Competitiveness of European Union countries in terms of the level of digitalization

Abstract

Digitalization involves an increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in all areas of the economy and all domains of the functioning of a society. Technologies of this kind affect the level of competitiveness of economies. The aim of the article is to compare the levels of competitiveness of European Union countries in the field of information and communication technologies, on the basis of indices developed by international institutions.The European Commission, World Economic Forum and Eurostat databases were used for comparative analysis of economies. Synthetic indices, such as the 9th pillar of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI Pillar 9), the European Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) were used to compare the levels of digitalization of the economies. The actual individual consumption (AIC) value was adopted as an indicator of the wealth of EU economies. Changes in single indices were analysed as follows: in the NRI in 2014–2016, in the GCI Pillar 9 in 2015–2017 and in the DESI in 2016–2018, while the multi-character classification of countries according to the three variables (the NRI, DESI and GCI Pillar 9) was performed for the year 2016. Ward's hierarchical method and non-hierarchical analysis of k-means clusters were used to this effect. The multiple regression model revealed relationships between the welfare level measured by the AIC and the level of digitalization. The NRI turned out to be the best predictor. The results of the analysis indicate that there are still differences between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ EU countries in terms of the development of the ICT sector.