Using data to advocate for digital skills

Skills advocates and digital inclusion advocates frequently ask National Skills Coalition for examples of how their peers are collecting, analyzing, and using data for advocacy. We’re happy to highlight several reports that use data about digital skills in creative ways. 

• 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.