DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-990-7-0148

HOW DOES A COUNTRY’S LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INFLUENCE DIGITAL ADVANCEMENT? EVIDENCE FROM EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Anđelka Stojanović¹, Isidora Milošević¹, Sanela Arsić¹

¹ Technical Faculty in Bor, University of Belgrade, VJ 12, 19210 Bor, Serbia

Recent years have brought numerous challenges to Europe and the world in the form of a complex geopolitical situation, threats to the safety and health of the population, deepening economic differences, and a lack of natural resources. Dealing with some of the challenges mentioned above is carried out through digitization and the development of the single market. The European Commission enacted numerous documents and implemented a series of activities aimed at strengthening the European digital market. Actions and policies aim to support digitization to increase economic activity and achieve other social benefits such as empowerment of people, solidarity and sustainability. Due to unequal initial levels of development and the readiness of states, companies and individuals for the changes brought by information technologies, a digital divide emerged. The main research question in this paper is whether the achieved level of economic development conditions the level of digitization. It also examines which elements in the digital transformation can be most influenced to reduce the digital divide. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to answer the research question. The importance of the results is reflected in the fact that by confirming the connections between the digital level and economic parameters, the direction of influence on the reduction of digital divides and the fulfillment of globally set goals related to social equality can be defined.

Keywords: digital development, economic development, European countries, digital society and economy index

pages: 148-158, online: 2024