Statistical Study of Regional Inequality in the Development of Information and Communication Technologies in Russia

The work is devoted to the analysis of the level of development of information and communication technologies in Russia. The work consists of three parts. The first chapter focuses on analyzing the main global trends in ICT development, the situation in Russia in the world, and the review of scientific literature. In the second chapter, the authors analyzed the level of inequality and built their own index of ICT development in Russia. The result was the identification of a significant digital divide, as well as a high level of inequality in broadband access to mobile Internet and phone communication, the number of specialists in the ICT sector and the development of e-government in the region. The third chapter is devoted to the classification of regions by the level of ICT development and the identification of determinants affecting the development of the sector. As a result of the cluster analysis, the regions were classified into 6 groups and analyzed in dynamics over 3 years. Positive dynamics in the industry development were revealed: the highest share of regions in 2015 was useful for the regions with a low level of ICT development, and by 2017 most of the regions were included in the cluster of regions that are rapidly adapting to the digital economy. The final stage of the work was the modeling of the ICT development index by the main socio-economic characteristics of the Russian regions. The development of the ICT sector and its positive impact on the region's economy is influenced by the high level of development of the territory, availability of human resources, well-developed extractive industry, and retail trade sector.