Regional Aspects of Digital Economic Development

Abstract

Development of digital economy has become a strategic priority in the majority of developed and developing countries. Today, the creation and dissemination of digital technologies are becoming a key factor for competitive success of the countries and regions, which changes national and regional socioeconomic environment. This chapter’s goal is to reveal and assess the factors contributing to the development of information and communication technologies in the regions of the Russian Federation. The study uses regression analysis to estimate the dependence between several indicators of dissemination and use of digital technologies in the main sectors of economy—business sector, households, public services—and the characteristics of regional development. It is demonstrated that in Russia digital divide between the regions remains rather high, with more than a quarter of the employed population and nearly a half of information and communication technology spending being concentrated in metropolitan centers. The richer and more educated regions have distinct long-term advantages in digital economic development. If these trends are confirmed, the accelerated development of digital technologies will be concentrated mainly in the largest regions; high differentiation in the level of digital economic development will persist or even be amplified.