Bridging Digital Divides: Validating Government ICT Investments Accelerating Sustainable Development Goals

Thabit Atobishi () and Hasan Mansur
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Thabit Atobishi: Health Information Management and Technology Department, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Hasan Mansur: Department of International Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business, American University of Madaba, Madaba 17110, Jordan

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Achieving the ambitious economic, social, and environmental goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires strategic digital governance improvements that promote long-term and equitable participation in emerging technologies. However, research lacks clear confirmation regarding how governments’ varied policy investments in spheres, like infrastructure expansion, skills programming, and cybersecurity, specifically contribute to holistic sustainable development progress monitored across international benchmarks. Addressing persistent uncertainties, this study statistically modeled if national expenditures directed toward information and communications technology (ICT) access, digital literacy initiatives, and online privacy protections predict higher performances meeting SDGs longitudinally. Analyzing recent country-level data across 27 European nations, structural equation modeling uncovered positive relationships between all three complementary digital governance priority areas and national SDG Index achievement over time. Beyond theoretically validating the instrumental role of availability, capabilities, and security advancements for balanced digitization, findings offer policymakers vital empirical guidance to amplify social returns on ICT investments. The results also demonstrate practical tools to track implementation impacts amidst unrelenting technological shifts. Ultimately, equitably mainstreaming technologies’ vast problem-solving potential necessitates evidence-based digital governance carefully expanding equitable participation. This work aims to equip leaders to purposefully craft enabling, empowering ICT policy ecosystems advancing urgent development aims.

Keywords: e-government; sustainable development goals (SDGs); digitization strategies; digital divide; information and communication technologies (ICTs); digital infrastructure; cybersecurity; digital skills; structural equation modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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