Vol. 20 / 2025 – International Conference on Virtual Learning

Social and Economic Predictors of Digital Skills. Benchmarks for Public Policies in a time of 4.0 Revolution

Vicențiu-Robert GABOR, Ciprian IFTIMOAEI, Adrian-Victor VEVERA

Abstract:

Since the launch of the Digital Agenda for Europe (2010), the European member countries have developed policies, strategies and programs to stimulate the digital economy in the context of advancing information and communication technology. Increasing digital skills and inclusion has become essential for governments, businesses, academia and the non-governmental sector. Apart from the technical conditions (internet access, critical infrastructures and digital devices) necessary for the development of digital skills, education and training in the field of information and communication technology must be improved by offering training and specialization courses at the same time as personal motivation and stimulating interest in the prospects of a life of quality in an increasingly digitized society. This research aims to evaluate the impact of social and economic predictors (independent variables) on the level of digital skills (dependent variable), with the potential to identify areas for improvement and strategies for growth. The research methodology includes the statistical analysis of the variables (risk of poverty and social excluzion, participation in education, PISA results at math, early leavers from education, GDP per capita, government spending on education), correlation and multiple linear regression, principal component analysis (PCA). The study will also use cartographic processing for comparative analysis at the EU-27 level. The general assumption is that government initiatives, investments in digital infrastructures and educational programs that promote digital literacy play a key role in the policy-making process in an era of digitalization in which the advance of so-called Revolution 4.0 marks the society and the economy.

Keywords:
socio-economic predictors, digitalization, digital skills, public policy., digital literacy

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CITE THIS PAPER AS:
Vicențiu-Robert GABOR, Ciprian IFTIMOAEI, Adrian-Victor VEVERA, "Social and Economic Predictors of Digital Skills. Benchmarks for Public Policies in a time of 4.0 Revolution", International Conference on Virtual Learning, ISSN 2971-9291, ISSN-L 1844-8933, vol. 20, pp. 341-360, 2025. https://doi.org/10.58503/icvl-v20y202529