DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPOSITE INDICATOR FOR MEASURING THE VALUE AND DYNAMICS OF DIGITAL INEQUALITY IN RUSSIA

The authors attempted to establish methodology for constructing composite indicator to estimate the value and dynamic characteristics of the digital inequality. The trend of the modern development of the countries all over world is the course on the formation of the digital economy and the development of socio-economic relations based on digital interactions. In this regard the adoption of the «Strategy for the Development of the Information Society in the Russian Federation for 2017-2030» and the program «Digital Economy of the Russian Federation» proves to be relevant. The more so in the context of quite a noticeable socio-economic differentiation, there is a risk of the «digital divide» effect of the Russian regions, which will create additional difficulties for their development.

After a brief historical overview of science and technology development stages (related to the digital economy) of the last decade and the reflection of this process in the scientific and professional literature and state programs of a number of countries, the authors review evolutionary aspects and challenges associated with implementation of programs such as the Nationwide program for informatization of society in Russia. The consolidated index of readiness of Russian regions to the information society, proposed by the Institute for the Development of the Information Society, has a number of shortcomings, which hinders its direct use for assessing digital inequality and comparing the regions of Russia according to the level of informatization in dynamics. The article examines the possibility of implementing the author’s idea of the improved integral indicator that would allow studying not only the development of the information society and Information and communication technologies (ICT) as a whole but also the interregional digital divide. The development of the new index considered the possibility of reflecting the degree of access of the population to ICT in the regions, taking into account technological factors.

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