Issues Of Developing The Digital Economy In Russia

Abstract

The relevance of the topic of the digital economy development in Russia is because digital technologies have taken a leading place in all sectors of the economy. Increasing competitiveness and creating favourable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship at the state level is based on the development and implementation of national programs for the development of the digital economy. The Digital Economy Agenda program is being implemented in the USA. The Productive and Innovative Finland – Digital Action Plan 2011-2020 is being implemented in Finland. Sweden is developing the Digital Strategy program. The "Digital Strategy" program was founded in the UK. Japan presented the National Strategy "Society 5.0". In Russia, the Concept of long-term socio-economic development until 2020 was developed. However, the outbreak of the global financial crisis of 2008 made the implementation of the Russian Concept extremely problematic. Instead of the Concept of Long-Term Socio-Economic Development, Russia approved the Strategy-2020. According to Strategy-2020, GDP growth per year was supposed to be 6 %, but by 2018, this indicator was 2 %. According to forecasts of the Ministry of Economic Development, by 2024, GDP growth by 2024 will be 4 % per year. The indicator for reducing the poverty level of the population from 13 % to 6 % remained unchanged. Now it is planned to achieve this indicator by 2024. All developed strategies were aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the national economy. We examine the impact of digital technologies on the development of the national and global economy.

Keywords: digitalization, digital economy, digital technologies, state

Introduction

At a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, July 13, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the need to launch "powerful digital development in all spheres of life." It is planned that by 2024 a digital transformation in the economy will be carried out the development of regulations on the use of digital technologies, the training of qualified personnel and the creation of digital infrastructure (Lynch, 2020).

Problem Statement

In Russia, the Concept of long-term socio-economic development until 2020 was developed. Nevertheless, the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008 made its implementation impossible. Instead, Strategy 2020 was approved, according to which GDP growth per year was supposed to be 6 %. However, by 2018, this figure was 2 %. According to forecasts of the Ministry of Economic Development, by 2024, GDP growth by 2024 will be 4 % per year. The indicator on the reduction of the poverty level of the population from 13 % to 6 % remained unchanged. Now they plan to achieve this indicator by 2024. All developed strategies were aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the national economy.

Research Questions

In 2016, Russia ranked 12th in the ranking of innovative economies in the world, and in 2018 – 25th in the ranking.

In 2017, Russia ranked 33rd among 40 countries according to the Better Life Index. In 2019, an assessment of "digital well-being" was carried out. It was found that 84 % of the adult population use the Internet at least once a year; 62 % of the population communicate on social networks; 54 % of Russians use e-government services. Only 3 % of Russians reported the inability to use these services. Schools are 70 % equipped with digital resources, 6 % of the population used digital technologies for finding work online, and online learning was supported by just over 2 % of the population (Demidkina, Vishnevsky, 2011).

Today, the National Program "Digital Economy of Russia" has been approved and is operating, where the following federal projects are highlighted: "Normative regulation of the digital environment", "Personnel for the digital economy", "Information infrastructure", "Information security", "Digital technologies", "Digital state management "(Herraiz-Faixó, 2020).

It is predicted that within the framework of the federal project "Personnel for the digital economy" it will be possible to train about 100 thousand people in the field of intellectual property, within the framework of the project "Normative regulation of the digital environment". It is planned to create a service for launching a digital profile of a citizen in order to obtain a loan online. It is also planned to amend the regulatory legal acts in order to develop digital platforms effectively. Within the framework of the Information Infrastructure project, the digitalization of social institutions was planned. However, most institutions do not have a network infrastructure. For the implementation of the Information Security project, multifunctional educational and research centres are being introduced, which will resolve the issue of information security.

In the national program "Digital Economy", 231 events were planned, of which, in the first quarter of 2020, only six events were implemented (https://www.tadviser.ru/).

According to a 2016 World Bank report, only 15 % of the world's population has broadband Internet access. In developing countries, 80 % of the population uses mobile phones to access the Internet. The Internet remains inaccessible to some people in India, China and North America, which shows the existence of a digital divide not only between countries but also within one country.

In the ranking of innovative economies in the world in 2018, South Korea, Sweden and Singapore were among the top three, while the United States took 11th place.

In order to develop a digital economy based on the blockchain, South Korea for 2021–2026 will allocate 380 million dollars. Also, in June 2020, the South Korean Central Bank confirmed that it intends to develop a national digital currency. In 2017, the Mid-Term Master Plan for Preparing for an Intelligent Information Society was presented, according to which 49.7 % of jobs by 2030 will be automated. Analysts estimate that 86 % of workers today spend 20 % of their time on tasks that will be automated in the near future. Thanks to the introduction of digital technologies, 800 thousand new jobs will be created by 2030. It is expected that the introduction of digital technologies will increase the competitiveness of the economy, improve the quality of life, and increase the well-being of people and the efficiency of healthcare. According to the Medium-Term Master Plan for Preparing for an Intelligent Information Society, today, even though South Korea has a digital infrastructure, the level of data used in economic sectors is 4.3 % (Matern, Binder, Noack, 2019).

Unlike South Korea, Sweden has already started testing e-currency – e-krona. It is expected that by 2023 cash will disappear from circulation, and 85 % of the country's population is already shopping online.

According to a report by the Ecommerce Foundation, at the end of 2019, e-commerce alone in the EU amounted to 621 billion euros. In 2018, 66 % of e-commerce turnover came from Western Europe (Idigova, Tagaev, Tasueva, 2019).

Such countries as the USA, where the Digital Economy Agenda is being implemented; Finland with the Productive and Innovative Finland – Digital Action Plan 2011-2020; Sweden with the Digital Strategy program, Great Britain with Digital Strategy; Japan with National Strategy «Society 5.0» and other countries demonstrate success in the development of the digital economy.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of digital technologies on the socio-economic development of Russia.

Research Methods

Many scientific publications have been devoted to the development of the digital economy; its positive and negative sides are highlighted; every year, the interest in it only increases. Digital technologies contribute to the digital transformation of society, becoming an indispensable condition for development. Despite such close attention on the part of society to digital technology, the issue of the development of the digital economy of Russia in comparison with European countries is not sufficiently disclosed. During the research, comparative and statistical analyzes were used.

Findings

Based on the preceding, we concluded that for the development of the digital economy, it is necessary, first of all, to increase the digital literacy of the population. Today, the digital literacy index of Russians is only 58 points against 52 points in 2018. According to a study by the analytical centre NAFI, today, only 27 % of Russians can boast of a high level of digital literacy (26 % in 2018). It should be noted that the federal project "Human Resources for the Digital Economy" predicts that by 2024 the level of digital literacy will be 40 % (Idigova, Salgiriyev, Tasuyeva, 2019).

Conclusion

Today, the digital economy is an innovative economy that relies on the use of digital technologies in all spheres of society in order to increase the competitiveness of the economy and improve the quality of life of the population. The digital economy is rightfully considered one of the elements of the fourth industrial revolution, where the innovative economy is closely intertwined with the traditional economy. Distinctive features of the digital economy are the ability to purchase goods and services online with minimal time costs and low prices. In the process of developing the digital economy, there is a need for regulatory legal acts regulating activities using digital technologies and increasing digital literacy of the population. Regarding the level of unemployment in the development of the digital economy, we note that changes are taking place in the labour market: the demand for vacancies in the IT sector is increasing, other jobs are losing their relevance, so it is necessary to take measures to change career guidance. These categories may include drivers, in connection with the development and implementation of self-driving cars.

In the modern world, a digital economy is an indispensable tool for the country's socio-economic development, increasing competitiveness and creating favourable conditions for the business sector.

References

• Demidkina, O., Vishnevsky, K. (2011). The impact of digital technology on quality of life. National Research University Higher School of Economics. Retrieved from: https://issek.hse.ru/

• Herraiz-Faixó, F. (2020). ‘Digital and Programmable Economy Applications: A Smart Cities Congestion Case by Fuzzy Sets’, pp. 5391–5404.

• Idigova, L.M., Salgiriyev, A.R., Tasuyeva, T.S. (2019). Use of national economy branches for transition to innovative technological development. Europ. Proc. of Soc. and Behavioural Sci. DOI:

  Google Scholar

  Crossref

  European Proceedings

• Idigova, L.M., Tagaev, C.K., Tasueva, T.S. (2019). Modernization of regional industry on the threshold of digital economy. Europ. Proc. of Soc. and Behavioural Sci. DOI: 10.15405/epsbs.2019.03.02.250

• Lynch, C.R. (2020). Contesting Digital Futures: Urban Politics, Alternative Economies, and the Movement for Technological Sovereignty in Barcelona. Antipode, 52, 660–680. DOI:

  Google Scholar

  Crossref

• Matern, A., Binder, Ju., Noack, A. (2019). Smart regions: insights from hybridization