According to researchers and scientists, digital literacy has become a global phenomenon in human life. Every level of education and every job requires some sort of digital skillset. The jobs across the IT sector have increased and therefore, it is essential for the students to study a particular curriculum designed for their studies.

The Global Skills Initiative by Microsoft has been developed to work for the development of skills among students & employees. It dictates the way in which organizations could fill the gaps in the current skillset and what needs to be learned ahead of. They are working towards effective post-pandemic recovery by devising the skills among the population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to record numbers in the disrupted economies and unemployment rates worldwide. So, new investment insights need to be done for making the access of digital devices and broadband connectivity available to every sector of the economy. The digital need is the core of commerce, healthcare, and education in the world.

Changes that have occurred since the pandemic:

• Diversity in the workforce
• More educational needs and opportunities
• Formal education in the IT and business sector
• More dynamic need for faster-hiring process

Thus, to address the aforementioned changes, Microsoft took care to develop the new initiative in collaboration with the public & private sectors. Technologies like GitHub, Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn, and others support the transformation of enterprises into digital mediums. They have collaborated with the governments to bring the use of Artificial Intelligence into these industries.

The global skills initiative is a great medium because it gives practical insights to the researchers into what is required in real-time. Then they could process data to overcome the obstacles if any.

The approach of Global Skills Initiative:

• In collaboration with LinkedIn Learning, they have developed over 500 online courses to allow the easy flow of digital knowledge.
• They connected people with their program Microsoft Learn for free interactive and firsthand training for in-demand technical skills in Microsoft products and services.
• They also provided free access to the GitHub Learning Lab that teaches technology and coding.
• They are also teaching critical soft skills like diversity, inclusion, and belonging during the digital transformation.
• The people who are already using training platforms were provided with new skills and courses to nurture their skills.
• Reading, video, and hands-on interactivity in helping people trying to learn whatever content they approve.
• Project-based learning, incentives (in the form of interviews), and network connections to help them complete their training paths.

Digital Equity is the prime focus of the global skills initiative, providing digital literacy to every level and class. With the emergence of COVID-19, the people with disabilities, poor educational accessibility, racial and ethnic minorities, women, and freshers were the most affected. Thus, it is the goal of this skills program to reach these levels of society and distribute digital equity among them.

Aligning with this, Microsoft has issued $20 million grants to non-profit organizations around the world to help those coming under the umbrella of the above-mentioned communities achieve digital literacy. This effort made them reach nearly 6 million learners from this non-profit org. With extensive support, training, and mentoring, these people could achieve on-track progress.

The next step would be taken by Microsoft’s Career Connector in helping the people get job opportunities according to their skills.

There is a global need to re-skill and for that, a global village is required.

This global village will consist of private enterprises, employers, governments and nonprofits, to create digital literacy worldwide. This digital literacy will then, in turn, foster a more inclusive skill-based market.

Behind all these efforts, the most important role is to be played by the government. They need to develop a leadership role in this issue. They could provide support to people who have greater needs, economic incentives for small businesses, and a chance for women to grow.

What is needed right now is not only the need to learn new technology but also to put that technology to use. 

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