The development of the ICT sector and the digital transformation in regional economies

The development of the digital economy and the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 characterize modern societies, which are being transformed by digital technologies. These changes affect socio-economic and organizational-managerial processes, and the state of industries and the markets of national economies. However, the labor market and the ICT sector are undergoing the most significant changes. The relationships between the characteristics of the labor market, the development of the ICT sector and the digitalization of the economy are complex, ambiguous, and mediated by different influences. This work compares the ICT sector and the digitalization of organizations in Russian regions, studies the relationships between them, and determines the trends and features of their development. The hypothesis of the study is that the development of the ICT sector is determined by the use of digital technologies in regional organizations. The study uses ANOVA and correlation-regression analysis. Data from the Federal State Statistics Service, HSE University, and reports of the International Institute for Management Development were used. The results clarify the categorical apparatus in the digitalization of the economy; the role of the ICT sector in digital competitiveness; analyze the digitalization of the Russian economy; and determine the essential relationships between digitalization and the development of the ICT sphere in Russian regions in the context of exogenous and endogenous causes of digital transformation, prosumerization, and the service paradigm. A methodological approach to assessing the development of the ICT sector due to the digitalization of organizations has been developed, including a system of factors and indicators characterizing the use of digital technologies in organizations and the proportion of those employed in the ICT sector. A distinctive feature of the approach is the comprehensive assessment of the interrelations and interdependence of ICT sector development and digitalization at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The relationship between the digitalization of organizations and the ICT sector can be diametrically opposed in Russian regions characterized by the equally high efficiency of regional digital strategies. In this regard, the expediency of the “differential management” of digital processes in Russian regions is substantiated. The results can be used to improve public policy and to activate the digital transformation of regional economies.