Building a Digital Workforce. Part 2: Reaching Out to Underserved Communities. NPA Report

The Digital Economic Opportunity Committee (DEOC) was established to examine the information technology (IT) skills gap and make recommendations to eliminate this gap. DEOC believed the appropriate response to this skills gap is two-fold. The first was upgrading existing workers skills through training. The second was expanding the number of skilled workers by improving the education system and by seeking workers from labor pools not traditionally found in the IT workforce (women, minorities, people with disabilities, and seniors) and from underrepresented communities (rural, inner city, and low income). A conference sponsored by DEOC addressed these groups' greater participation through presentations and panel discussions on enlarging the pool of IT workers; barriers that hinder technical training and access to well-paying IT job opportunities; and what could be done to access, train, and retain more members of these populations for the new digital-age economy workforce. The barriers identified were organized and defined as cultural/social, technological, educational, opportunity/choice, and structural. Possible solutions to provide greater participation in the IT workforce for members of underserved communities were improved education, increased public awareness and information, enhanced motivation and support, fostering of leadership and partnerships, encouragement of employer participation, and government involvement. (32 notes) (YLB)