Digital Economy and its Inclusiveness

This research is dedicated to solving the problem of ensuring inclusiveness in the digital economy, towards which a crucial step is the precise measurement of inclusiveness. The research aims to form a comprehensive scientific understanding of the inclusiveness of the digital economy and quantitatively measure this inclusiveness systemically. The authors explore international empirical experience and conduct a quantitative analysis of the inclusiveness of the digital economy based on official statistics for 2023. The primary method employed in this research is variance analysis. First, in the countries leading in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the digitalization of economic sectors occurs much less evenly than in countries that joined this revolution later, where the balance of digitalization across economic sectors is highest. Second, differences in the level of digitalization of the economy among countries within established categories are significant; the categories are homogeneous, especially the category of countries leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Third, although generally significant, differences in the level of digitalization among countries worldwide are critical only in the category of countries leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As a result, the authors conclude that the problem of ensuring inclusiveness in the digital economy is most acute in the countries leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution and is weakly expressed in countries that joined later than others. The theoretical significance of the obtained results lies in the fact that they formed a systemic scientific representation of the inclusiveness of the digital economy in the uniformity of digitalization across sectors, countries, and categories of countries. The practical significance of the research findings is expressed in the fact that they essentially represent the results of comprehensive monitoring of the inclusiveness of the digital economy in 2023. The results of the conducted monitoring are useful for improving contemporary practices of developing and implementing state policies in the field of digitalization management and combating inequality.