Digital Literacy and Academic Outcomes in Support of Smart City Policies and Economy Growth

This paper explores the relationship between the role of digital literacy and education performance and the existing and proposed smart city strategies in the European Union, with specific focus on the youth in the education and employment system. As a result of evolution of digital innovation, the economic frameworks of modern cities are transformed, with the acquisition of skills being the primary drivers or bridges between digital evolution and meaningful social and economic impact. In existing literature, a major thrust is given to role of digital skills, connectivity, and technology implementation, and the performance disparities in the process of evolution and adaptation. In applying the quantitative panel approach, all the present European member countries were subjected to the statistical framework of the study, in a periodical process for the duration of six years between 2017 and 2022. In the endogenous variable, the measure and proportion of the youth disengaged from the workforce and even the process of education is captured, while the exogenous variable gains in the quality of digital evolution, the adaptability of institutional usage of technology, and the aggregate level of individual skills of the population concern. The findings of the research confirm the negative link between enhancements in the quality of digital evolution and the disengagement of the youth. This paper adds to the existing body of knowledge by applying the employment and education of the youth in the process of measuring the evolution and maturity of the smart city strategy.