Impact analysis of COVID-19 pandemic on digital technologies spread in corporate sector of the Russian Federation

The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spread of digital technologies in the corporate sector of the Russian Federation. The authors suggested and tested the method of statistical measurement of the spread of digital technologies based on the indicator of the corresponding costs of firms. The costs of firms for the introduction and use of digital technologies are analyzed in the period from 2015 to 2020 in two sections: by types of costs, as well as by types of economic activity, which account for more than 80% of the total value of the indicator for the Russian Federation. In order to make a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digitalization of the corporate sector in the Russian Federation, in addition to official statistical data, the authors use collections of analytical materials, including a brief overview of the studyof the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on changes in business processes after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the results of the analysis, it was revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has an ambiguous impact on the digitalization process. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly become an accelerator of digital development in certain areas, for example, the introduction of cloud solutions that ensure the volume to remote work and distance learning significantly increased. On the other hand, the “coronacrisis” led to a reduction in expenses, including on the IT infrastructure of enterprises whose revenue decreased during this period. The results of the analysis can be used in future studies of modeling and forecasting trends of digital transformation of the economy in the corporate sector in the Russian Federation.