News Articles

Of course, those of us on WIRED Nation are. But how about those legions of people out in the rest of the workforce development world? A couple of items have come across my desk in the last two weeks that offer some great examples of how foundations and government agencies are using interactive online tools to get their message out, and for internal management. These are good resources to help our peers understand how these tools can be used.

First up, the Chronicle of Philanthropy did a series of articles about foundations that are posting videos, creating online radio shows and inviting readers to comment and react. They're also offering readers ways to act on what they've learned. You can read the main article here; the article about how one small foundation is making itself heard is here. What I love is that these foundations admit they're taking risks and experimenting to find out what works and what doesn't.

Next up, Governing magazine. Their May 2008 article, Working in Wiki, gives some great examples of how government agencies are using wikis to improve internal management and engage staff in program improvements and problem solving.

When I do workshops on web 2.0 for workforce development professionals, I often get a question along the lines of, "Blogging and podcasting is what my kids do for fun. What's it got to do with my job?"

As these articles show, quite a lot, and more every day.

That is the title of a column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about how government is now trying to take advantage of web 2.0 technologies.  Here are a couple key excerpts...

You don't need to have a Facebook account, or to have edited a Wikipedia entry, to understand that the Web is in another highly disruptive period. Online tools under the rubric Web 2.0 are changing how information flows, with social networks letting people communicate directly with one another. This is reversing the top-down, one-way approach to communications that began with Gutenberg, challenging everything from how bosses try to manage to how consumers make or break products with instant mass feedback.

The institution that has most resisted new ways of doing things is the biggest one of all: government. This is about to change, with public-sector bureaucracies the new target for Web innovators...

Daniel Mintz, chief information officer for the Transportation Department, has noted how radical it is for government agencies to engage in wikis. They challenge the traditional notion that "all published information produced by a government agency be 'accurate,'" and that "any material a federal employee publishes can be taken as establishing or implying the establishment of formal policy."

There is a fascinating article in this week's New Yorker about the process of innovation.  Malcolm Gladwell discusses the many occurrences of simultaneous innovation and looks at a group from the Pacific Northwest focused on spawning ideas and inventions. 

At the Boston Academy, Ed Morrison gave a helpful overview of WIRED Nation, what you as a WIRED Nation user should try to get out of it, and what you can do to contribute and interact in the community itself:

If you don't have an effective way to structure information, you end up with a 'garbage bag' of stuff - this is why on WIRED Nation we are making effective use of categories and tagging. It helps the community identify common themes as it to relates to a piece of content, such as 'advanced manufacturing', 'biosciences', etc. Moreover, categories and tags allow you to search using the 'Advanced Search' to

A few key components of WIRED Nation include:

• Forums: essentially a running list of comments - a discussion unfolding as a series of comments on comments
  

• Weblogs aka 'Blogs': generally represent a way for an individual to share information with a group
• Wikis: a fantastic way for more than one person to create content ; a quick and easy way for business professionals to be able to author content to the web quickly and effective - in a matter of minutes.
• RSS: allows you to grab content from the web and be automatically updated anytime any content is changed on that webpage.

In WIRED Nation, we have the following tabs:

• 'Forums' is an area for you to have ongoing discussions around particular topics
• 'Regions' is a wiki page which has been created to share the industry segments, key contacts, implementation plan, etc. in each region.
  
• 'Home' is yet another great example of a wiki page in action - this is a easily editable webpage including graphics, a slideshow, etc., which is updated by members of WIRED Nation, not an IT professional.
  
• 'Stories' is where we are sharing complex stories of what is working in various WIRED regions.
• 'Library' is where we are putting files - files can include a detailed description of what a particular file is
• 'Events' is a great place for us to share schedules for key sessions and events with other regions.
  

WIRED Nation is an open community which allows us to have the most qualified and well represented discussion - there is no 'webmaster', but rather the community as a whole driving the discussion.

A few points Ed emphasized include:

Categorization and tagging.

According to Ed, "categories are like the chapters of a book." For example, in WIRED Nation they include broad ideas and concept areas such as 'Innovation', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Talent', etc. Tags, however "are like the index in the back of the book." Use categories and tags together to make if far easier to find content later as well as to help people more quickly deduce what the relevance of a particular post is.

Weekly Webinars

Fridays at 1PM EST, we have a webinar in which we discuss what is new in WIRED Nation, and go over regional initiatives and how to increase visibility and support for these initiatives in the community using WIRED Nation.

Blogging:

The blog is a great way to quickly share points of interest with the rest of WIRED Nation - maybe a paragraph our two or a link to an interesting research finding or editorial related to economic development.

Jump in - contributing takes only a few minutes. The Law of Networks states that value accrued from a network increases exponentially as each new connection is added.

Carrie Snyder has sent out the final Boston Wired Academy agenda for next week. You can download it here, in case you missed it.

Final Agenda (144 KB).

Clusters and Competitiveness: A New Federal Role for Stimulating Regional Economies

Due to rising global competition, the nation’s capacity for generating stable, well-paying jobs for a large number of U.S. workers is increasingly at risk. In this environment, regional industry clusters represent a valuable source of needed innovation, knowledge transfer, and improved productivity. For that reason, the public sector around the world has launched numerous programs to catalyze growth producing collaboration in key industry clusters. However, this nation’s network of cluster initiatives remains thin and uneven. As a result, many U.S. industry clusters are not as competitive as they could be, to the detriment of the nation’s capacity to sustain well-paying jobs.

Limitations of Existing Federal Policy

The federal government has the reach and the resources to stimulate the growth of cluster initiatives and to address the various barriers that limit cluster development and growth. However, current federal programs do very little to support competitive regions in general and competitive clusters in particular. They have evolved in a wildly ad hoc, idiosyncratic, and uncoordinated fashion. Further, the few federal programs that do focus on cluster and network development remain inadequate to the task.

A New Federal Approach

The federal government should move to promote cluster development and growth nationwide. In this, the federal government’s approach should be flexible, "bottom-up," and collaboration-oriented, rather than prescriptive, "top-down," or input-focused. Consistent with this, the federal government should boost the nation’s competitiveness by catalyzing increased cluster activity in U.S. regions through a two-part federal clusters program:

  Create an information center to map the geography of clusters, maintain a registry of cluster initiatives and programs, and conduct research on cluster dynamics and cluster initiative and initiative program impacts and best practices.

  Establish a grants program to support regional and state cluster initiative programs nationwide that would direct financial and other assistance to individual cluster initiatives

The report notes, in part:

For that matter, the few federal programs that support cluster and network development remain inadequate to the task. Their total cost ($558 million) is less than one percent of the total federal spending flowing towards regional economic development. The most prominent of these, one that offers a sense of the possibilities but is too small and short-lived to do the necessary work on its own, is the Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program. Created in 2005, WIRED combines industry and economic development activities with workforce training programs. Three waves of WIRED grants have been made across the country in 14 metropolitan areas and 25 larger regions. These grants are awarded in competitive processes that reward self-organized, market-driven initiatives; private sector leadership; fact-based strategies based on existing regional advantages; collaboration across public, private, and nonprofit actors; and leveraged resources. Many WIRED projects have taken the form of cluster initiatives.

To view the full page, go to:

http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2008/04_competitiveness_reamer.aspx

AT&T Launches $100 Million Philanthropic Education Program, Job Shadowing for 100,000 Students, Research and Community Engagement Support to Address High School Dropout Crisis

 

CHICAGO, April 17 -- Doing its part to help address the issue of nearly one-third of U.S. high school students dropping out, AT&T Inc. today announced the launch of AT&T Aspire, a $100 million philanthropic program, which includes job shadowing for 100,000 students nationwide, to help strengthen student success and workforce readiness.

 

"In the U.S., 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year. This has implications for individuals and for our nation's global economic leadership," said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, who will address the topic Thursday at the Economic Club of Chicago. "AT&T Aspire is about supporting the great work already underway to help our kids succeed in school, and helping students see the connection between education and their best future."

 

Through the Aspire initiative, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation are committing $100 million (over four years, 2008 - 2011) toward high school success and workforce readiness. The platform includes four key elements:

• Grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on helping students graduate from high school and become better prepared for college and/or the workforce.
• -- A student job shadowing initiative, involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours, that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.
  
• The underwriting of national research that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.
• Support for 100 state and community Dropout Prevention summits, announced earlier this month by America's Promise Alliance.

America's Promise Alliance recently noted that nearly one-third of U.S. high school students drop out before graduating -- with about 7,000 students dropping out every school day, or one every 26 seconds. And, March statistics from the U.S. Labor Department show that the 8.2 percent jobless rate for Americans with less than a high school education is 60 percent higher than the overall jobless rate of 5.1 percent.

This issue has significant long-term implications for workforce readiness and continued U.S. leadership in the global economy, Stephenson said.

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, students who are unprepared to enter college cost the U.S. economy more than $3.7 billion annually in lost earnings and remedial education costs. And, according to the landmark study "The Silent Epidemic" by John Bridgeland, a high school dropout earns, on average, $9,200 less a year than a high school graduate and about $1 million less over a lifetime than a college graduate.

$100 Million AT&T Aspire Program Will Fund Education, Workforce Grants

As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school retention and workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire program will support proven organizations that promote educational success, from the classroom to the workplace.

Beginning this month, the AT&T Foundation -- the corporate philanthropy organization of AT&T Inc. -- will solicit grant proposals from schools and local organizations focused on high school retention.

AT&T Launches Unprecedented Companywide Job Shadow Initiative

The company's job shadowing initiative involves committing 400,000 employee volunteer hours to reach 100,000 students over the next five years. The program will pair AT&T employees with students in grades 9-12 so that students can experience the world of work and see firsthand the kinds of skills necessary to be successful in the workplace.

"AT&T is uniquely positioned to inspire tomorrow's workforce through job shadowing," said Bill Blase, senior executive vice president, Human Resources for AT&T. "With more than 300,000 employees, we are ready to motivate students and show them what a dynamic and diverse workplace is all about."

AT&T will work with Junior Achievement to administer and execute the effort. Junior Achievement is a recognized leader in job shadowing and a key member of the National Job Shadow Coalition, which also includes the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor and America's Promise Alliance. The AT&T program is the largest-ever corporate job shadowing initiative Junior Achievement has undertaken.

Job shadowing is a proven way to improve high school success. According to Junior Achievement, 79 percent of students participating in job shadowing report that the program increased their desire to stay in school.

"We are thrilled that AT&T is joining forces with Junior Achievement to address one of the biggest challenges facing our young people and the businesses for whom they would work -- lack of work-readiness skills," said Jack Kosakowski, executive vice president and chief operating officer of JA Worldwide and president of Junior Achievement USA. "This partnership makes the critical connection between classroom lessons and the world of work so that students enter the workforce ready to contribute and succeed."

AT&T's two major unions, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, are supporting the job shadowing initiative.

AT&T to Underwrite Landmark Research, Dropout Prevention Summits

Picking up where his seminal education study, "The Silent Epidemic," left off, John Bridgeland will turn his research to the perspectives of teachers and school administrators on the high school dropout crisis, including why students drop out, the barriers to keeping more students engaged and effective strategies to ensure more students stay on track to graduate. The research is being commissioned by AT&T and America's Promise Alliance.

"The statistics on our nation's dropout crisis are alarming, and the consequences of this crisis are devastating personally, socially, economically and civically," said Bridgeland. "This research will help provide schools and communities with important new perspectives to design policies and initiatives that will help address the dropout epidemic."

In addition, AT&T will help underwrite 100 state and community dropout-prevention summits. Led by America's Promise Alliance -- the nation's largest partnership alliance working on behalf of children and youth -- the summits will be held in all 50 states. The summits will increase public awareness of the dropout crisis, serve as a call to action for all Americans and develop workable solutions to improve graduation rates.

"Nearly one-third of all public high school students -- and nearly one-half of minority students -- fail to graduate with their classmates," said Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of America's Promise Alliance. "Through our Dropout Prevention summits, we will work closely with states and communities, listening to families, schools and students to find the best ways to fight the growing dropout crisis -- and apply those lessons as quickly as possible."

Stephenson said, "Investing in a well-educated workforce may be the single most important thing we can do to help America remain the leader in a digital, global economy."

For more information about the AT&T Aspire initiative, please visit http://www.att.com/education-news.

About JA Worldwide(R) (Junior Achievement)

JA Worldwide is the world's largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, JA Worldwide provides in-school and after-school educational programs for students which focus on three key content areas: entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy. Today, 140 individual area operations reach approximately four million students in the United States, with an additional 3.3 million students served by operations in 119 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.ja.org/.

About the America's Promise Alliance

America's Promise Alliance is the nation's largest partnership alliance comprised of corporations, nonprofit organizations, foundations, policymakers, advocacy and faith groups committed to ensuring that children receive the fundamental resources -- the Five Promises -- they need to lead successful, healthy and productive lives and build a stronger society. Building on the legacy of our founder General Colin Powell, the Alliance believes a child's success is grounded in experiencing the Five Promises -- caring adults; safe place; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others -- at home, in school and in the community. For more information visit:http://www.americaspromise.org/.

About Civic Enterprises

Civic Enterprises is a public policy firm that helps corporations, nonprofits, foundations, universities and governments develop and spearhead innovative public policies to strengthen our communities and country. President and CEO John M. Bridgeland authored "The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts," which showed that most dropouts could have graduated from high school if they had had more support. Bridgeland also led the National Summit on America's Silent Epidemic with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association, TIME Magazine and MTV that prompted action at the federal, state and local levels around a 10 point plan of action to increase graduation rates and college and workforce readiness. For more information, visithttp://www.civicenterprises.net/.

About Jobs for America's Graduates

Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) is a non-profit organization and youth development program dedicated to helping at-risk youth graduate from high school and make successful transitions to postsecondary education and meaningful employment. JAG has served over 550,000 youth since its inception in 1980 and is currently helping 40,000 young people in 700 high schools, middle schools, community colleges and other locations in 27 states to achieve academic, career and life success. For more information, visit http://www.jag.org/.

About Philanthropy at AT&T

AT&T Inc. is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives and partnerships, AT&T supports projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address community needs. In 2007, AT&T contributed more than $164 million through corporate-, employee- and AT&T Foundation-giving programs. AT&T and the AT&T Foundation, the corporate philanthropy organization of AT&T, combine more than $1.9 billion of historic charitable commitment to communities across the country.

The Economic Development Administration and Western Carolina University have teamed to produce a useful web site: Know Your Region.

There are a range of helpful materials on the site. Here's an example: a short presentation on defining a region.

Western Carolina has also developed a curriculum on regionalism. I'm currently reviewing it to see how we can integrate the material into our WIRED initiatives.

One interesting insight: The EDA project began with a needs assessment involving 942 economic development and workforce development practitioners. The largest segment of the sample represented professionals working in chambers of commerce and economic development corporations. About 7% represented workforce development professionals. 

Now here is what was interesting. According to the assessment: 

Workforce Development Agencies tend to partner with more organizations to accomplish their development goals than do economic development organizations.

Source: Regionalism and Clusters for Local Development Needs Assessment Results, page 14 available from this page.

There was a nice article in this week's New Mexico Business Journal about one component of the WIRED Initiative in that region.

A new initiative aims to address the looming work force shortage by helping connect New Mexico students and graduates who have left the state with job opportunities here.

The initiative is obtaining funding from a $50,000 seed grant from the French Family of Cos. and $400,000 that is part of a larger $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The program was initiated with a decision by French to donate $100,000 to the community in honor of its 100th anniversary, Swan said. The idea was to improve what he calls the "AIR quality" in Albuquerque -- shorthand for access, innovation and relationships.

The full article can be found here .

Late last year, the Brookings Institution began an effort called The Blueprint for American Prosperity focusing on how metropolitan areas drive economic growth.  Part of that effort looks at what the Federal role should be.  Specifically, the Brookings Institution states that:

Metropolitan areas cannot resolve their challenges alone. Counties, cities, and suburbs operate within a national policy framework, and face challenges bigger than their own capacities. What’s needed is a new partnership between federal, state, local, and private-sector players to help metropolitan areas build on their economic strengths, foster a strong and diverse middle class, and grow in environmentally sustainable ways. Over the next year, we will publish a series of policy papers outlining specific federal reforms.

Brookings has studied what DOL and our Federal partners have done under the WIRED Initiative as part of this effort.  Keep an eye on their Federal Role website as reports on WIRED and other Federal activities should be released in the near future.

Today, a national dropout prevention summit takes place in Washington. The Department of Education is moving toward a standard reporting of dropout rates across the country.

More and more leaders are waking up to the opportunity to reduce dramatically the number of high school dropouts. There's probably no single more effective step we can take to boost long-term per capita incomes, as we move into an era of skill shortages. (Each drop out represents a lifetime earnings loss of about $300,000.)

Here's a new report from America's Promise Alliance. Download the report.

Clearly, old solutions to drop-outs (including pretending that the problem was not all that big) no longer work.

Can we innovate?

The Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina will be participating in a bilateral set of discussions between the US and Canada on the challenges of economic transformation.

The two-day seminar is part of a series of meetings between senior U.S. Labor Department officials and their Canadian counterparts at Human Resource and Social Development Canada to discuss economic, trade and labor-market adjustments within the two countries.

These discussions will be held in Washington at the end of April. You can learn more from this article.