Google has released a new report called ‘Opportunity For Everyone’ which examines economic opportunity in the U.S. and how gaps in education, entrepreneurship, and social safety nets can be bridged. The report is meant to be another piece to the search giant’s increasingly comprehensive outreach efforts but with a direct focus ‘beyond’ currently proposed solutions. Specifically, the company is looking at several challenges to economic opportunity and the new report outlines the ways those might be addressed through Google’s own products and programs, as well as which outreach platforms the company supports. The first report effectively outlines where Google thinks its influence will have the most impact and areas of concern that need to be addressed. For now, the technology conglomerate sees three areas where efforts need to push past what’s already being offered. That includes looking beyond coding and computer science education initiatives, local endeavors in Silicon Valley, and the concepts of Universal Basic Income (UBI).
To begin with, Google points out that efforts in education both in the classroom and on the job need to be revamped. Specifically, low-income households and minority homes have less access to technology and teachers have less ability to teach that topic. Moreover, work needs to be done to improve access to high-speed internet to ensure students aren’t left behind. Beyond a need for proper training to cover technology-related curriculum, educators must be adequately equipped to utilize new technologies to impact learning overall. In the workplace, Google says that employers need to do a better job at clarifying required skills for employment and invest more in on-the-job training. One solution to that may be the establishments of partnerships to enable the learning of skills and those need to go beyond technology. Demand for social and emotional skills at work will rise by 25-percent over the next decade. Education outreach needs to cover those types of jobs and others that aren’t “digital” in order to have the desired impact, according to Google. The associated initiatives, meanwhile, cannot be focused only on technology companies’ local communities but need to be more widespread across the country.
Finally, Google discusses the safety nets beyond the concepts of UBI but also says that those are worth talking about as a partial solution. UBI may be best defined as the idea that a basic standard of living could be met through tax-based initiatives to ensure that every eligible person has a basic income to live on. However, the search giant explains that employers need to focus on the quality of employment. That includes efforts to ensure employees are well-trained and have opportunities to improve their economic situation. Beyond that, the company says businesses should do more to support their workers through situations such as a family crisis and with major medical problems.
Google Opportunity For Everyone (PDF)