Date of this Version
2026
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The focus of this study was to investigate the influence of digital competence on infopreneurship intention among Library and Information Science (LIS) students in federal polytechnics in South-West Nigeria, a context characterized by high graduate unemployment and rapid digital transformation. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Eshet-Alkalai's Digital Literacy Model, a descriptive survey design was employed. The population comprised 638 final-year LIS students across four federal polytechnics, with a sample of 468 selected through multi-stage sampling. A validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.828 was used for data collection. 388 responses amounting to 82.9% response rate was achieved and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed high levels of both infopreneurship intention (mean = 3.28) and digital competence (mean = 3.21). Regression analysis indicated that digital competence explains 71.6% of the variance in infopreneurship intention (β = 0.846, p < 0.001), establishing it as the single strongest predictor. Major impediments included lack of start-up capital (mean = 3.20) and limited access to digital tools (mean = 2.97). Unlike prior studies which were focused on general entrepreneurship, this research provides the first large-scale empirical evidence from Nigeria's polytechnic LIS sector that digital competence operates as a key enabler of infopreneurship intention, explaining substantially more variance than previously reported in comparable developing-economy contexts. The findings have significant implications for LIS curriculum reform, polytechnic education policy, and graduate unemployment interventions in Nigeria.
