Problems of Assessing the Contribution of Digital Changes and Their Impact on the Development of the World Economy

–The article presents the results of assessing the state of the digital sphere in Russia and the world at the beginning of 2020, and summarizes the analytical materials of leading world experts (GlobalWebIndex’s, Knoema, We Are Social, Hootsuite, etc.), which show that digital transformation is causing revolutionary changes in technology, politics, society, economy, and its consequences, both constructive and destructive, make it possible to track changes within a time interval for one generation. So, the authors of the article, having studied the structure of the ecommerce market in Russia and the world in the context of the categories “Travel”, “Fashion and beauty”, “Electronics and physical media”, “Toys, crafts and hobbies”, “Furniture and household appliances”, “Food and Personal Hygiene” marks the introduction of the concept of “omnichannel” into circulation, when consumers practically do not distinguish between “online” and “offline” when shopping. In the course of the study, the authors proved that the Russian e-commerce market structurally corresponds to the global one and averages about 1.0%. Conceptual approaches, methodological limitations, developing trends and the absence of a conceptual and categorical apparatus of the digital economy used in scientific research do not allow a qualitative approach to measuring the latest technological revolution the digital environment. During the study, the authors identified the problems of assessing the contribution of digital changes to the global economy. The article examines three approaches used in world practice in measuring the digital economy: through measuring technology, through measuring the ICT sector, through accounting for consumer welfare based on the concept of “consumer surplus”. The paper identifies the problems of imbalance in the development of the market of information and communication technologies in Russia, including the unbalanced development of the main market segments, the imbalance of the telecommunications segment in terms of penetration and availability of basic services, imbalances in regional development. Keywords––internet, global economy, digital change assessment, consumers, social networks, COVID-19, digital revolution