Hawai‘i Digital Literacy Study

By: Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

Earlier this year, Hawai‘i Governor David Ige shared in his State of the State Address his vision of Hawai‘i for the future – an upgraded and more sustainable local economy in which digital technology is leveraged as a critical component of success. Toward this end, the State of Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) is working to up-skill Hawai‘i’s workforce to meet growing demand for digital services.

One of DLIR’s initiatives is a greater understanding of Digital Literacy and Readiness among Hawai‘i residents between 18 to 65 across the state. Currently there is no single metric that describes Hawai‘i residents’ readiness for the digital economy nor its level of digital literacy.

The DLIR Workforce Initiative seeks a benchmark to quantify the digital readiness and literacy levels among residents of the State of Hawai‘i. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development produces a regular digital knowledge assessment both nationally and internationally. Its 2017 U.S. study concluded that two thirds of the American population ranged from poor to terrible to zero in computer skills. The PEW Research conducted a study on digital readiness and found similarly low levels.

This DLIR Workforce study on Digital Literacy and Readiness, contracted through a state Request for Proposal process, aims to establish an initial benchmark of Hawaii’s digital readiness and literacy.