PILLAR ONE | EQUIP EVERY
AMERICAN WITH FOUNDATIONAL
CYBER SKILLS
America’s economic competitiveness and security improve when workers have the cyber skills
needed to meet workforce demands. Equipped with these skills, Americans will be positioned to
find and keep good jobs that support families and strengthen communities.
Foundational cyber skills must become universal like reading and math. We must expand programs
offering foundational cyber skills, and design learning opportunities to support education systems
that are accessible and effective.
Foundational cyber skills consist of three components (see also Figure 5 and Appendix B):
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•
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Digital literacy: The cognitive and technical skills needed to use information and
technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information.45
Computational literacy: The ability to consume information and use applications and
systems to: analyze data, draw conclusions, and solve problems; safely, ethically, and securely
interact in networked environments; and understand how computing, data, and connectivity
affects society.46
Digital resilience: The awareness, skills, agility, and confidence to be empowered users of
new technologies and adapt to changing digital skill demands.47
Key stakeholders from across academia and the public and private sectors have important roles to
play in enabling Americans to develop foundational cyber skills. This collaboration will need to be
active, dynamic and forward-looking.
NATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE
AND
EDUCATION STRATEGY
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