The main trends of the development of the digital economy in the eu countries

Abstract

The development of information technologies in recent decades requires active reforms in the digitization of all processes and the adaptation of the population to them from individual individuals, enterprises and organizations, as well as from states. Issues related to the emergence of potential threats to the economic security of the state attract special attention in this regard. The purpose of the research is to analyze the main trends in the development of industry 4.0 on an international scale and establish its impact on the economic security of the state by identifying potential threats to its development. The methodological basis of the study is the analysis of the results presented by the European Commission in its report "Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI)", which is developed annually to monitor the digital progress of member states. The article examines the features of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Industry 4.0, which made it possible to clarify the main directions of the development of society: the formation of digital competences and the development of human capital; formation of digital infrastructure; integration of digital technologies in business and everyday life; improvement of digital public services. Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have the most developed digital economies in the EU, followed by Ireland, Malta and Spain. Romania, Bulgaria and Greece have the lowest DESI scores. Estonia, Finland, Malta and the Netherlands have the highest scores for digital public services in the DESI, while Romania and Greece have the lowest. The main results of the conducted research are the identification and systematization of potential threats to the economic security of the state, the occurrence of which can negatively affect its development. It was established that the main threats to the economic security of the state during Industry 4.0 are: the absence or insufficient level of digital competences; high cost of software development; non-acceptance of digital innovations by society; cyber attacks; sources of personal data; falsification of data, etc. A detailed study of the specified threats and their impact on the economic security of the state can become a direction of further research.