Digital transformation of the Russian Federation as a cumulative assessment of its subjects

Abstract

Due to the country's unique characteristics and the essence of the digital transformation process, the authors proposed a hypothesis regarding the viability and possibility of evaluating Russia's digital transformation as an overall indicator of its subjects. The analysis has demonstrated that it is feasible to objectively evaluate the digital transformation of the Russian Federation using data on its subjects if certain process characteristics are present and the proper methodology is applied. However, Russia's existing methods for assessing digital transformation are outdated and only evaluate the quality indicator of process management. The authors developed and suggested a new approach to evaluate the Russian Federation's digital transformation progress as a combined index of its subjects, with the ability to provide specifics by industry, governmental level, and individual criteria. Applying this methodology will enable a more objective evaluation that considers the unique characteristics of each of the 89 Russian Federation constituent entities. This will allow for the identification of leaders and outsiders, as well as the replication of best practices to hasten the country's digital transformation. Initial testing led to ratings for digitalization in the Republic of Kalmykia and Moscow. The information gathered is consistent with the evaluation ratings of the individual transformation components that have been published.