Regional differentiation of digital economy development in the Russian Federation

The present stage of the world economy development is marked by building and sustaining the digital economy, which, driven by the effective use of information and communication technology (ICT), is making unprecedented advances and eventually overtakes the traditional economy. Harnessing the digital economy technologies is particularly relevant for Russia, since the country needs to move from its current resource-oriented national economy model towards the innovative one while facing severe economic sanctions. The Russian Federation is characterized by uneven socio-economic development of its constituent entities (regions). The authors attempt to test their hypothesis suggesting regional differentiation of indicators of the digital economy development. In view of ICT application as the primary driver of the latter, the article analyzes statistical indicators related to ICT usage by organizations and the population across the Russian regions. The assessment technique employed includes the calculation of range and relative range, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. It has been found that the digital economy development across the Russian regions is rather even: for all estimated indicators except one, the coefficient of variation has a value of less than 0.33. At the regional level, greater disparity is observed in the use of digital economy technologies by the population, while organizations demonstrate higher homogeneity. The Russian regions which are leading or lagging behind in terms of the digital economy development are clearly visible. The proposed methodology provides an efficient tool for prompt and accurate identification of problematic areas in the digital economy development, which offers important implications for policy-makers and practitioners at all levels.