DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
TL;DR
It is concluded that it is necessary to integrate statistical, administrative, and digital data into a unified system of regional analysis, as it depends on the quality of the source data, the methods for their comparison, and the region's institutional readiness to use analytical systems.
Abstract
This article examines the role of digital technologies in the analysis of regional economic development. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that traditional statistical indicators–gross regional product, fixed capital investment, employment, household income, and the sectoral structure of the economy–no longer allow for a full assessment of the speed, sustainability, and quality of regional change without taking into account digital data, information systems, and analytical processing tools. The purpose of this article is to determine the analytical potential of digital technologies in regional development research and identify the limitations of their application. The methodological basis is an analysis of scientific approaches to the digitalization of the regional economy, a comparison of official statistical and regulatory sources, and a summary of practices in the use of digital platforms, big data, geographic information systems, and tools for monitoring socioeconomic processes. It is substantiated that digital technologies improve the efficiency of analysis, enable the identification of spatial differences, and assess the dynamics of business activity, infrastructure constraints, and management effects. It is also shown that digital analysis does not replace official statistics, but rather complements them, as it depends on the quality of the source data, the methods for their comparison, and the region's institutional readiness to use analytical systems. It is concluded that it is necessary to integrate statistical, administrative, and digital data into a unified system of regional analysis.