DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE EDUCATION SECTOR
Authors: Abashidze Giorgi 
Published: January 2023

Giorgi Abashidze
Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University
Georgia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3233-6890

“This work was supported by Shota Rustaveli National Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG) [grant number MR-21-224]”

Purpose: Nowadays, our daily lives are unimaginable without digital technologies. We may confidently state that all processes around us have been digitized to some extent. Adapting to digital changes has become essential for any country in any sector. In a digital environment, it is critically important to have an education system that can respond to modern digital challenges. At the same time, it is important not only the digital transformation of the education system but also compatibility with the requirements of the modern digital labor market, which implies the formation of human capital with appropriate digital skills (future skills). Having digital competence and skills has become essential in all fields and we can say that it is as basic and important as reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Digital technologies have significantly changed the education sector over the past ten years, giving rise to the new concept of "digital education". The digital education is the creative use of digital tools and technology during teaching and learning. It is also known as technology-enhanced Learning (TEL) or E-learning. The pandemic, for its part, has accelerated this process and placed new demands on the education system and labor market. As a result, it is critical to evaluate the current stage of digitalization in the education system as well as the issues that the modern digital job market poses. The purpose of this paper is to assess the educational sector's digital transformation and analyze the problems and challenges it faces.

Methodology / approach: In the research process, statistical data collection, grouping, analysis, and synthesis methods are used. Relevant literature is discussed, and significant aspects are presented.

Results: Based on the research, we can say that today it is impossible to provide the labor market with human resources with the necessary skills and knowledge using classical teaching and learning methods. In the next 5 years, we will face a shortage of skilled labor that cannot be replaced by robots and automation. By 2025, according to the World Economic Forum, approximately 85 million jobs in the EU countries will be transferred from humans to robots, while at the same time, 97 million new jobs will be created that require active human involvement (World Economic Forum, 2020). Automation and robotics, as we can see, isn’t the wat to solve this problem. As we can see they worsen the problem and increasing the demand for skilled workers. As a result, the workforce is faced with the problem of providing training to adapt to a quickly changing digital world. This puts pressure on the educational system, which must be modified and adapted to meet the needs of the modern economy. It is vital to promote communication between the private and public sectors in order to improve education and meet the needs of the digital economy.

Originality / scientific novelty: It should be noted that the direction of the digital economy and digital education is a novelty in a number of developing countries, while important steps are already being taken in developed countries. This, in turn, leads to digital inequality, which further aggravates the problem posed in the study. Accordingly, the presented research is a novelty and offers the possibility of digital education to solve one of the important problems in human resources management. The study offers ways and means of digital transformation of education, presents the experience of leading countries in this direction. Also, the process of the digital transformation of the modern labor market is discussed in detail, and statistical analysis is presented, which once again convinces us of the need to take effective steps. It should be noted that the literature in this direction is scarce; therefore, the paper will serve as a kind of introduction, which will contribute to the initiation of detailed studies according to individual directions of digital education.

Practical value / implications: Topics presented in the paper allow us to understand the essence of digital transformation, which is one of the most important processes in the modern world. It gives us a clear idea of the problems and challenges in this direction. Also, the conclusions and recommendations presented within the work are a good tool for the planning of state policy in the direction of digital education and in the process of digitalizing higher educational institutions.

Key words: Digital Education; Digital Economy; Technology Enhanced Learning; Skill gap.