Digital transformation of the urban environment: "Smart Cities" as drivers of socio-economic development of the region

Abstract

Subject. The article considers processes of digital transformation of cities, the success of the Smart City project, approaches to assessing the efficiency of digital transformation of the region, and digitalization of the urban environment. Objectives. The purpose is to analyze the digitalization efficiency of Russian cities against the background of the study of international practices, develop a methodological approach to assess digital transformation efficiency of the urban environment, intensity of ICT introduction in regions. Methods. We apply methods of observation, generalization, statistical analysis of data. The evaluation procedure rests on comparison of planned and actual indicators, calculation of relative indicators of the status and dynamics of selected aspects, and aggregation of calculated coefficients. Results. We analyzed the level of digital transformation by group of cities based on the City IQ ranking for 2021, reviewed significant infrastructure solutions of resident companies of the Skolkovo Fund specializing in IT developments, offered an approach to assess the effectiveness of digital transformation of the region in general and the sphere of development of the urban environment in particular, within the framework of Strategy in the field of digital transformation of economic branches, social sphere and public administration of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Conclusions. The success of digital transformation of the urban environment is confirmed by the City IQ Index growth for 2021. The paper formulated main achievements and problems of the information and communication technology industry development in 2021 and the first half of 2022.