Features of cyclical development of the economy

In the context of the rapid development of information and communication technologies around the world, an urgent task is to take into account the factors of digitalization and its assessment based on the selection of indicators characterizing various aspects of digitalization. The subject of the study is the analysis of the digitalization processes of European countries based on the open statistics of Eurostat. The main goal is to develop a digital development index, to test it according to the statistical data of the EU countries, to obtain comparative estimates of the level of digitalization of European countries. In the process of writing the article, general scientific methods of analysis and comparison were used. When developing a generalizing indicator of digital development, the index method was used. Aggregation of variables into a composite indicator was carried out using the geometric mean method. To translate the initial data into a single scale, the method of normalization of indicators was used. In the theoretical part of the article, the factors influencing modern digitalization processes are systematized. In the practical part of the article, the digital development index is proposed and tested according to the empirical data of Eurostat. It is an alternative to the official index regularly published by the European Commission. Calculations based on the proposed index made it possible to form a rating of EU countries by the level of digitalization, to identify groups of leaders and outsiders. It is concluded that when calculating the author’s index, it is advisable to use a shortened list of variables. This approach provides a quick and reliable assessment of the digital development of the EU countries. In general, a comparison of the estimates of the level of European digitalization made according to the proposed methodology with official estimates allowed us to conclude that the results are similar.