Connect2Compete increasing digital training program

Connect2Compete, a public/private partnership sponsored by the FCC, is expanding its digital literacy program at some 2800 American Job Centers - workforce and training sites operated by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The program will also initiate "a nationwide digital literacy database, available both online and through a toll-free phone call, and promoted by a nationwide advertising campaign by the Ad Council."

According to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, the program is badly needed, as some 66 million Americans have no computer skills. The FCC cites "cost, insufficient education, and a lack of digital literacy."

Among those Americans with only a high school education, only about half are home broadband users, making job searching much more difficult. 82 percent of college attendees and graduates, on the other hand, use home broadband.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told a press conference that "The costs of digital exclusion are rising. Offline Americans are missing out on education opportunities, health care opportunities, and, yes, job opportunities."

Connect2Compete (website) 

Broadband Program Adds More Digital Literacy Training (Connect2Compete, Jul. 2012)

FCC, Labor Department Partner to Expand Digital Literacy Training at 2,800 Centers (BNA, Jul. 17, 2012)