Digital Integration as a Factor in the Sustainable Development of the EAEU Member States

Abstract

–The article shows that digital integration is becoming a driver of social, economic, and environmental integration and a factor in the sustainable development of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). At the same time, sustainable development is interpreted as the coordinated development of economic, environmental, social, and digital aspects of development. It is shown that the formation of a single digital space of the EAEU member states is necessary for effective participation in the global digital competition, to which economies of scale are very important. The analysis of the level of digitalization of the Eurasian economies was carried out on the basis of the system of national and international indicators of digitalization, and a significant digital divide between the EAEU member states was revealed. It has been determined that the digital divide is a consequence of the socio-economic inequality between the integrating countries. It is shown that the digital infrastructures of the EAEU member states are at different levels of maturity, making it difficult for them to develop in concert. One of the reasons why the EAEU member states lag behind developed countries in the development of the digital economy is an insufficiently favorable environment for innovation implementation, the poor effectiveness of legal regulation, low investment in research and development, and a low level of the use of digital technologies in business. The analysis of the Concept for the Development of Digital Economies and the Digital Agenda of the Eurasian Economic Union until 2025 adopted by the EAEU member states is given. Keywords––digitalization, digital integration, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), global digital competition, digital divide, sustainable development.