1 Ready to Work Programs that train individuals to earn industry-recognized credentials offer job seekers a clear value proposition. For example, the mean annual wage for those with a Cisco Certified Network Associate credential, Cisco's most popular entry-level credential, is roughly $80,000, and many individuals quickly rise to network management jobs or earn cybersecurity credentials that can earn well over 14 $100,000 per year. Hiring based on industry-recognized credentials reduces search costs and raises productivity for employers, both in having more skilled workers, and in knowing reliably what skills they can expect from those workers. While the IT field may be the most advanced, industries as diverse as manufacturing, energy, and retail are working to develop nationally-recognized credentials, including 22 business and industry associations organized into a national network by the Business Roundtable and a coalition of five philanthropic foundations. DOL online tools and access to data on jobs and skills. Technology platforms and applications can help bridge the gaps between Americans looking for work and employers looking for workers. DOL has created several online career tools to help job seekers plan their careers, choose which jobs to apply for, and identify training and certifications needed to be successful on the job. In addition to creating tools for job seekers and career counselors, DOL has opened its data sets, made them available on data.gov, and created web services for use by states, local areas, businesses and developers. O*NET (www.onetonline.org) has detailed descriptions of the world of work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, researchers and more. Data jams with job seekers and tech innovators. The Administration is also helping to catalyze entrepreneurial development of job-matching apps and highlight successful models. Vice President Biden and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted a “Data Jam for Job Seekers” in June, bringing together dozens of technology innovators and leaders of innovative state workforce systems to mock up new apps and uses of data that can help match job seekers and employers, and to help current workers find paths to be trained for better jobs and careers. Those teams are working now to create prototypes of these apps that will be demonstrated and launched at a White House “Datapalooza for Job Seekers” later this fall. Open data for job-driven training. The President’s open data initiatives continue to release valuable data sets on jobs and skills, making them freely available online. These data can be used by private sector innovators and governments alike to create better tools to match job seekers to available jobs and training and to help policy-makers make data driven decisions on how best to allocate resources. 14 “2013 IT Skills & Salary Report: A Comprehensive Survey from Global Knowledge and Windows IT Pro,” Global Knowledge Training (2013). 17