Theoretical Foundations of Digital Transformation of Economy and People’s Quality of Life

Abstract:

The ongoing digital transformation of economy and society underlies the need to consider theoretical foundations of people’s life digitalization as well as empiric analysis of life quality change in the regions of Russia in modern conditions. Basing on the methodology of civilizational approach of social development periodization, it has been shown that digital society and, therefore, digital economy serve as one of the stages of civilization development. At its core stand large-scaled production and digital technologies use. The authorial theory of interaction between material and technologic environment on one hand and institutional arrangement of society on another specifies the influence of digital transformation on all components of people’s quality of life. Considering the world’s complexity and the presence of uncertainty and risks, this article discusses positive and negative impact of digitalization on people’s life activity. The method of computation of Russian regional index of the digital component of living standards has been used to conduct the empirical analysis. It is based on the convolution of partial indicators within six blocks: quality of people and their digital competences, availability of digital goods, quality of work life and social sphere in conditions of digitalization, quality of state electronic services for people and safety of population’s information activity. The results of integral index computation and clustering of regions for the period of 2015–2017 have led to the finding of a significant differentiation in the level of digital component of people’s life in federal districts and regions of Russia. The conclusions of this research can be used for further development of the digital society theory and for scientific justification of currently forming programs of digital economy development in regions of the Russian Federation.

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