What is knowledge? What do we know? How do we know? In an age where truth, data informed knowledge, and an ever-increasing reliance on digital technology, are difficult to ascertain, what is the future for knowledge, practice and research? There is a growing trend to look away from the to what is happening in communities, that the smaller scale local developments may provide examples for improved larger scale endeavours (Billett, 2025, Joyce et al, 2023, Meiias & Couldry 2023). This paper considers these issues and challenges from a small scale, qualitative case study into how the inclusive used of digital technologies and innovation can enrich workplace learning and empower workers. The narratives of the experiences and perspectives of the six participants provide insight into their communities – vocational and higher education, professional and geographic. They were from three different sectors: construction, aged care, and tertiary (vocational and higher) education. An instrumental case study, drawing on literature and exploration of the experiences of purposively recruited participants, was employed. Narrative inquiry framed the conducting of semi- structured interviews, and thematic data analysis. Findings: There is gap between the knowledge, skills and capability of the individual workers and the organisations and spheres they operate in. They encountered a range of experiences: encouragements, successes, challenges, barriers, frustrations and disillusions. Their accounts evidenced lifelong, lifewide, lifedeep and lifetech learning. Each had experiences of vocational education and training and/or higher education. Their stories indicate that at an individual, ‘community’ and organisational levels they achieved enriched workplace and lifelong learning for themselves and others, whilst some large institutions and governments lag behind. Conclusion: Each participant had navigated a journey of lifelong learning, formal and informal, individual and workplace based, experiencing the highs and lows of empowerment and disillusionment in the use of digital technology. Their recommendations for improvements are practical, insightful, and relevant for communities of localised workplaces and institutions; governments and multinational big tech corporations should learn from the lived experiences of the people. There is a huge gap between the goodwill and positivity of individuals and the complex, profit driven world of digital technology.

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