The Hawaii State Public Library System builds a bridge to digital literacy

The first time Stacey Aldrich interacted with technology, she was a child in the 1980s playing a simple handheld Merlin game. Now one of her main jobs as the state librarian for the Hawaii State Public Library System is helping others make their first digital connections.

Like librarians across the country, Aldrich is deeply concerned about digital illiteracy. A rapid shift to remote work, digitization, and automation is increasingly changing the types of available jobs and the skills needed to do them, and many job seekers find themselves limited by a lack of digital skills. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, just 40 percent of American adults are able to answer basic digital literacy questions. And this knowledge gap is exacerbated in historically marginalized communities and lower-income households that may not have access to personal computers or broadband internet.

Public libraries have long been a vital community resource equipping residents with knowledge and skills for the digital age. Now, Aldrich and the Hawaii State Public Library System are taking that public service one step further by offering Skill Finder — a free online marketplace of digital skills courses built using Adobe Commerce, a platform that powers online shopping. The pilot program aims to prepare people for careers in the digital sector, foster economic development, and target gaps in digital equity. Skill Finder has the potential to be a game-changer for digital literacy in the state — and a model for the rest of the country.

“We’re hoping Skill Finder really opens up what’s possible in our communities,” Aldrich says. “We want to make sure our small businesses have opportunities to grow and help their staff grow. We want to support anyone who is looking for ways to improve their digital skills.”

Bridging the digital divide

The Hawaii State Public Library System spans six islands, serving everyone “from keiki to kūpuna,” Aldrich says. “In English, that’s from children to elders.” That puts the libraries in a strong position to become a hub for improving digital literacy rates.

“About 17 percent of our population doesn’t have basic skills for using technology,” Aldrich says, adding that many residents lack internet access at home. “We’d like to make sure everybody has the basic skills to interact, and that means accessing online government resources, knowing how a website works, having an email address, and knowing how to upload a document.”

Through additional statewide planning to address the gap in workforce digital literacy, two barriers were identified: fear of embarrassment and lack of understanding of why digital skills are important.

Hawaii’s economy is largely based on tourism, and the state’s population is decreasing as people move because they can’t afford the cost of living or find work. But in a networked global economy, more residents could secure remote jobs and stay in Hawaii if they had better digital skills.

“We’re looking at the future of work and the economy,” Aldrich says. “How do we create more kinds of jobs that aren’t just tourism? How do we help people gain the skills they need to make the money they need to live here? And how do we help the folks who don’t have basic skills to make sure they can thrive?”

Tailored learning for all

Aldrich and her colleagues were searching for next-level solutions when they learned about Skill Finder. Rather than offering time-consuming traditional certification courses, Skill Finder focuses on teaching micro-skills through short lessons in areas from coding, cloud computing, security, and machine learning to computer basics, graphic design, and general business skills. And it includes learning paths for people at all stages of digital literacy, from beginners to digital natives.

For example, a small business owner can use Skill Finder to access courses in marketing and design from Microsoft and Adobe Creative Cloud and apply their learning directly to their business. A high-school or college student can build programming skills with courses from edX, Google, or Coursera and use them to obtain an internship or entry-level job. A senior citizen can learn to use a smartphone or video chat with their grandkids. And people in underserved communities can start from the very beginning by setting up their first email address.

Skill Finder began as a pandemic response project in Australia, spearheaded by the Australian government and the tech community to meet a surge in demand for digital upskilling. Adobe and Balance Internet led a team that built the Skill Finder marketplace using Adobe Commerce, a familiar and intuitive commerce platform that made it easier to navigate — and more likely for people to keep using it.

“That’s the thing I like most,” Aldrich says. “I’m always about the interface. I appreciate the time and care that went into creating something that is informational without being overwhelming.”

Bringing Skill Finder to Hawaii

The Hawaii team immediately recognized what Skill Finder could do for the state and began working on customizing the platform and bringing it to the Aloha State. More than 30 partners have joined with Adobe to provide free access to 3,000 courses through Skill Finder, and Aldrich selected 1,000 of those courses to be available to Hawaii residents. In November 2022, Skill Finder officially launched through the Hawaii State Public Library System.

Metrics are essential for a project of this size. Adobe Analytics offers an integrated solution that Aldrich and her team will use to track usage and inform decisions about how to configure the marketplace on an ongoing basis. They will also be able to identify regions where certain skills are in higher demand, bolstering efforts to align courses in Skill Finder with job trends and target areas with the biggest gaps in digital literacy and equity.

“Skill Finder is this next-level tool that we’re really going to be pushing out there to let people know there is a resource where you can learn the skills you need, when you need them, and at your own pace,” Aldrich says.

Looking to the future

As the digital transformation of every sector of society accelerates — and as COVID-19 has irreversibly changed the way we connect, work, and play — the urgency to upskill citizens to function and thrive in a digital world has never been greater. And public services like libraries are at the forefront, offering digital resources such as eBooks, streaming movies, and free online courses like those on Skill Finder.

The rollout in Hawaii is also a model for other states as they develop their own plans to improve digital literacy. The Skill Finder marketplace can be customized to align with state, regional, and demographic-specific job trends and requirements across industries — such as healthcare, human and social services, public safety, transportation, construction, and more — giving it the flexibility to meet the needs of virtually any community.

From digital learners to digital natives and boomers to Gen Z, every person has that first interaction with technology. For some, it can be intimidating or non-intuitive, and for others, exhilarating and fun. For anyone, tools like Skill Finder make it possible to start wherever you are and build from there — enabling everyone to thrive in a digital future.

To learn more about positioning your state or community for a prosperous future with Skill Finder, watch a Digital Equity Roundtable with Adobe and Balance Internet, a Publicis company, about strategies for closing the digital literacy gap.

To learn more about the technologies that built and boosted Skill Finder, read more about Adobe Commerce and Adobe Analytics.