World Education Facilitates Digital Skills Discussion at APEC 2023

As more than 2,000 delegates from 21 economies in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) convened in Seattle for the Third APEC Senior Officials’ and Ministerial Meetings (SOM3), World Education U.S. Vice President Priyanka Sharma facilitated a conversation on Digital Literacy and the Future of Work at the APEC Closing the Digital Skills Gap Forum. The forum, part of APEC Digital Month: Building a Digital Pacific for All and with the theme of Promoting an Inclusive Digitally Skilled Workforce, provided APEC economies with tools to invest in the digital upskilling and reskilling of the workforce and addressed challenges like the exacerbation of the skills gap by the COVID-19 pandemic and the responsible use of generative AI.

The forum was overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor and co-chaired by Wiley and the Business Higher Education Forum and included a series of events and activities with public and private sector experts focused on digital innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship to achieve an interconnected, innovative, and inclusive digital economy. The forum also built on activities World Education has partnered on, such as the development of the APEC Digital Readiness Checklist and the APEC Roadmap to Closing the Digital Skills Gap by 2030.

In May 2023, Alison Webber, Director of Strategic Initiatives for the EdTech Center @ World Education, presented on foundational digital literacy for adults in the United States during the Education Network Meeting at APEC’s Ministerial convening in Detroit. She shared learnings from the implementation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Digital Resilience in the American Workforce (DRAW) initiative, through which World Education led a national landscape scan and is leading the development of online professional development materials for adult educators to support digital skills development and resilience. World Education has also co-hosted events with APEC, such as the 2019 briefing for the Closing the Digital Skills Gap Forum in Washington D.C. as part of World Education’s leadership of the national Digital US Coalition.

APEC invites you to follow Digital Month events on the U.S. APEC LinkedIn account.