State launches digital platform to help jobseekers

The state has launched a new digital hub that aims to help residents seek jobs, fulfill unemployment claim requirements or transition careers more easily.

The Hawaii Career Acceleration Navigator will allow unemployment insurance claimants to fulfill and digitally track their work search requirement, as well as help those eligible for additional social services connect to the programs they need to transition careers, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

“We’re pioneering a first-ofits-kind data platform to connect job seekers to careers in our post-pandemic economy,” Gov. David Ige said in a news release Wednesday. “Hawaii is on the cutting edge, using widely available government data for a user-friendly program that creates highly customized job recommendations.”

The HI CAN platform is the product of a partnership with national tech for social impact nonprofit Research Improving People’s Lives, the National Governor’s Association-Workforce Innovation Network and the state.

Powered by the Amazon Web Services cloud and in partnership with Geographic Solutions, HI CAN generates custom recommendations and job matches by using a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence, state administrative data and cloud computing.

“We are unlocking state data and technology to match and develop worker skills to meet industry needs,” DLIR Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio said. “At the same time, eligible users can get help without sifting through dozens of government links that can lead to confusion and frustration. COVID has been hard, so we are centralizing services and putting people’s data to work to make bouncing back from it easier.”