Digitalization as an Urgent Trend in the Development of the Social Sphere

Abstract

The development of digital technologies (information and service «digital platforms») should be a key factor in improving the quality and availability of social services (health care, education, social protection and so on). The purpose of this article is to show the directions and problem aspects of the implementation of digital technologies into the social sphere at the present stage. The article analyzes the impact of digitalization on the economy of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. In the rating of Digital Evolution Index 2017, Russia is in a promising group of countries characterized by an increase in the overall level of «digitalization», passing to a group of leading countries, which allows to identify a number of prospective areas of the social sphere digitalization. According to the results of the study, they are: Unified services for socially unprotected citizens, for people with disabilities; «social assistants» in social services for aged and disabled citizens; technologies in the rehabilitation industry; automation of procurement of medicines; the development of various digital social services, for example, within the concept of «smart city» («smart» health care implies the introduction of telemedicine, the effective system of electronic services includes operations from «electronic registry» to getting the test results online, smart housing system implies the control and accounting of data and providing information to their users, smart «accessible environment» is created on the basis of geographic information systems); digitalization of employment and education processes.