Digital Development and Technological Innovations: Inequality and Asymmetry

Abstract

The rapid spread of digitalization affects the development of countries and humanity, the fate of a particular person. The modern digital divide, which is researched in the article, strengthens the social stratification of the world economy and makes it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Inequality (social and technological) limits access to technologies, the possibilities of their use, and obtaining utility for the average person, it inhibits socio-economic development and deepens the digital divide for humanity. On the other hand, the latest digital technologies create fundamentally new opportunities for progressive development. Addressing the root causes of the digital divide expands the benefits of digital technologies, which requires the implementation of digital measures in the relevant policies of sustainable recovery, coordinated joint actions of all actors in the digital ecosystem, involvement in international partnerships, application of international aid, etc. Accordingly, in modern conditions of the generation, distribution and influence of the digital technologies a difficult dilemma arises – on the one hand, to minimize the threats of digital inequality, and on the other hand, to prevent the limitation and inhibition of innovative development in order to maximize the use of the advantages of digital technologies. The article provides a comprehensive assessment of the digital development asymmetry in the regions of the world using integral indicators since the level of inequality differs significantly when compared according to various single indicators of digital development. The main aims of the study are the systematization of digital development indicators, their analysis in terms of patterns of change, irregularity and differentiation, the calculation of integral indices of digital development of regions and their ranking, and the calculation of general assessments of irregularity and divide. According to the integrated level of digital development, the European region remains the leader among other regions of the world with the highest level of digital development (82%), the Asia-Pacific region is ahead of the American region with 74.56% and 67.67%, respectively. The average world index of digital development is 64.21%. The digital divide remains very high (370.3 times) since the countries in the African region are still behind in access and use of digital technologies.