TPRC 2024: The 52nd Research Conference on Communications, Information and Inter

Link to paper

Abstract:
As the main drivers of the digital divide evolve, digital inclusion efforts that seek to increase digital skills, build consumer trust in digital technologies, and promote information about affordability plans and other broadband availability programs have fast become key to getting everyone online. Accordingly, a major subset of digital inclusion activities now involves efforts to teach and promote “digital skills” to help consumers make the most of their broadband connection. But despite being a cornerstone of digital inclusion, digital skills in the United States are neither comprehensively nor consistently measured. Those attempting to measure the problem of low digital skills are relegated to choosing from multiple piecemeal studies with competing interpretations of what it even is to be truly digitally literate.

This is taking on new relevance as states and territories embark on a digital upskilling through programs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With participants tasked with setting and meeting “measurable objectives” for their digital inclusion efforts, including upskilling, lack of a consistent framework means that we could emerge on the other side of these programs with a series of incompatible assessments and disparate digital skills benchmarks, leaving us no closer to a national understanding of where we stand or attainment of shared goals. To be broadly successful, efforts to digitally upskill the United States need to be grounded in a data-driven understanding of what current digital literacy rates are and—importantly—broad agreement on what accomplishing widespread digital literacy will actually look like. 

This report argues for the creation of a national digital skills framework and explains the immediate policy context. It explores some key literature and studies measuring different aspects of digital literacy, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Survey of Adult Skills (which measures competence in a digital environment) and the Pew Research Center’s survey assessing familiarity with various digital topics. It also examines some existing digital skills frameworks, such as Northstar Digital Literacy, the International Society for Technology in Education’s standards for technology usage in classrooms, and the EU’s DigComp. After examining the landscape of available resources, this report outlines, in broad strokes, some potential paths forward to a national digital skills framework.