Leveraging the Internet, the Task Force today embarks on a robust digital public engagement campaign to ask New Jersey’s workers about opportunities and challenges that technology brings to the workplace.

TRENTON –  Today the New Jersey State Future of Work Task Force launched a public engagement campaign with the goal of tapping the public’s experience and expertise to inform the development of the Task Force findings and recommendations. The public is encouraged to participate at https://www.smarter.nj.gov/fow from today until March 15, 2020.

The Task Force is seeking to learn about how the public perceives challenges pertaining to the future of work. Via the Internet, the Task Force is asking for people to share their greatest concerns with regard to the impact of new technology on lifelong learning and skills, rights and benefits for workers, and workplace health and safety.

“The Task Force includes a diverse array of global experts from academia, labor, business, and policy, yet we realize that we don’t have all the answers – we don’t have all the solutions,” said Beth Simone Noveck, the State’s Chief Innovation Officer and chair of the Task Force. “To ensure that we’re developing the best solutions and recommendations possible, and to ensure that those recommendations truly meet the needs of the public that we’re here to serve, we have to tap into the general public’s expertise and know-how.”

People who work in the state of New Jersey are asked to go to https://www.smarter.nj.gov/fow and respond to the three online questionnaires. All Our Ideas, a unique survey tool developed at Princeton University, enables participants to respond to as many or as few questions as they wish, share their own responses, and see how others have responded. All the data from the engagement is publicly available.

The New Jersey State Office of Innovation and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University are leading the public engagement campaign in partnership with the Governor’s Office, Task Force members, State departments, and an array of workforce and economic development stakeholders.

Today’s engagement is the first of two stages of public engagement. The second stage, which will begin in late March, will ask the public to suggest solutions to the challenges identified on All Our Ideas in the first stage.

Governor Phil Murphy appointed the Task Force to evaluate and prepare for the challenges and opportunities that technological advancement will bring and ensure that the Garden State’s future economy is stronger, fairer, and inclusive for all. Its work is part of the Murphy Administration’s talent plan, Jobs NJ: Developing Talent to Grow Business in the Garden State.

The public engagement campaign is also part of the State’s SmarterNJ initiative, which is focused on creating new and innovative ways for the public to contribute meaningfully to the policymaking process.