If you’re reading this, chances are you have the basic digital skills required to get online. Most of us take those for granted!
Whether you grew up around technology or recently learned new technologies on the job, simple tasks like turning on a laptop and navigating to a browser are second nature – and it might be easy to forget that others might not have those basic skills.
Broadband has transformed everything about the ways we work, live, and play – and this has been especially true for the workforce since the COVID-19 pandemic. Most jobs now require some level of digital skilling. As recent as ten years ago, this may have not been the case. For example, the National Association of Manufacturers estimates that over 3.8 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled in the next decade, and many of those jobs will require some level of digital literacy.
For workers, digital skills can increase “generate measurable monetary benefits,” according to the National Skills Coalition (NSC). NSC found that “workers that qualify for jobs that require even one digital skill can earn an average of 23 percent more than in a job requiring no digital skills.”
Network:On explored the need for digital skills training at the Connect20 Summit, where digital navigators joined policy experts to discuss the need to close the digital divide. Watch “Improving Digital Skills” from the summit:
Want to learn more about the importance of digital skills training? Join the National Skills Coalition’s SkillsSummit, which will be held May 13-15 in Washington, D.C. At the Summit, advocates from around the country will:
- Learn about opportunities happening right now in Washington D.C. to advance critical federal skills policy towards a more inclusive economy, hearing perspectives from and networking with advocates representing every system, every movement, and every political stripe.
- Influence legislators on Capitol Hill and members of the Biden Administration by sharing their expertise and steering the direction of federal skills policy to advance equitable, inclusive skills training policies.
- Fight throughout 2024 for investments in inclusive, high-quality skills training with the wealth of insights and strategic connections gained at the Summit by connecting with our four campaigns: People Powered Infrastructure, Making College Work, Digital Equity @ Work, and Creating an Equitable, Resilient Workforce.
