The New Foundational Skills of the Digital Economy

Not every worker will need every one of the 14 New Foundational Skills, identified in this research by Lightcast in partnership with the Business-Higher Education Forum. But they are more powerful in combination with each other. Each skill brings salary premiums and opportunities to workers, but bundles of skills are even more desirable.

The New Foundational Skills break into three groups:

Human Skills apply social, creative and critical intelligence to problems. These skills – critical thinking, creativity, communication, analytical skills, collaboration, and relationship building – appear on many lists of sought-after “soft skills.”

Digital Building Block Skills are increasingly useful outside traditional digitally intense job families. These skills are especially useful to analysts and data-driven decision makers. These skills include analyzing data, managing data, software development, computer programming, and digital security and privacy.

Business Enabler Skills allow the other skills to be put to work in practical situations, and include project management, business process, communicating data, and digital design.