses.

The American public is looking for elected officials to get in the game and take action. Two out of every three voters believe that AI is a serious or very serious problem facing American workers, and nearly the same number (64%) are concerned that workers have limited opportunities to access skills training that could help them adapt to AI in the workplace. These concerns cut across race, political party, age, and job type, but are particularly pronounced among voters without a bachelor’s degree.

So what can policymakers do now to address these concerns and ensure that working people and the businesses that employ them can thrive in the age of AI?

To start, policymakers can make sure that everyone has access to digital skills, including skills required to use AI.  Research by National Skills Coalition and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta finds that while 92 percent of jobs require digital skills, one-third of workers don’t have the foundational digital skills necessary to enter and thrive in today’s jobs. The digital skill divide disproportionately impacts people of color, rural residents, and people with low incomes due to historic underinvestment and structural inequities. Without expanded access to digital and AI skills, AI will only exacerbate the digital divide.

Policymakers can immediately expand people’s access to AI skills by investing in high-quality training programs so that workers can build and upgrade the digital skills necessary to work alongside AI and digital technology. The bipartisan Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act introduced in Congress earlier this year is one such example of proposals being put forward.

Policymakers can also take action to ensure that people most familiar with the work – workers themselves – are able to provide input on how AI is developed and deployed. Workers have valuable knowledge about the nature of their jobs, and their expertise can inform how technology is used so that it complements human talent, increases productivity, and mitigates harm. The more inclusive the development of AI is, the less likely it is to reproduce biases.

Policymakers can help people have a say in how AI is used in the workplace by protecting workers’ rights to organize. Research shows that job standards and safeguards championed by labor yield advantages for all working people, not just those in unions. In the age of AI, honoring workers’ rights and voices can also help companies safely and equitably unlock innovation and maximize the benefits of new technology. Just look at the first of its kind tech-labor partnership on AI between Microsoft and the AFL-CIO.

Workers’ perspectives should also shape AI training and upskilling programs so they are responsive to their needs. To support this, policymakers can invest in industry partnerships that bring together local businesses, unions and workers, education and training providers, and community-based organizations to develop comprehensive workforce strategies for a local industry. Through these partnerships, workers can give input on training and curriculum so that it is most relevant to their day-to-day work. The California High Road Training Partnership program and Real Jobs Rhode Island are two examples of how states have invested in industry partnerships that benefit workers and businesses. Other states, along with the federal government, can do the same.

Finally, we need better policies to support workers who are displaced from their jobs due to AI, or other structural changes to the economy. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the need for the U.S. to have a better system for supporting workers who lose their jobs and need to reskill and move into a new career. While Congress’ response to pandemic-related job loss demonstrated the value of a stronger safety net for displaced workers, their actions were time-limited. Programs serving dislocated workers are underfunded, provide inconsistent benefits, have complicated eligibility, and respond to cyclical rather than structural unemployment.

Policymakers can modernize these programs to make sure they meet the needs of the 21^st century workforce. Workers displaced by AI will need economic supports to continue paying rent and accessing childcare as they prepare for a new career, training and education for in-demand jobs, and job retention services to thrive in new careers. In surveys of unemployed workers, these supports and services are most cited as key to preparing for, training for, and keeping a new job.  AI could even be used to streamline benefit eligibility determination and administration so that it’s just as easy to access transformative re-employment services as it is to order groceries online.

Taken together, these policy actions could be a gamechanger and help level the playing field for both workers and businesses.

The post AI in the labor market: A Jump Ball Moment for the Middle Class appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The council will be composed by more than 20 members from 13 different states and two tribal nations, representing state and local WIOA programs, workforce development boards, community-based organizations, business chambers, and other local business organizations. By hearing and learning from a diverse range of perspectives, we can ensure NSC and our network advocate for solutions that modernize the public workforce system for all workers, not just a select few. 

As part of our “Creating an Equitable and Resilient Workforce” campaign, this council will work with our team to understand how existing public workforce structures and systems serve practitioners, administrators, and workers. Our previous work has pointed out that administrative barriers—among other obstacles—can make these systems difficult to navigate and less responsive to workers’ needs. This council will provide current perspectives on these systems and offer concrete recommendations for how to improve them. 

Additionally, the council will explore how legislative reform could enhance access to high-quality skill training programs that lead to good jobs for all workers—particularly for Black and brown workers. In the public workforce system, our team has found that Black and brown workers face fewer career choices, limited opportunities for upward mobility, and are often directed towards lower-wage occupations. With the right solutions, we can create an equitable workforce system that works for all. 

Participants in the WIOA Advisory Council will:  

1. Share their experiences and advise NSC and our network on key aspects of WIOA reauthorization work.
2. Inform specific policy proposals related to WIOA reauthorization as needed.
3. Act as champions who can educate new agency leaders and members of Congress in 2025. 

“We’re thrilled to join the WIOA Advisory Council as it represents a crucial opportunity to inform the future of our workforce system,” said council participant Jenny Taylor, Vice President of Career Services and Chief Mission Officer at Goodwill of North Georgia. “This council brings together a diverse group of voices from across the country, and as the largest Goodwill in the nation for putting people to work, we’re eager to contribute our perspective to ensure that the WIOA reauthorization truly meets the needs of every worker. By working together, we can build a more equitable public workforce system.” 

“Joining the WIOA Advisory Council is a timely opportunity to directly influence the future of workforce policy,” said council participant Kenneth Smith, President at Grace-Mar, a non-profit based in Charlotte, NC. “We’re excited to collaborate with diverse stakeholders to propose solutions that are innovative, inclusive, and impactful. Together, we can drive meaningful change and address the evolving needs of our workforce.” 

NSC and our network have long advocated for a modernized WIOA that supports an inclusive economy. Last year, we released our “New Ideas for the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act” publication, offering a set of proposals for changing WIOA based on feedback from over 160 stakeholders representing approximately 140 organizations from forty states as well as several tribal nations. Most recently, NSC and our network partners worked to influence the legislation to better reflect workforce stakeholders’ needs, through Summit advocacy and providing testimony at a recent Senate hearing. 

Voters also agree they want leaders to take initiative on skills training for workers. Our most recent polling shows that 8 out of 10 voters support increasing government funding for skills training in America. Additionally, over two thirds of voters are looking to support leaders and candidates who will invest in skills training. Across the political spectrum, there is recognition that investing in skills training programs will empower workers of all backgrounds and help our economy thrive. 

To make sure you’re keeping up with the latest news on the WIOA Advisory Council, sign up to the “Creating an Equitable, Resilient Workforce System” campaign newsletter. 

The post NSC Launches WIOA Advisory Council to Inform America’s Most Important Workforce Program appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

Unlike the formula funding that is going to every state, these are discretionary, competitive grants. Nonprofit organizations and other eligible entities (see below) must apply by September 23, 2024 to have their proposals considered.

This funding is especially exciting because it is a new investment – beyond existing Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other longstanding federal education and workforce programs – in helping workers build digital skills. A full 92 percent of today’s jobs require digital skills, including frontline jobs in agriculture, hospitality, manufacturing, and construction.

How much funding is available?

Approximately $1 billion is available for Digital Equity Competitive Grants, to be expended over a four-year period. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is overseeing the grants and expects to fund projects in the $5 million to $12 million range.

Coalitions and partnerships are strongly encouraged. Applicants can be a subcontractor on multiple grant proposals but can only be the primary applicant on one grant proposal. There is a 10 percent matching funds requirement, which must be met with non-federal funds. In-kind matches are allowed.

Who is eligible to apply?

Specific details on eligible organizations are available in the NOFO. However, here is a plain-English summary of the general categories:

• State agencies (e.g., adult education agencies), except the state agency that is overseeing the state’s Digital Equity Act formula funds, known as DE Capacity Grants
• Indian tribes or other qualifying Native entities
• Nonprofit organizations
• Community anchor organizations (such as a public library, housing authority, healthcare provider, or community college)
• Local educational agencies
• Entities that carry out workforce development programs
• A partnership between any of the above entities 

What kinds of programs and services can be offered?

In general, DE Competitive Grants are intended to fill in gaps that are not covered by the formula funding provided under the same legislation. (That formula funding is being distributed to state broadband offices now, and will be re-granted down to the local level in the months to come.)

Both formula funding and the new competitive grant opportunity are intended to help meet the digital inclusion needs laid out in each state’s Digital Equity Plan, which describe how the state will ensure that covered populations build digital skills, obtain internet access, and have up-to-date digital devices.

Covered populations include low-income individuals, rural residents, veterans, people of color, English language learners and people with limited literacy, older adults, people with disabilities, and incarcerated people.

For workforce and education advocates, the most relevant allowable activities for the DE competitive grants are:

• To develop and implement digital inclusion activities that benefit one or more of the covered populations
• To implement training programs for covered populations that cover basic, advanced, and applied skills or other workforce development programs

Is anyone playing a “matchmaking” role for prospective grant applicants?

Because the federal government has signaled its interest in making fewer, larger grants to coalitions and partnerships rather smaller grants to individual organizations, many prospective applicants are looking to team up.

The nonprofit National Digital Inclusion Alliance is playing an informal air-traffic control role in connecting organizations who are planning to apply for DE competitive grants. Many state broadband offices are also providing formal or informal guidance for organizations that are considering applying. Find your broadband office’s contact information by selecting your state from this drop-down menu.

Where can skills advocates get more information about this grant opportunity?

The federal agency overseeing these grants is offering a series of webinars for prospective applicants. If you are unable to attend a webinar live, recordings will be available on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) website.

Note: All times are Eastern Time Zone.

• Wednesday, August 7, 2024 – 3:00 PM: Digital Equity Grants 101 Webinar
• Thursday, August 8, 2024 – 4:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar, Part 1: Standard Forms
• Wednesday, August 14, 2024 – 3:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar, Part 2: Registration, Partnerships, LOCs
• Thursday, August 15, 2024 – 4:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar, Part 3: Project Narrative
• Wednesday, August 21, 2024 – 3:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar, Part 4: Plans (Risk, Etc.)
• Thursday, August 22, 2024 – 4:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar, Part 5: Consolidated Budget Form
• Tuesday, September 10, 2024 – 4:00 PM: Digital Equity Competitive Application Webinar: Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program FAQ Webinar

The post New Digital Equity Competitive Grant funding available for digital skills appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

A wide-ranging state plan that connects digital goals to education and workforce priorities

The state’s Digital Opportunity Plan stands out for the explicit connections it makes to existing state workforce and education priorities, which will help ensure long-term sustainability. In particular, the plan:

• Is explicitly aligned with the state’s workforce development goal of becoming the number-one state in the Southeast for high quality jobs.
• Describes how the state’s strategies will support small businesses and will “make rural areas more attractive for advanced manufacturing firms that require interconnectivity and a digitally skilled workforce to effectively operate in an Industry 4.0 world.”
• Connects the dots between the state’s goal of improving labor-force participation and the importance of helping workers build the digital skills necessary to obtain remote-work jobs.
• Clearly connects its strategy of helping students earn degrees and certificates to the state’s Drive to 55 This initiative aims to get 55% of Tennesseans equipped with a college degree or certificate by 2025, and is also supported by the state’s Tennessee Reconnect and Tennessee Promise initiatives.

A lively community of advocates laid the groundwork for today’s accomplishments

Tennessee is home to nationally recognized nonprofit digital inclusion organizations such as The Enterprise Center in Chattanooga, and a robust community of activists who have been working on digital equity issues since long before Congress passed the Digital Equity Act in 2021. The state’s Digital Opportunity Plan identified more than 150 assets (nonprofits, etc.) that build Tennesseans’ digital access and skills. And in 2023, the #BlackTechFutures Research Institute chose Memphis as an inaugural city for the Black Tech Ecosystem Index.

This buzz of advocacy has helped drive more formal state policies. The 2017 passage of the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act was an early indicator of state officials’ interest in promoting broadband adoption and digital skills. The legislation established a partnership between TNECD and the Tennessee State Library and Archives, investing in an ongoing grant program to libraries to provide digital skill-building and related services.

Tennessee’s bold use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds

Tennessee is unusual in having dedicated a full $500 million of its federal coronavirus relief funds to broadband programs. The state’s Fiscal Stimulus Advisory Group decided to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Recovery Funds to advance broadband access and adoption.

A portion of that funding — $50 million – was dedicated to broadband adoption and digital skills activities. “I came on board in September 2021, and [that] allocation had been formalized a few weeks before,” says TNECD’s Taylre Beatty. Her team quickly set out to gather information from the public about what was most needed.

“Across the board, the biggest areas were digital skills and workforce development,” she says. “We also knew people would need interim solutions while they were waiting for [the full rollout of] broadband.”

Public feedback via the state’s listening sessions affirmed their plans. “We heard a lot of [comments such as] ‘We need options for Tennesseans to work from home [or] learn the skills they need to go after the tech jobs,’” says Beatty.

Among the activities funded by TNECD are:

• Digital Skills, Education, and Workforce Grant Program (DSEW), which supports skilling programs that help individuals develop the technical proficiency required to navigate complex digital environments, participate in the digital economy, and drive innovation. This program also aims to develop a well-trained and diverse telecommunications workforce.
• Connected Communities Facilities Grant Program (CCF). Local governments and their nonprofit partners can apply for these funds to build new or rehabilitate existing community facilities to provide a variety of digital services, including broadband access, digital skills training, and workforce development, in one location.

From music to agriculture, investing in digital skills for Tennessee’s flagship industries

Like many states, Tennessee has a robust agricultural industry that in recent years has shifted toward technology-based tools. But lack of infrastructure remains a significant challenge. “I come from an ag background,” says Beatty. “It started to bother me in college when my classmates said they couldn’t go back to their family farms because they had no broadband.” As a result, agriculture is a focus industry for her office’s work on digital opportunity.

Another vital sector is arts and entertainment, centered of course in Nashville, aka the Music City. The state has recently allocated $3.5 million to support digital skill-building programs in the music industry.

State leaders are taking action to reach under-represented regions and communities

State broadband leaders view their role as helping to convene and connect digital inclusion advocates and partners across the state. To this end, the office is coordinating the Tennessee Digital Opportunity Summit, being held this month in Chattanooga.

Officials have also worked to connect partners on an individual basis, says TNECD’s Codi Drake. “Knowing where concentrations of nonprofit organizations already exist,” he says, “we have tried to focus our efforts on connecting potential partners to each other in areas where there aren’t as many organizations on the ground.”

“We are mindful of doing outreach to groups [that have a track record of success] in serving covered populations,” says TNECD’s Leah Mims, “and making sure that our timelines and application processes work even for smaller organizations.”

These populations include veterans, rural residents, and incarcerated individuals, as well as people of color. “Our Office of Re-Entry has a tablet program that is training people within correctional facilities, and we’re doing a lot of work with organizations working with re-entry populations,” says Drake.

State officials are very intentional about reaching all Tennesseans. “We audited our own DSEW grants to [ascertain that] covered populations are being served,” Drake says.

The post How Tennessee’s early start on digital equity is benefitting the Volunteer State appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

It’s especially important that digital skills policies take advantage of data about digital skills needed for the workplace, because individuals often cite employment goals as the reason for enrolling in digital skills classes. Research conducted by NSC and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found that 92 percent of jobs today require digital skills.

Related: New NSC Polling on digital skills shows that 90% of voters support policies that provide access to digital skills training for workers throughout their careers so they can adapt to new technologies in the workforce.

State workforce plans lack alignment with digital equity investments

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires states to submit a State Workforce Development Plan to federal agencies. It’s concerning that NSC’s review of a dozen states’ most recent WIOA plans found startlingly little alignment with Digital Equity Act plans.

For example, California’s WIOA plan makes no mention of the Digital Equity Act itself and only glancingly describes digital skills needs and opportunities. Ohio’s WIOA plan references the state’s trailblazing broadband investments and its use of BEAD funding to promote “digital transformation,” but makes no further comment about the workforce system and digital skills.

There are some exceptions:

• Hawaii’s WIOA plan describes how the state has used data gathered from its 2021 Digital Literacy and Readiness Study to shape implementation of its Hawaii Career Acceleration Navigator (HI-CAN) online services for jobseekers.
• Illinois’ WIOA plan details how the Illinois Broadband Lab convenes a statewide Digital Equity Network, collaborates with workforce partners to help residents build digital skills, and has offered Broadband READY grants to help local agencies maintain program capacity while awaiting federal DE funding.
• North Carolina’s WIOA plan describes several activities related to digital skills, including a $1.3 million grant from the state Department of Information Technology to promote digital inclusion for students at NC community colleges by certifying and deploying trained digital navigators at 20 community colleges.
• Washington’s WIOA plan sets a specific strategic goal for digital literacy and inclusion, which reads in part: “Enhance digital literacy and inclusion in workforce training programs, integrating digital skills across all levels of workforce education to ensure that all Washingtonians can participate fully in a digitally driven economy.”

Most states do mention digital skills in their Title II Adult Education section. But some states present minimal information about teachers’ use of technology, while others explicitly require program to offer meaningful digital skill-building opportunities for adult learners.

State digital equity plans show mixed evidence on skills

States were recently required to submit Digital Equity Plans to the federal government. These plans will form the roadmap for $2.75 billion in Digital Equity Act funding. NSC’s review of a dozen plans revealed mixed results in states’ proposed activities related to digital skills.

States devoted most of their plans describing their outreach process, asset inventories of DE programs, and how they will ensure high-speed internet access and digital devices. States provided far less detail on program design and evaluation and on how exactly they plan to accomplish their goals of improving residents’ digital skills.

However, there were some strong examples:

• Washington is proposing to create a standardized, multilingual, digital literacy curriculum. Notably, the state also provides good detail on the existing landscape of skills training provided by community and technical colleges, in partnership with nonprofit community-based organizations. The plan also calls for the state’s broadband office to coordinate with educational institutions and workforce boards to expand training programs to upskill the workforce, and to increase access to on-the-job digital skills training.
• Texas has done more than most states to meaningfully integrate digital skill-building into its existing infrastructure for adult education and workforce development. In addition, Texas’s plan specifically describes how its digital skills activities will help to accomplish the broader strategic goals of the Texas Workforce Commission and adult education agency. This is significant because embedding digital skills across existing systems is crucial to long-term sustainability.
• Michigan is proposing to work via its Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to establish an Employer-Led Collaborative focused on the broadband workforce. The state has also articulated a clear connection between its existing goal around postsecondary credential attainment and digital skills.
• Colorado, Hawaii, and Louisiana also had notably robust digital skills sections to their digital equity plans.

A handful of states have identified rigorous measures for digital skills

Numerous states are creating “data dashboards” to track the impact of Digital Equity funds, but very few states have identified exactly what those dashboards will include. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Colorado have significantly more rigorous and detailed plans for measuring the impact of their digital skills policies.

Tennessee’s measures include: Increase the number of people in covered populations who receive digital skills training; increase training participants’ confidence in their knowledge and digital skills; increase the number of workforce development programs receiving digital skills grant funding to serve covered populations; increase the number of those in covered populations who receive a workforce credential, including certifications and/or degrees; and increase the number of those in covered populations who receive a job placement.

• Colorado’s measures include: the number of individuals by covered population reporting they were able to accomplish an online task following an appointment with a digital navigator; percentage of covered populations who report feeling confident using the internet.
• North Carolina’s measures include: increasing the percentage of residents who are confident using word processing programs, finding educational content, applying for jobs, and communicating with a healthcare provider by 10 percent; partner with workforce and education agencies at the state and local levels to identify and adopt high quality digital skills standards, including digital privacy and cybersecurity standards and digital health literacy.
• Michigan is proposing to use federal Internet & Computer Use Survey data to calculate a “digital participation score” that compares the proportion of each covered population that is engaging in 23 different online activities (e.g., email, job searching, telework) with the proportion of the overall Michigan population that is engaging in those same activities.
• Illinois is distinct in proposing to institute performance measures and reporting mechanisms that incorporate the principles of culturally relevant evaluation.

Other states do not provide the same level of detail:

• Washington State merely proposes to measure “number of interactions with digital navigators” as the key performance indicator of whether “Washingtonians have opportunities to acquire the skills and understanding to participate in digital connectivity activities.”
• Utah simply proposes to have “make digital navigator training available statewide,” and “train a minimum of 20 individuals from at least 10 separate organizations.”
• Texas is proposing to measure modest increases in 1) the percentage of state residents who respond affirmatively to skills questions on the Texas Digital Opportunity Survey; 2) the number of organizations providing digital skills programming; 3) the percentage of Texas workers who have digital skills required for the workplace.

How are states’ efforts reaching jobseekers and workers most in need of digital skills

The Digital Equity Act requires states to describe how they will meet the digital skills needs of rural residents; veterans; older adults; individuals with disabilities; people with incomes below 150 percent of the poverty level; incarcerated people; English language learners and adults with low literacy skills; and people of color.

In general, states have done a better job of gathering baseline data on these populations’ digital skills needs than they have of spelling out specific policies to improve skills. That said, Hawaii’s and North Carolina have specific plans for reaching incarcerated individuals, Texas is notable for its interest in older adults, and Washington’s Integrated Digital English Acceleration (I-DEA) is a trailblazing model for serving adult English learners.,

Recommended next steps for state leaders and advocates

There is a significant need for more rigor and detail in many states’ plans for improving and measuring digital skills. Policymakers and advocates can draw on the examples of leading states to help strengthen their own states’ plans. NSC’s earlier recommendations on measuring digital skills may also be useful.

State broadband leaders should also lean into the expertise of their workforce and education partners. For example, state higher education leaders have invested significant time in developing strategies to , and their findings can help to set guardrails around quality for digital skills credentials.

Similarly, state adult education leaders have experience implementing digital skills policies under WIOA and can help inform the design of Requests for Proposals and for DE funds.

NSC will continue to track states’ digital skills policy implementation and will provide an updated version of this analysis in late 2024.

[1] Dedicated investment via the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act and the $42.4 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program (authorized as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act);  Other federal funding (American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and CHIPS and Science Act); Existing state workforce and education investments, (Talent Ready Utah and Ohio’s TechCred program); New state investments such as Washington’s $14 million in digital navigation grants; Some states are specifically targeting funding to sustain local program providers while waiting for federal DE funds. Tennessee’s Digital Skills, Education, and Workforce Development (DSEW) and Illinois’ Digital Equity Capacity Kickstarter (DECK) are two such examples.

The post How States are Implementing New Funds to Support Adult Learners and Workers appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The competition for these workers across states will be unlike anything that we’ve ever seen – because the federal government is simultaneously investing billions of dollars in every state, and because many of these occupations will also be in high demand for clean energy, transportation, and construction projects.  

At the same time, a technological transformation – accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic – has made digital skills a necessity for most jobs. Recent research by National Skills Coalition found 92% of jobs across a myriad of industries require digital skills. One huge opportunity to address the need for digital skills lies within the Digital Equity Act, also passed in 2021.  

Recently, all states have concluded their public comment periods for both the State Digital Equity Plans and BEAD 5-year Action Plans. Many workforce and education advocates took advantage of the opportunity to comment on these plans to raise the importance of investing in digital skill-building and the broadband workforce.  

Now that public comment periods have closed, skills advocates can take further action to influence state leaders to expand access to broadband careers and digital skill-building. Specific opportunities for each of those two areas are outlined below. 

To expand access to broadband careers under BEAD:  

Advocates should first review your state’s BEAD initial proposal to learn how your state is proposing to ensure a sufficiently skilled and trained broadband workforce. This information is contained in Volume II of each state’s BEAD proposal, in the section titled Workforce Readiness.  

• If your state BEAD plan specifies particular next steps, such as formation of a Workforce Taskforce or sector partnership, skills advocates should reach out to that group to provide information and resources about workforce development program models and policies (see below). 
• If your state BEAD plan provides only general comments on workforce readiness, or a simple list of state workforce programs without explanation of how they will be coordinated to support broadband workforce development, advocates should request a meeting with state broadband leaders to help connect the dots between the state’s BEAD goals and workforce policies. 

In either case, skills advocates should urge states to take a hands-on approach to working with their BEAD subgrantees to find and train a skilled workforce. States have wide latitude in deciding how engaged they want to be in working with their BEAD subgrantees (typically Internet Service Providers) on workforce development issues.  

Skills advocates can give state leaders concrete ideas (such as those listed below) for how to support their subgrantees. Advocates should emphasize that even if their state is not spending BEAD resources on workforce development, these ideas can be implemented with non-BEAD funds or (in many cases) as revenue-neutral policies.  

• Implement new and expanded broadband apprenticeship programs and other “earn and learn” opportunities that allow workers to upskill without debt; 
• Establish industry partnerships for broadband workforce development, and support their capacity to engage in equity-advancing practices; 
• Incentivize and support training, hiring, and career advancement of local residents in broadband jobs. 
• Ensure that workforce programs provide economic supports to make career transitions possible for workers entering broadband-related roles. 
• Improve financial aid to expand access to shorter-term skills training programs at community colleges, including programs that help people train for broadband careers. 
• Collect data and report on job outcomes of broadband infrastructure spending — disaggregating results by race, gender, and geography. 

The clock is ticking for states to get their ducks in a row on workforce development. Once the federal government approves a state’s BEAD Initial Proposal, funds will be released, and the state has just one year to run a competitive application process and make grants to eligible entities. To date, Louisiana and Nevada have had their proposals approved. Other states are expected to receive approvals soon. 

Get a sneak preview of your state’s plans by reviewing the Scoring Phase and Scoring Rubric sections of the BEAD Initial Proposal. These sections reveal whether your state will be awarding points for workforce development to BEAD subgrantee applicants.  

Check carefully to see how your state has laid out its process. States may (but are not required to) award points to applicants who have made enforceable commitments to equitable workforce development and job quality objectives.  

Verify whether your state expects to have additional BEAD funds available for “non-deployment” uses after last-mile deployment funds are spent. At least 13 states expect to have such non-deployment funds available. Per the federal government, these funds can be used for a wide range of potential activities, including: 

• Digital literacy/upskilling (from beginner to advanced) 
• Computer science, coding, and cybersecurity education programs 
• Implementation of State Digital Equity Plans (supplementing but not duplicating or supplanting DE Act funds) 
• Broadband sign-up assistance and programs that provide technology support 
• Multilingual outreach to support adoption and digital literacy 
• Prisoner education to promote pre-release digital literacy, job skills, online job-acquisition skills, etc. 
• Digital navigators 

In states that do anticipate having non-deployment funds to spend, skills advocates should review the BEAD proposal to see how your state intends to spend the money and should follow up with state leaders to urge their states to be bold in dedicating a portion of their funds to workforce development and digital skill-building. 

Florida and Arkansas are two examples of states that have already made strong commitments. Louisiana is another example; as detailed in Section 2.6.1 of its BEAD Proposal, the state plans to give $30 million directly to the Louisiana Community and Technical College System to support broadband workforce development. 

Even in states that do not expect to have any money left over for non-deployment uses, there are still revenue-neutral ways for state leaders to take action.  New York’s BEAD Initial Proposal vol. II provides a useful reference here.  

In its proposal, New York highlights how it has already facilitated partnerships among employers, training providers, and community organizations, and intends to continue this “matchmaking” role between employers (that is, BEAD subgrantees) and workforce programs.  

An example of the type of partnership NY wants to support is the Next Gen Digital Workforce Program led by Youth Action Programs and Homes Inc. in New York City. This is an industry-driven training that prepares low-income youth for high-demand careers in network management and fiber installation. The program includes 165 hours of training, hands-on experience, and industry-recognized credentials in partnership with industry. The free program is open to low-income individuals ages 18-30 and provides attendance and completion stipends. 

To capitalize on the Digital Equity Act to expand access to digital skill-building: 

• Urge your state broadband leaders to prioritize digital skills as one of the proposed activities in their application for formula funds. The federal government is distributing this money to states via the just-released Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Digital Equity Capacity Grants. States must submit their applications for funds by May 28, 2024. States are required to explain which elements of their State Digital Equity Plans they will prioritize spending this money on. Advocates should reach out to state broadband leaders now to encourage the prioritization of digital skills and workforce development.  

• Make sure your state is establishing clear, useful measurable objectives for its digital skills programs. States must spell these out as part of their grant applications (due next month, as detailed above!). Collecting this data will be vital to showing the impact of digital equity funds, enabling program providers to course-correct during implementation, and convincing policymakers to make additional investments in the future. Advocates can copy and paste language from NSC’s comment template on skills measurment to recommend specific measures to state officials.  

• Encourage state workforce, higher education, and adult education officials to review and update existing policies to better align them with Digital Equity goals. For example, to date only a small handful of states have coordinated their Digital Equity Plans with their Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) or similar plans. (Colorado is one of them.) State officials should take this opportunity to review existing policies pertaining to new and incumbent worker training, adult education, and credit-bearing and noncredit higher education to ensure that they reflect emerging and best practices in digital equity. For example: 

• Incumbent worker training funds should explicitly include digital skills as an allowable use.
  
• Adult education policies should encourage the use of the federal WIOA Measurable Skill Gain indicator or similar state measures to capture digital skills learning gains among adult learners.
• State financial assistance policies for non-degree credentials and shorter-term training programs should be inclusive of high-quality digital skills credentials. 

• Prepare now to make sure that education and workforce organizations are positioned to apply for Digital Equity funds. Nonprofit organizations, adult education providers, community colleges, and other eligible entities will have two opportunities to compete for funding.  

• First, organizations can apply when their state broadband office releases a Request for Proposals or similar document to re-grant federal formula funding down to the local level. It is important to start now in planning what your digital skills projects might look like, as there will likely be a short turnaround time when funding deadlines are announced. Consulting the State Digital Equity Plan is a good way to learn how the state is envisioning spending its formula funds.
• Second, organizations can apply directly to the federal National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) when the Digital Equity Competitive Grant opportunity opens later in 2024. Stay tuned to this website for news of that federal announcement. One thing that every applicant organization (even sub-grant applicants) must do is obtain a Unique Entity ID from the federal government. This process is relatively straightforward, but should be tackled immediately, without waiting for the funding opportunity to open up.  

The post Expanding Access to Broadband Careers and Building Digital Skills: Next Steps in State Policy Advocacy appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The bill specifically facilitates opportunities for career advancement for workers on the job and provides crucial reskilling opportunities for displaced workers. If passed, the bill will create quality career opportunities for individuals, strengthen businesses, and drive economic growth. 

Key Components: 

1. Reauthorization and Grants: The bill proposes reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to create new Digital Skills at Work grants administered by the Department of Labor. States or eligible entities can apply for funding to expand digital workplace skills for individuals seeking jobs and individuals looking to advance their career. Priority is given to entities serving individuals with barriers to employment. 

Why WIOA? The bill builds on the success of the Digital Equity Act, while recognizing that the Digital Equity Act alone cannot supply all the digital skills learning opportunities needed to close the digital divide. Instead, Congress must also embed digital skills across landmark federal programs like WIOA. Further, the bill recognizes that additional funding is needed to support the work of organizations and businesses across the country helping people to build digital skills. 

To receive grants, entities must submit to the state their plan for Digital Skills at Work grants to align with industry need, plans for partnerships, and alignment with state economic plans, among other requirements. 

1. Funding Allocation: Funding amounts are determined based on state population, working-age population, and indicators of low digital and information literacy skills.
2. Competitive Funding: In addition to formula dollars, eligible entities can apply directly for competitive funding through Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce Act. Applicants must demonstrate their capacity to adapt to the current and future labor market by creating opportunities for individuals to gain digital workplace skills. 

Importance and Advocacy: 

The bill addresses the critical need for digital skills training highlighted by National Skills Coalition research indicating that 92% of jobs require digital skills, yet only two-thirds of works have foundational digital skills. This divide disproportionately affects people of color, low-income individuals, rural residents and other communities. 

NSC played a pivotal role in advocating for the bill’s introduction. Leveraging its extensive network and partnerships, NSC identified digital equity as a significant policy issue and launched the Digital Equity @ Work campaign. Through groundbreaking research and collaboration with stakeholders, NSC developed the framework for the bill, aligning with the core campaign principles of reskilling and upskilling for all workers. The network then continued to advocate for the introduction of the bill through letters of support to Congress, Congressional briefings, and Capitol Hill meetings. 

The bill’s introduction marks a significant milestone in addressing the digital skills divide and advancing access to good jobs. Moving forward, NSC will continue its advocacy efforts, urging Congressional co-sponsorship and pushing for inclusion of key policy priorities in WIOA reauthorization. Contact your legislators, today!

National endorsers 

• National Skills Coalition
• Coalition on Adult Basic Education 
• Hispanic Federation 
• National Coalition for Literacy 
• NTEN 
• Third Way 
• National Digital Inclusion Alliance 
• American Library Associations 
• Mohuman 
• DAETC 
• National Immigration Forum 
• Digitunity 

State endorsers: 

• Virginia Chamber of Commerce 
• Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce 
• Prince William Chamber of Commerce 
• Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce 
• Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce 
• Virginia Minority Chambers, Inc. 
• Virginia Community College System 
• Bay Consortium Workforce Development Board 

• Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute 
• Southeast Community Services 
• The Arc of Indiana 
• Indiana Chamber of Commerce 
• Indy Reads 
• United Way of Central Indiana 
• Labor Institute for Training 
• RecycleForce 
• EmployIndy 
• Indy Chamber 
• R4 Workforce, LLC 
• Jewish Family Services 
• The Literacy Cooperative 
• Godman Guild Association 
• The Health Collaborative 
• Towards Employment 
• Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County 
• Washington state library 
• Lehman College Adult Learning Center 
• Asc3 

• Mississippi Broadband Association 
• Digital Ready Hawaii 
• United Way of Greater Cincinnati 

The post Digital Equity Advances in Congress: Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The federal Digital Equity Act and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will collectively send more than $1 billion to Illinois, and state officials have been working for more than a year to lay out their roadmap for implementation.

The State Digital Equity Plan describes how Illinois officials envision supporting broadband adoption, digital devices, and digital skills, while the BEAD 5-year Action Plan and Initial Proposal Vol. II lay out the state’s plans for building out broadband access and increasing affordability and adoption for the 12+ million residents of Illinois.

Below, we highlight some key elements of the Illinois plans, which can serve as a model for advocates interested in advancing digital equity work in their own states and communities.

Building on local momentum

Illinois broadband officials are intentional about building on the work that is already underway in local communities. The state’s Digital Equity Plan (the Plan) explains: Seventeen counties and local governments have published local digital equity plans for which they assessed their baseline, convened stakeholders, established goals, and developed strategies and roadmaps toward digital equity. Many of those local plans have drawn from the expertise of digital equity practitioners who have been working on the ground and in communities for years.

Illinois Office of Broadband (OIB) Director Matt Schmit notes that many local digital inclusion coalitions launched or expanded their work in the early months of the pandemic, and thus have several years of experience under their belts. “As the state embarks on our digital equity conversation, we really value the local conversations [that have already been happening],” he says.

The federal Digital Equity Act is a new opportunity, he adds, but it’s not a new concept. “Some communities have already put their finger on an approach that works. We want to help them continue their momentum, and help them grow.”

Digital skills play a prominent role in many local efforts. For example, Connect Waukegan’s mail survey of households found that a whopping 49% of respondents would like to be more confident users of the internet, and 42% were interested in participating in skills training.

(Local plans are listed in Table 4, beginning on page 73 of the State Plan. In many cases, that table contains direct links to the full local plans.)  

Intentional connections to broader statewide goals

The state’s Plan emphasizes that the IOB and the Illinois Broadband Advisory Council see their digital equity outcomes as integral to supporting other statewide efforts related to telehealth, education, and economic development. The Plan outlines specific ways in which digital equity work is embedded in the strategies and goals of state agencies beyond the broadband office, including the Department of Aging, Illinois Community College Board, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), and the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, among others.

By spelling out these connections, state broadband officials are expanding the universe of stakeholders who have an interest in seeing digital equity outcomes achieved. This will be vital to embedding digital equity activities throughout state agencies over the longer term, a crucial requirement for sustaining this work after dedicated federal funding ends.

The Plan also calls out the importance of digital inclusion in supporting the growth of Illinois’ multi-billion-dollar agriculture economy.  As precision agriculture and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) devices become more widely adopted, there is an urgent need for better rural broadband access and more technologically skilled workers. By acknowledging the role of the agricultural sector in the state’s Plan, Illinois is positioning itself to support rural residents (one of the covered populations states are mandated to serve under the Digital Equity Act) and to ensure that its digital equity activities support a priority area for workforce and economic development.

Investments in digital skills will help achieve broadband adoption goals

Illinois’ Plan clearly recognizes that achieving goals related to broadband and device adoption will require improved digital skills, and vice versa. Far from being discrete activities, research has shown that these are mutually reinforcing, and that public policies can help shape whether individuals are caught up in a vicious cycle (if they lack access and skills) or a virtuous one (if they have meaningful opportunities to gain access and build skills).

In particular, Figure 11 of the Plan shows “Causes of residents’ low [broadband] adoption rates,” as  cited by Illinois nonprofits and community anchor institutions in a survey conducted by the state. Two of the top five reasons listed pertain to digital skills, including 73% of respondents who cited not having “sufficient digital literacy skills” a reason that residents don’t have broadband at home. This tracks with earlier national research that found that people with high levels of confidence in their digital skills were twice as likely to have signed up for an affordable home internet program than those with less confidence in their skills.

An emerging partnership with workforce development

IOB’s State Government Broadband Working Group has already helped to spark a new collaboration with the DCEO Office of Employment and Training, which is leading Illinois’ development of a five-year apprenticeship plan and new four-year Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plan.

The Plan notes that DCEO “views upskilling and reskilling on digital literacy skills as key to fostering workforce advancement and wealth generation opportunities among Illinois residents,” [emphasis added] and continues: “Together the IOB and Office of Employment and Training can strategically deploy funding to optimize the opportunities available for Illinoisans—especially those who are re-entering the workforce or who are marginally employed or disabled.”

Among the aligned objectives identified by the working group are:

• All Illinoisans possess the digital skills required to participate in the digital economy.
• Increased investment in agriculture technology (e.g., purchase of IoT-enabled technology, automated equipment)
• Scaled education and training programs for skills development in tech-related occupations
• Increased number of Illinoisans who can work from home
• Scaled education and training programs for skills development in the broadband industry (see below for how Illinois’ BEAD plan elaborates on this question)
• Increased job creation in broadband-related roles
• Increased adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies

Spelling out these objectives is important because it helps digital inclusion programs situate their work within a larger whole. It also helps stakeholders of all types to connect the dots between foundational or beginner-level classes and more advanced digital skill-building, as part of career pathways that result in stackable, industry-recognized credentials.

A training ground for new broadband workers

Illinois has long invested in upskilling as part of its public works projects, and its BEAD proposal outlines how it will continue to do so with its $1.04 billion in new broadband funds. For example, BEAD subgrantees are required to comply with the Illinois Works Apprenticeship Initiative.

The initiative requires that apprentices work at least 10% of the hours in projects costing $500,000 or more. This means that BEAD grant recipients will need to ensure that there are apprenticeship pathways as part of their projects – reflecting a key principle in NSC’s people-powered infrastructure campaign.

The BEAD proposal also outlines the conditions under which subgrantees must meet “local hire” provisions, and mandates that projects over $10 million include a project labor agreement. The proposal further states that IOB will “encourage applicants to submit plans to conduct targeted outreach to populations – including but not limited to women and people of color — that have traditionally been underrepresented in broadband and information technology jobs.”

The BEAD proposal also includes a detailed list of state workforce development and education resources that grant applicants can draw on to strengthen their initiatives. One such resource is the Illinois Works Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which funds nonprofit community-based organizations and others to provide pre-apprenticeship skills training free of charge, to help under-represented workers prepare for careers in the trades.

Notably, because Illinois is often an exporter of skilled labor to neighboring states, the high standards set in its BEAD proposal may have a positive spillover effect. The degree to which this occurs will depend in part on the exact timing of BEAD rollout (that is, whether Illinois is ahead or behind of its neighbors in awarding contracts) and whether there is overlap between Illinois’ chosen subgrantees and those selected by nearby states.

Key stopgap investments to support practitioners on the ground

Illinois is unusual among states nationally in that it has chosen to make interim investments in local digital inclusion organizations before federal Digital Equity Act funds begin to flow. Using state resources, Illinois launched a Digital Equity Capacity Kickstarter (DECK) grant program in 2023.

The DECK program is meant to cover the funding gap between the early-pandemic-era launch of many digital equity programs and the forthcoming arrival of federal DE funds, says IOB Assistant Director Devon Braunstein. “We wanted to address the challenge of how to sustain [local DE program] staff that were hired and programs that were stood up, so that by the time the larger grant program comes along they can [hit the ground running],” she says.

There is a rich array of organizations providing digital inclusion programs in Illinois, including many NSC member organizations. The state’s DE Plan documents more than 60 program providers (see Table 5). Not surprisingly, many are clustered in sections of the state that are major population centers (see Figure 1).

Announcement of the DECK program triggered an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from practitioners, with more than $12 million in requests for funding received. In 2023, the IOB awarded $1 million in DECK grants, and officials anticipate issuing another $1.5 million in awards in the first half of 2024, after which it will be time to launch their federal DE funding.

While Illinois officials will have final responsibility for designing the implementation of Digital Equity Act funding, “we’re hoping to do some co-creation with stakeholders,” says Braunstein. “We will come to them with a final opportunity to weigh in before our grant program goes live.”

IOB Director Schmit concurs, adding some big-picture context: “We are anticipating about $7 million a year in federal DE allocation,” he says. “[With those funds,] we are going to be able to do some great work, but we [will also] have to engage philanthropy and other stakeholders to make sure that this work has legs and can be continued over the long term.”

Looking forward: A commitment to shared data

With that longer term in mind, IOB officials recognize the importance of having a shared baseline and set of data tools. To that end, the state’s Plan states that to provide a common fact base for the state’s digital equity practitioners, the IOB and the Illinois Broadband Lab (IBL) will create and maintain:

• A publicly available dataset and tools for practitioners around the state
• A public-facing dashboard to track key metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)
• A public-facing asset inventory
• Ongoing updates to the IL State Digital Equity Plan

IOB Director Schmit is blunt about the thinking behind this ambitious vision. “We have to be able to demonstrate that our investments are helping to eliminate the digital divide,” he says, and KPIs can help to illustrate that impact. In addition, “we want to put our local communities in a position to go after competitive [Digital Equity Act] dollars and other funding sources for sustainability.” Data-sharing tools are a cost-effective way to help them make the case for additional funding.

“Having the data in a public dashboard is really important,” adds Assistant Director Braunstein. “When people are able to see their own story as part of the broader story that they fit into, it’s really powerful and activating.” Drawing on her prior experience in local digital equity work, she adds: “Once you ask people about their experience, they can come together in community and organize themselves.”

The bottom line: What others can learn from Illinois

Skills advocates who are involved in the implementation of their own states’ BEAD and Digital Equity Plans can learn from Illinois’ example:

• Be intentional about aligning state digital equity goals with other state agencies’ strategies and priorities. Embedding the work across departments makes it more durable over the long term.
• Provide stopgap support to help practitioners build capacity in anticipation of forthcoming DE funding.
• Require BEAD subgrantee applicants to be specific about how they will recruit and train underrepresented workers, and connect them with existing state education and workforce resources that can help them do that effectively.
• Create a centralized data hub that allows local programs to see how their work fits into a larger whole, and positions them to compete for additional federal funding opportunities.

The post A Holistic Vision for Digital Skills in the Heart of the Midwest: How Illinois is Investing its Digital Equity and Broadband Funds appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress in 2021 is sending more than $42 billion to states to build out high-speed internet networks via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. As President Biden said in his Presidential Budget Request, the installation of high-speed internet creates high-paying jobs and strengthens local economies, which leads to increased job and population growth, lower unemployment rates, and new business formation.

This unprecedented investment will require a robust array of workers to complete these ambitious projects. But unlike previous rounds of federal investment, this time there will be stiff competition for the pool of available workers – because the federal government is simultaneously investing billions of additional dollars into clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, and related initiatives that demand workers with similar qualifications.

State broadband leaders and BEAD subgrantees can’t just rely on previous approaches to staffing up, such as hiring independent contractors or poaching talent from nearby states. There simply aren’t enough already-trained workers for employers to acquire the talent they need in the time frame they need it.

Instead, states and business leaders will need to explore creative solutions for expanding their pipeline of skilled workers, including by upskilling and reskilling individuals who are eager to qualify for these new jobs.

This document provides a short, practical overview of workforce development strategies and tactics. It is designed in a Q-and-A format for leaders who may have substantial technical expertise in broadband-related topics but not necessarily in education or workforce development.

What are some examples of what a workforce development pathway can look like?

A majority of jobs in the US economy (52 percent) require skills training past high school, but not a four-year degree. Below are some examples of the types of pathways that workers take to earn these credentials and find employment:

• Example 1: A 16-week noncredit community college training program resulting in a portable, industry-recognized credential.
• Example 2: A 150-hour incumbent-worker training program that helps existing workers at a given company to upskill with the additional skills required to move into a different occupation at the same employer
• Example 3: A 12-week pre-apprenticeship via a nonprofit adult education organization, followed by a formal registered apprenticeship program at a local business in collaboration with a labor union
• Example 4: A 6-month integrated education and training (IET) program at a nonprofit organization that enables individuals to simultaneously earn a high school equivalency credential and an industry-recognized credential for a specific occupation.
• Example 5: A nine-month certificate or 2-year degree program offered by a community or technical college.

As these examples illustrate, state broadband leaders and BEAD subgrantees can look to a variety of partners to help them create a strong talent pipeline of workers for broadband-related job openings.

Because some occupations require shorter training periods than others, states should act now to identify the most in-demand occupations (see below) and ensure that there is sufficient capacity to prepare the skilled workforce needed in the timeframe necessary.

View an example of how Ohio is illustrating broadband workforce career pathways.

(Want to learn more about how state and federal policymakers can invest in high-quality, short-term credentials? Visit NSC’s Making College Work campaign.)

Which state agencies can help to establish or sustain education and workforce programs?

State broadband leaders and BEAD subgrantees can draw on state workforce development boards, labor departments, higher education coordinating boards, and adult education agencies as primary resources.

Not only do these agencies have staff members with expertise in designing and implementing workforce programs, but they also oversee various funding streams focused on workforce development that may be available to complement BEAD funds in supporting broadband workforce development.

• State workforce development boards oversee each state’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I funds, in collaboration with state labor departments, local workforce boards and American Job Centers. (The latter are branded with different names depending on the state, such as CareerSource in Florida or Workforce Solutions in Texas.) These funds can help unemployed or recently laid-off workers train for new jobs, either through Individual Training Account vouchers or cohort-based training. They can also help employers upskill or reskill incumbent workers for new roles.
• State labor departments typically oversee a broad range of federal and state funds that can be used for workforce development programs. These can include WIOA, federal apprenticeship grants, and US Department of Labor discretionary grants, just to name a few. In some cases, they may also administer SNAP Employment and Training or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) workforce programs.[1]
• Higher education coordinating boards typically oversee state community and technical college systems. These institutions offer both credit-bearing programs (which help workers to earn certificates or 2-year degrees) and noncredit workforce training programs (which provide shorter-term training that may be customized to a particular employer or industry’s needs).
• Adult education agencies oversee WIOA Title II funds, which provide high school equivalency, adult basic education, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes for adults. Depending on the state, these agencies may be housed within a department of education or labor and may be connected to the K-12 system or community college system. Adult education programs are often vital on-ramps for learners to move from education to workforce training programs, as in the case of Indiana’s WorkINdiana and Next-Level Jobs programs.

Outside of government, other partners such as nonprofit community-based organizations and labor-management training partnerships can also be powerful resources in designing and implementing workforce programs.

How can states identify which broadband-related occupations to focus on?

State broadband leaders have already received an initial, state-specific workforce supply analysis from the federal NTIA. In addition, many broadband offices have contracted with consultants and/or worked with their state’s labor management information agencies to identify particular occupations that currently face or are likely to face shortages of qualified workers.

While takeaways from these analyses are reflected in many states’ BEAD Initial Proposals (Vol. II) under the Workforce Readiness section, the dynamism of today’s labor market means that ongoing analysis will be necessary to adjust to changing circumstances on the ground.

To that end, national-level analyses, such as this this recent report from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (commissioned by National Skills Coalition and the BlueGreen Alliance) can also help shed light on in-demand roles.

Finally, local employers can be a source of valuable data about occupational needs. (See below for more on employer engagement.)

How do states find out which skills or credentials workers need for these jobs?

Once states have determined which occupations will be the focus of their workforce development efforts, it’s vital to identify which credentials are needed to become employed in those roles. State leaders can learn this information by:

• Gathering information informally from employers themselves. To avoid bombarding employers with a plethora of requests, the most efficient way to do this is through partners who have already established relationships with businesses in the relevant sector. These include Employer Advisory Councils (a common feature of high school and postsecondary Career Technical Education programs), workforce training deans or vice presidents at community and technical colleges, and business services staff at workforce development boards or American Job Centers. Depending on the state, this may also include labor-management training partnerships or labor unions.
• Conducting formal surveys of employers, in collaboration with economic development agencies or chambers of commerce. In some cases, this data may have already been collected as part of regularly scheduled surveys, and state officials can benefit from existing work.
• Reviewing “Help Wanted” ads and other labor market data to better understand advertised requirements. Federal JOLTS data can give a general sense of the pace of job openings and turnovers in recent months, while the US Department of Labor’s O*Net database contains extensive information on the education and skills requirements and certifications associated with hundreds of different occupations. And many states have existing contracts with private data providers such as Lightcast that can provide the latest data on recently-posted Help Wanted ads for specific jobs or industries in their state or region.
• Searching for information on specific credentials via Credential Finder. This website, hosted by the nonprofit Credential Engine, is a clearinghouse of information about different educational and vocational credentials – including degrees, certificates, certifications, licenses, and more. While each state has its own laws and regulations pertaining to occupational licensing, Credential Finder can be a good source of ancillary information.

Ohio has assembled a useful clearinghouse of state resources related to labor market data and other information necessary for broadband workforce partners.

What are examples of effective workforce development program components?

State leaders should prioritize investments that reflect best practices in workforce development. Select best practices are highlighted below. Broadband leaders can reach out to their workforce and education partners to learn more about these and other approaches that can help them accomplish their workforce goals.

• Contextualized and employer-informed curricula. Workforce development and education is most effective when people learn in a real-world context, applying their new skills in ways that reflect what they will ultimately be required to do on the job. State leaders can tap into employer expertise to help ensure that training curricula reflect realistic scenarios and help workers to develop necessary skills. Programs such as this electrician training at a California adult school collaborate closely with industry and labor partners to ensure that the 540-hour curriculum prepares learners with required skills.

• Industry-recognized, portable credentials. There are tens of thousands of different credentials available in the US. High-quality workforce development programs make sure that the credentials their participants are earning are those that hiring managers will recognize on a resume and will value as a representation of their skills. Good programs also make sure that credentials are portable – that is, that they are not specific to one employer — and remain relevant as a worker moves from job to job along a career ladder.

• Supportive services. For many workers, barriers related to transportation, childcare, or related issues can jeopardize their ability to successfully complete a training program and enter employment. States can tackle this issue by investing in supportive services. For example, this Mississippi program used federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to provide childcare for women apprentices in construction jobs.

• Work-based learning models include federally Registered Apprenticeships, so-called “small-a” apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeships. This earn-while-you-learn approach is perfect for workers who cannot afford to quit their jobs to participate in unpaid training programs. South Carolina is a national leader in creating work-based learning opportunities through the Apprenticeship Carolina program. This initiative, housed at the state’s technical college system, streamlines the process to make it easy for employers to establish apprenticeship programs and for potential apprentices to identify and enroll in them.

• Industry sector partnerships bring together a group of employers in a single industry, along with one or more education and workforce providers, to identify talent needs and map training pipelines. While it may seem counterintuitive for competitors to share their talent needs, in fact the sector partnership model has a track record of success across the US for more than two decades. It is a particularly valuable way to aggregate talent needs across small and mid-sized employers to create efficiencies in education and workforce programs.

• Integrated Education and Training (IET) models allow workers to build basic skills in reading, math, or spoken English in the context of learning technical, industry-specific skills. This example of an IET program in El Paso, Texas, illustrates how an adult education program was able to contract with high school Career Technical Education teachers to work overtime in the evenings, serving adult learners. Graduates of the IET program were then able to enter into a registered apprenticeship program to work as electricians. In addition to adult education providers, IET programs can be also provided by community colleges or nonprofit organizations.

How can states create on-ramps for new workers into the broadband industry?

This is an “all hands on deck” moment for state economies. It won’t be possible to successfully complete ambitious broadband projects by limiting recruitment only to the existing pool of predominantly white, male, and older workers. Instead, states can accelerate their talent pipeline development by ensuring that there are on-ramps into broadband training opportunities for workers of all backgrounds, including those who may never have considered a career in the industry but are excited to hit the ground running.

One of the most effective ways to broaden the pool of talent is to sub-contract with community-based organizations that have longstanding, trusted relationships with underrepresented workers. This can speed up the process of recruiting and enrolling workforce training participants and ensure that qualified individuals can tap into the career advising and other services necessary to successfully persist and complete training programs. For example, in Louisiana, the Bossier Parish Community College partnered with a local correctional facility to provide fiber optic technician training for incarcerated individuals. Other training programs tap into immigrant and refugee talent, workers with disabilities, and women workers.

What data should states collect to evaluate whether training programs are working?

Collecting a short, standardized set of measurable outcomes from every training program allows states to gauge the impact of their investments and compare results across different programs and geographic regions. Commonly used measures include 1) program completion/graduation; 2) credential attainment; 3) job placement; 4) wage level; and 5) job retention.

With this information, states can identify programs that are doing especially well, such as those that are placing a high percentage of their graduates into well-paying jobs. This data can also help officials spot bottlenecks that might be hindering success — such as programs that see a high number of graduates but a sharp drop in the percentage of graduates who successfully pass a licensing exam and obtain a credential.

Data can also help states to ensure that workforce programs are successfully serving workers of all demographic backgrounds.

Note: While some training programs collect this data by surveying or individually contacting their program participants to follow up, states are increasingly using the more efficient and affordable technique of administrative data. For example, pulling (aggregated and anonymized) data from their state Unemployment Insurance Wage Record system to see what percentage of program graduates are employed and what their earnings are. Many states also use a State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) to track education and workforce outcomes.

[1] SNAP E&T and TANF funds may instead be overseen by a state’s human services agency or by county-level human services offices.

The post Ensuring Enough Workers to Build America’s Broadband Networks appeared first on National Skills Coalition.

National Skills Coalition is providing this overview to help inform state policymakers and advocates who are wrestling with these important questions in their communities. As a nonprofit, bipartisan workforce and education policy organization, we have been at the forefront of documenting digital skills demand, needs, and policy opportunities: 

• Our New Landscape of Digital Literacy report drew on data from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills, finding that 31 percent of US workers ages 16-64 had limited or no foundational digital skills.  
• Our Applying a Racial Equity Lens to Digital Literacy fact sheet used the same dataset to take a deeper look at workers of color and the barriers they face in obtaining digital skill-building opportunities. 
• Our Closing the Digital Skill Divide report used data from 43 million “Help Wanted” ads to understand employers’ demand for digital skills in today’s job market and explore policy implications for education and workforce development.  

Defining digital skills: What digital skills do people need to have?  

The field has not yet coalesced around a single list of digital skills that all individuals should possess. Given the diversity of ways that technology can be used and its rapidly evolving nature, a full consensus may never emerge. 

However, there are some rigorous and well-developed digital skills frameworks that can help state leaders decide on a key subset of skills to prioritize. One especially useful resource comes from the federally funded Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW) research project, for which NSC’s Amanda Bergson-Shilcock is an advisor. It is a short, easy-to-read overview called Assessing and Validating Digital Skills. Among the frameworks it reviews are: 

• The Seattle Digital Skills Framework and the Maryland Digital Literacy Framework for Adult Learners, both of which primarily focus on foundational (basic) digital skills. 
• The Colorado Digital Equity Framework, which builds from foundational to advanced competencies. Interestingly, it includes both individual-level and systems-level frameworks. 

Looking beyond foundational skills to more specialized digital skills, the particular digital skills needed to obtain and maintain employment are a top concern for individuals and state officials alike. To understand the specific digital workplace skills that are needed in their communities, state broadband offices can tap into the expertise of their peers in state labor and education departments and workforce development boards. 

In addition, NSC’s Boosting Digital Literacy in the Workplace provides examples of how some employers are tackling the issue of upskilling and reskilling their employees, and the public policies that could encourage more businesses to do so. 

Options for measuring skills: What resources are already out there?  

Policymakers and advocates can use a variety of approaches to better understand state residents’ current levels of digital skills and access. Such approaches include: 

1. Analyzing existing survey data on self-reported skills.  

• The US Census Bureau and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) collaborate to produce the Internet Use Survey every two years. This survey is conducted as a supplement to the well-known Current Population Survey, so it is a robust, rigorous, and nationally representative dataset. The most recent data available is from 2021; the 2023 data should be released in roughly June 2024. Visit NTIA’s data explorer and researcher page for more. You can also view the 2023 survey questions to see what kinds of data are included (though note that not all of these questions were included in the 2021 survey).  

• State broadband leaders can also inquire among their peer state agencies about what kinds of surveys or data they may already have gathered on this topic, and if information can be shared (in anonymized form) with their office. Good possibilities are departments or agencies focused on labor and workforce, adult and higher education, libraries, economic development, and human services.  For example, adult education agencies may have collected baseline data on adult learners’ digital skills as part of enrollment pre-testing for High School Equivalency or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).  

2. Analyzing existing state administrative data as a proxy for skills and access. In the course of providing services to state residents, state agencies already collect a wealth of administrative data that can help illustrate residents’ digital skills.  

• For example, a state might have data on whether Unemployment Insurance claimants are accessing information via the phone or website. If so, the state could analyze user data to determine which zip codes or demographic groups are more likely to be using the phone, which could be an indicator of limited digital skills or access for those groups.  

• Similarly, states may collect information on which browser or operating system users or applicants to a state website are using, which could help identify which groups of residents are more likely to have smartphone-only internet access rather than having a desktop or laptop computer.  

• State workforce development boards, American Job Centers, or higher education coordinating boards may collect data on individuals’ participation in online and virtual learning opportunities. Again, while individual privacy and confidentiality must be protected, it may be possible to review aggregate data that helps to illuminate skill levels. (Note that AJCs may be branded under a different, state-specific name.) 

3. Collecting new data on self-reported skills via surveys. If states elect this option, it is critically important to make sure survey questions are well-designed, to avoid gathering data that will not be helpful. State leaders are encouraged to borrow from existing survey templates and/or work with experienced survey design professionals to ensure that their materials accomplish the goals they have in mind.  One such template is available from the nonprofit National Digital Inclusion Alliance.  

• Somes states already fielded their own original surveys as part of State Digital Equity Planning processes. One of the most comprehensive examples (pre-dating the Digital Equity Act) is the Digital Readiness Survey carried out by the Hawaii Department of Labor & Industry in 2021. Hawaii’s effort is notable in that it included both telephone and online components, thus ensuring that the state captured data from residents who do not have or use internet access. (See page 73 of the above-linked report for the exact questions asked.) 

• A faster, cheaper technique is to add a handful of new questions to an already-scheduled public survey.  NSC profiled one such example in this 2022 blog post, highlighting how the Colorado Office of the Future of Work and the Department of Public Health & Environment partnered to ask questions as part of a health survey. Results helped shed light on factors that influence state residents’ access to telehealth, and documented disparities in access between different demographic groups.  

4. Collecting new data on skills via testing. This option is the most time-consuming and expensive, but it has the advantage of providing an external, objective, and standardized set of data. If the individuals participating in assessment are a representative sample of state residents, results can be generalized to the broader population. Even if they are not statistically representative, results can provide additional context to state leaders about digital skills among the given subset(s) of state residents who participated.  

• For example, workforce leaders in one Western state partnered with several local employers to administer the Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment to their incumbent workers. While this was not by any means a random sample, it did help state leaders affirm that these workers were slightly more likely than the national average to need investment in their digital skills. (National comparison data was taken from NSC’s analysis of PIAAC data, published in The New Landscape of Digital Literacy.) 

5. Collecting new data on skills as part of Digital Equity Act program reporting. States will be receiving millions of dollars in federal formula funding (known as Digital Equity Capacity Grants) in Spring 2024 and will then be redistributing those funds down to the local level. This process provides a golden opportunity for states to collect new data on digital skills with a minimum of additional expense or effort. 

As states are designing the grant reporting requirements that local program providers will need to abide by, NSC recommends establishing a simple, standardized set of measures that all digital skill-building programs will report on. Having a set of common measures is crucial to providing officials and members of the public with easy-to-compare results.  

These measures should be connected with outcomes – that is, observable changes in ability or capacity – and not simply outputs or numbers of activities carried out. Outcomes allow stakeholders to gauge whether programs are actually helping people achieve intended goals. They can help state leaders identify potential bottlenecks where participants are getting stuck or not flourishing, as well as springboards – that is, programs that are doing an especially good job of helping people build digital skills. 

As a workforce and education advocacy organization, NSC’s recommended common measures focus on those areas: 

• Number and type of digital skills program slots established or expanded, disaggregated by type of training provider (nonprofit organization, higher education institution, worker center, etc.); type of training (foundational/basic, applied/industry-specific, or advanced digital skills); and geographic location (urban, suburban, rural). States should also explore options for measuring program quality. 
• Number and percentage of individuals who have achieved a measurable digital skill gain, disaggregated by type of gain (foundational/basic, applied/industry-specific, or advanced digital skills) and covered population. 
• Number and percentage of individuals who have attained a quality non-degree digital skills credential, disaggregated by covered population. (Learn more about how states are defining quality in non-degree credentials more generally; these guardrails can easily be applied to digital skills credentials in particular.) 

NSC strongly recommends that states give program providers flexibility in how they can show they are achieving these common measures. For example, states can allow providers to use any of several different options to demonstrate that participants have made a measurable digital skills gain – including pre/post testing, credential attainment, employment promotion/advancement, and others.  

This flexibility gives local providers vital flexibility in designing programs that respond to the real needs of people on the ground, without shoehorning all participants into a single type of assessment. Similarly, states should allow providers to report on any type of credential that meets quality guidelines, without “picking winners” by selecting just one credential that all providers must use. (Stay tuned for an upcoming post from National Skills Coalition that explores these quality considerations in more depth and illustrates how they can be applied in a digital skills context.) 

NSC also recommends that states collect additional qualitative data from a subset of programs. This data can add richness and depth to the quantitative measures described above, and can point the way to future improvements. Collecting this data in a limited fashion – perhaps by contracting with an evaluator to conduct interviews with a small percentage of programs – can be a cost-effective way to gather valuable information from: 

1. Program participants about what inspired them to enroll in digital skills training and how they have defined success for themselves; 
2. Program providers about how they define success in digital skill-building and what they have learned from trying to apply the required measures listed above; 
3. Employers about how they gauge digital skills among jobseekers and workers, and their experiences hiring individuals who have completed Digital Equity Act-funded training programs. 

Across all of the above recommendations, states are strongly encouraged to collect basic demographic data without adding unnecessary burdens. It is important to strike a balance between collecting enough information that it is possible to track success in closing equity gaps for covered populations, without imposing on individuals’ privacy or unnecessarily burdening program providers with complex requirements. Data collection and reporting requirements should never be a stumbling block to improving equity for covered populations. 

To that end, programs should be strongly encouraged to use proxy measures (such as whether a person resides in a high-poverty zip code or receives SNAP benefits), rather than attempting to assess eligibility on a case-by-case basis. This issue is especially urgent given the difficult circumstances faced by many covered populations. People with very low incomes, those who are incarcerated or recently returned from incarceration, and people with limited English or literacy skills are disproportionately likely to lack government-issued identification. No data collection requirement should further burden already-marginalized individuals with additional hoops to jump through before services can be obtained.  

Finally, states should follow best practices used in the public health and education fields and ensure that individuals born outside the United States are not required to demonstrate a specific immigration status in order to participate in digital equity programs or services. This flexibility in practice has already been adopted for the Affordable Connectivity Program by major Internet Service Providers, and by the Department of Education for its Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title II adult education programs.    

The post What State Leaders Need to Know about Measuring Digital Skills: Options and Opportunities appeared first on National Skills Coalition.