A country-level preparedness index for digital education: infrastructure, teacher scientific-technology competence, and socioeconomic context

Abstract As education systems worldwide race towards digital transformation, increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, striking contrasts are emerging. While some nations are using these tools to transform learning, others are struggling to overcome deep-rooted structural and economic barriers. These disparities directly hinder progress towards Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). To capture these dynamics, this study introduces a digital preparedness index for education, constructed using Principal Component Analysis, and applies it to 43 countries. The aim was to evaluate national performance by combining measures of technological infrastructure, human capacity for digital pedagogy, and socio-economic context. The weighted ICT index, standardized with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1, ranged from $$\:-2.590$$ to $$\:1.639$$ . The highest scores were achieved by the United Arab Emirates, Denmark and the United States, followed by Sweden, New Zealand and Singapore. By contrast, negative values were concentrated in Latin America, with countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia lagging due to persistent structural and economic barriers. The study also highlighted countries such as Japan and Austria, which despite having strong economies and investing heavily in technology, underperformed due to weak pedagogical integration. This shows that, in the age of artificial intelligence, true readiness lies as much in people and institutions as in infrastructure, reminding policymakers that the digital future of education will be written not only with devices, but with human capacity and vision.