Digital Skills Advocates Warn BEAD Changes Undermine Workforce Training
'This is a real loss:' Panelists say cuts threaten progress on digital and AI skills training
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2025 – The adoption of digital workforce skills is more crucial than ever, panelists said Thursday at Broadband Breakfast's Speeding BEAD Summit. But recent changes to the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program may eliminate funding for elements designed to support digital equity, affordability and workforce training.
Under the June 6 Restructuring Policy Notice, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration removed language that had allowed states to spend remaining BEAD funds on non-deployment activities after building out broadband infrastructure to all homes and businesses in need. The agency promised further guidance on non-infrastructure-related spending, but advocates remain concerned, saying the situation has been compounded by the expiration of the Affordable Connectivity Program and the Trump administration’s repeal of the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act.
“Ninety-two percent of jobs across industries and occupations require digital skills,” Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, senior fellow at the National Skills Coalition said during the panel. “This is not an option. Everyone in the economy need[s] digital skills.”
FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT
Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?
Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD
Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance
Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills
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During the final panel of the day, Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills, moderator Drew Clark, CEO of Broadband Breakfast, pressed panelists on whether the latest BEAD guidance had sidelined training and inclusion efforts. Several panelists said yes — and forcefully.
“It is going to be difficult to divorce the physical infrastructure from the human infrastructure,” said Tsion Tesfaye, senior research and policy manager at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. “I think we are missing an important opportunity to make sure that people can access the internet that's affordable for them and develop the skills they need to navigate the Internet and really make an effective use of the broadband investment.”
Bergson-Shilcock specifically addressed concerns about the Notice’s non-deployment funding paragraph.
“This is a real loss, not just for the moment and this amount of money, which is a significant loss, but for the next 10 or 15 years, because that's how long education changes take to roll out,” Bergson-Shilcock remarked regarding the new guidance.
When asked whether NDIA, one of the groups previously awarded funding under the now-halted Digital Equity Act, plans to collaborate with state broadband offices going forward, Tesfaye declined to comment. However, she declared, “[NDIA will not give] up the fight, the DEA needs to be reinstated.”
Melissa Newman, senior vice president of government affairs for the Telecommunications Industry Association, argued that workforce development was crucial in order to support broadband infrastructure deployments.
“I don't consider workforce development a non-deployment issue. I think it goes directly to deployment, because if you don't have a workforce ready, able, skilled in this area, we're not going to get deployment, or you're going to get bad deployment. And nobody wants that,” Newman said.
Joshua Williams, lead for digital access at Rural LISC, declared the people must precede all else.
“Before that fiber is laid, how have we connected with the communities? Have we connected with the local workforce in your city, county or state,” Williams said in response.
The panelists also criticized broader federal cuts. In particular, Bergson-Shilcock pointed out Congress’ recent cuts to Pell grants – $30 billion investments for low-income Americans to receive high quality workforce training and academic programs at community and technical colleges.
“If that money goes away, it jeopardizes states' ability to train up the workforce that they need in order to realize the goals of BEAD,” she lamented.
The panelists also said the necessity of AI training further reveals the necessity of fundamental digital skills, as these basic digital skills are the building blocks for AI training and development.
The need for AI and skills training
Bergson-Shilcock urged for federal investments dedicated to AI and digital skills training.
“We need BEAD and DEA investments for AI training,” Bergson-Shilcock stated. “No one springs fully formed as an AI expert, right? We all take a journey in the process of getting there, and in order to get there, we need to invest in the workforce and education and community organizations that help people begin that journey.”
Williams then connected AI skills with the workforce, stating that AI skills greatly benefit workers, oftentimes leading to salary raises. He noted AI training includes basic skills like learning how to fact check ChatGPT.
Bergson-Shilcock stated foreign research revealed a strong correlation between critical thinking skills and traditional literacy skills. She reported a quarter of US adults lack critical thinking, literacy, numeracy and digital problem solving skills, and argued that by investing in the development of digital skills, one invests in literacy skills as well.
The panel concluded with a call for a greater national vision, and a digital strategy centered on digital workforce development and AI literacy training.
