DIGITAL COMPETENCY CERTIFICATION AS PRODUCT INNOVATION: BRIDGING HUMAN RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION

This study aims to analyze the role of digital competency certification (DCIT) as a product innovation that bridges human resource development - especially in terms of attitude, knowledge, and skills - with increased sustainability awareness of heavy equipment operator development education in the Indonesian coal mining industry. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to process data from 314 heavy equipment operators in the coal mining sector, with the help of SmartPLS software version 4.1.0.9. The results of the analysis show that attitude has a significant effect on the formation of knowledge and skills, but has no direct effect on the success of obtaining digital certification. In contrast, the influence of attitude on DCIT is fully mediated by knowledge and skills. In addition, both knowledge and skills are shown to contribute directly and indirectly to increasing sustainability awareness, where DCIT plays an important role as a partial mediator. The R² values of 0.392 for sustainability awareness and 0.271 for DCIT indicate the model's moderate explanatory power and practical relevance. The findings confirm that digital certification serves not only as a technical indicator, but also as a strategic instrument to strengthen the culture of sustainability through Human Resources capacity building. Policy implications emphasize the importance of integrating digital certification programs into Human Resources development agendas and organizational sustainability strategies.