TRAIL

Digital literacy is an internationally recognized problem. TRAIL is the first to market with an open learning platform that leverages powerful data to help community advocates and educators alike to empower users. The goal of TRAIL is to provide a suite of lifestyle management applications, rooted in a core digital literacy curriculum and partnered with state, federal and non-profit institutions to provide effective and empowering solutions to social issues. Right now, JobScout is getting peo... ple to work. Our first platform, JobScout, teaches the essential Internet skills needed to find a job in today’s online marketplace. Despite the growing importance of the Internet in American life, 1 in 5 Americans are not digitally literate. That means there are 60 million Americans who do not know how to use the Internet. This number is nearly 6 billion people worldwide. High-speed Internet access and online skills are not only necessary for seeking, applying for, and getting today’s jobs, but also to take advantage of the growing educational, civic, and healthcare advances spurred by broadband. Statistics show stark demographic disparities in digital literacy. Senior citizens, Spanish speakers, adults with less than a high school education, and those living in low-income households are the least likely adults to have Internet access. Ten percent fewer Hispanics and African-Americans use the Internet than whites. Moreover, only 6 in 10 Americans go online wirelessly with one of their own devices, so public institutions are serving a crucial need in providing access to the American public. But do they have the resources and the tools to provide Internet literacy trainings to those who need it most? That’s where JobScout comes in. The career training program industry is a billion dollar industry with lackluster results. Our competitors are in-person training programs in the workforce development space. JobScout is innovating the career training space through technology to offset the costs and resource burdens of traditional workforce development. JobScout is part of inaugural efforts in the State of California and nationwide to support digital literacy, so the platform has no direct competitors. In essence, we are the first to this market space that is hallmarked by bureaucracy and desperately in need of re-imagination.