Digital environment development in Russian regions

The article is aimed at studying the development of the digital environment and its differentiation in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation. As is well known, digital infrastructure is the material foundation for the fourth industrial revolution. It is very heterogeneous in the territorial context both at the state level and at the regional level of individual states which leads to the fact that different regions have different possibilities of integration into the modern economy and habitat. In the program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” adopted in 2017, it is planned to monitor the digital economy development; therefore, the creation of an objective criterion allowing to assess the state of the digital environment in a regional context is relevant. In the article, the authors proposed a methodology for calculating the digital environment index allowing to make a comparative analysis of its state in the context of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The index includes three sub-indexes characterizing the possibility of physical access to telecommunication networks, the degree of this infrastructure use by the population, as well as indicators reflecting the infrastructure changes necessary for modern production. The results of the work carried out on the basis of Rosstat data are the calculated indices of the digital environment for all regions of Russia and federal districts in its composition. As a result of the study, the authors revealed the uneven development of digital infrastructure in the Russian Federation, which reduces the connectivity of the information space. In the subjects of the Russian Federation the problems are connected with the use of broadband access. Investments in its development (especially wireless components) contribute to expanding the possibilities of using new information technologies by enterprises and the population, including in the remote regions of Russia.