The paper is focused on provisions and challenges for the eLearning process, analysing the premises for the successful implementation of the e-learning programmes, i.e. the adequate infrastructure and the key competences required. The digital divide represents a barrier for the further development of the eLearning processes and the wide accessibility to these innovative tools. Obstacles and difficulties in accessing the virtual environment, representing the main causes of the digital divide, have been highlighted and analyzed in order to find solutions for their removal. The study emphases the role of the higher education institutions in compensating the students' lack of appropriate competences required for participating in e-learning education processes., such as: digital skills, self-motivation, self-driven learning capacity, good communication skills, including communication in foreign languages and cultural awareness. The research has been based on the identification and analysis of the state-of-the-art in this area , from both perspectives, i.e. IT infrastructure and its accessibility, and students' competences . Statistical data analysis has been used iregarding the actual challenges and the existing IT infrastructure available in the Romanian education system. In addition to the desk research, a study case has been presented, illustrating the concrete students' situation and profile. In this context, a survey has been organised for the identification of the existing students' key competences and also the needed skills for facilitating the students' involvement in the e-learning processes on a continuous basis, as an important asset for their social insertion. The universities are key players that may be involved in bridging the digital divide and in developing the necessary adults' skills for the successfully participation in online learning processes. The role of the e-learning in the adult continuous education, based on cybergogy and andragogy paradigms, has been also emphasised. Besides the main competences and skills required as pre-conditions for the efficacy of the online learning process, the paper emphasises also the impact of the e-Learning on the educational processes and knowledge democratisation.
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