  This research seeks to measure the impact of people with technological
knowledge on regional digital economic activity and the implications of
prosperous cities' contagion effect on neighbouring ones. The focus of this
study is quantitative, cross-sectional, and its design is correlational-causal.
This study covers seven micro-regions of Minas Gerais in Brazil, organized in
89 municipalities, with 69% urban population and 31% rural. The data used
consisted of 4,361 observations obtained in the Brazilian government's public
repositories, organized into panel data, and analysed using partial least
squares, micro-regional spatial regression, and identification patterns with
machine learning. The confirmatory analysis of the regression test establishes
a significant impact between the CE's technological knowledge and the digital
economic activity AED through a predictive value of R2 = .749, \b{eta} = .867,
p = .000 (value t = 18,298). With high notoriety among the variables, public
and private university institutions (IUPP), professors with doctorates and
masters (DCNT), and information technology occupations (CBO). A geographic
concentration of companies that demand technology-based skills had effects by
slowing down the development of small municipalities, suggesting the
development of new government technology initiatives that support new business
models based on technological knowledge.
