Cross-border digitalization of the western border of Russia: potential and prospects
- DOI
- 10.5922/2079-8555-2022-1-6
- Pages
- 90-108
Abstract
Border regions are significant geostrategic territories, which long-term sustainable development is one of the priorities of Russia’s national security. The specificity of their economic-geographical position necessitates the development and implementation by the authorities of special governance approaches aimed at finding a balance between the openness and barrier function of the state border. One of the most common tools for the spatial development of border areas is the sustainable cross-border cooperation with the regions of neighboring countries using various froms of cross-border cooperation, incl. focused on the generation and diffusion of innovations. The covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, having become a truly global challenge of our time, has made significant changes not only in the policies of many countries regarding the border, but also in the functioning of already established cross-border regions. The impossibility of fully implementing the previous formats of interethnic and interregional interaction has necessitated the search for new forms of cooperation, primarily based on the use of rapidly developing digital technologies. This led to the growth of academic and practical interest in substantiating the mutual effects of digitalization, innovation and internationalization for the regions. This article is devoted to assessing the potential and prospects of cross-border digitalization of the Western borderland of Russia. The objectives of the study were to identify the gap between border regions in the level of accessibility and penetration of digital technologies, as a significant condition for the formation of cross-border digital connections. The object of study is 15 subjects of the Russian Federation and 17 regions of NUTS 2 neighboring states. Using geoinformation and statistical methods of analysis, a typology of regions by the value of the digitalization index is proposed, with the allocation of leaders, moderate and lagging regions, and an assessment of their spatial location relative to the state border. Possible reasons for the current digital inequality, primarily of a socio-economic nature, are discussed. The determining role of the institutional factor in realizing the potential of cross-border digitalization has been substantiated. It is concluded that political efforts for digital convergence in the western direction are being undertaken only between Russia and Belarus, although further intensification is required.
Reference
1. Liu, Yi. 2020, “Digital Silk Road” as innovative basis of the global project “One Belt, One Road”, Innovation & Investment, no. 12, p. 278—282 (in Russ.).
2. Doronin, B. A. Glotova, I. I., Tomilina, E. P. 2020, The role of the globalization process in the formation of the digital economy, Kant, no. 4 (37), p. 77—81 (in Russ.). doi: https://doi.org/ 10.24923/2222-243X.2020-37.1.
3. Schilirò, D. 2020, Towards digital globalization and the covid-19 challenge, International Journal of Business Management and Economic Research, vol. 2, no. 11, p. 1710—1716.
4. Foster, J. 2017, TPP and the future of the digital economy in the Asia pacific region, International Conference on Advanced Computer Science and Information Systems 2016, Malang, Indonesia, 15—16 October, p. 1—8. doi: https://doi.10.1109/ICACSIS.2016.7872713.
5. Revenko, L. S., Revenko, N. S. 2020, Use of digital technologies in trade between the EAEU countries, Information Society, no. 5, p. 2—9 (in Russ.).
6. Lola, I. S., Bakeyev, M. B. 2020, Tsifrovaya povestka i initsiativy v oblasti tsifrovykh tekhnologiy v usloviyakh COVID-19 (obzor praktik Yevropeyskogo soyuza, Organizatsii ekonomicheskogo sotrudnichestva i razvitiya, a takzhe drugikh stran) [Digital Agenda and Initiatives in the field of digital technologies in the context of COVID-19 (overview of practices of the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as other countries)], Moscow, HSE Publishing House. 19 p. (in Russ.).
7. Denicolai, S., Zucchella, A., Magnani, G. 2021, Internationalization, digitalization, and sustainability: Are SMEs ready? A survey on synergies and substituting effects among growth paths, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 166, no. 120650. doi: https://doi.10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120650.
8. Mezhevich, N. M., Tkachev, S. A. 2021, Specificities of innovation processes in the border areas, Vestnik of the Komi Republican Akademy of State Service and Administration. Theory and practice of administration, no. 1(31), p. 83—87 (in Russ.).
9. Meijer, M. W., Giacometti, A. 2021, Nordic border communities in the time of COVID-19, Stockholm, Nordregio, 10 p. doi: https://doi.10.6027/PB2021:3.2001-3876.
10. Hennig, A. 2021, The spatial dimension of coronavirus crisis management and the role of subnational actors in the German—Polish border region, European Societies, no. 23, p. S859— S871. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1846065.
11. Vicente, M. R., López, A. J. 2011, Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27, Telecommunications Policy, vol. 35, no. 3, p. 220—237. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2010.12.013.
12. Zemtsov, S., Barinova, V., Semenova, R. 2019, The risks of digitalization and the adaptation of regional labor markets in Russia, Foresight and STI Governance, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 84—96. doi: https://doi.org/10.17323/2500-2597.2019.2.84.96.
13. Zemtsov, S. P., Komarov, V. M. 2015, Formation of the knowledge economy in the regions of Russia in 1998—2012 years, Innovations, no. 10 (204), p. 29—36 (in Russ.).
14. Kuznetsov, A. V., 2008, Euroregions: Half a Century of «Small» Integration, Sovremennaya Evropa, no. 2 (34), p. 48—59 (in Russ.).
15. Edquist, H., Goodridge, P., Haskel, J., Li, H., Lindquist, E. 2018, How important are mobile broadband networks for the global economic development? Information Economics and Policy, no. 45, p. 16—29. doi: https://doi.10.1016/j.infoecopol.2018.10.001.
16. Lee, S., Marcu, M., Lee, S. 2011, An empirical analysis of fixed and mobile broadband diffusion, Information economics and policy, vol. 23, no. 3—4, p. 227—233. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2011.05.001.
17. Ghosh, S. 2017, Broadband penetration and economic growth: Do policies matter? Telematics and informatics, vol. 34, no. 5, p. 676—693. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.12.007.
18. Touhidul, Md. Is. 2019, Future Impact of 4G on Business in Bangladesh, International Journal of Research in Business Studies and Management, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 17—26.
19. Lentz, R. G., Oden, M. D. 2001, Digital divide or digital opportunity in the Mississippi Delta region of the US, Telecommunications Policy, vol. 25, no. 5, p. 291—313. doi: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/S0308-5961(01)00006-4.
20. Golovchin, M. A. 2019, Influence of internet activity on life in the epoch of digitalization of the society and economy: by the data of regional research, Actual problems of economics and law, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 1356—1369 (in Russ.). doi: https://doi.org/10.21202/1993-047X.13.2019.3.1356-1369.
21. Elia, S., Giuffrida, M., Mariani, M. M., Bresciani, S. 2021, Resources and digital export: An RBV perspective on the role of digital technologies and capabilities in cross-border e-commerce, Journal of Business Research, no. 132, p. 158—169. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.010.
22. Klatt, M., Herrmann, H. 2011, Half empty or half full? Over 30 years of regional cross-border cooperation within the EU: experiences at the Dutch—German and Danish—German border, Journal of Borderlands Studies, vol. 26, no. 1, p. 65—87. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2011.590289.
23. Spierings B., van der Velde, M. 2008, Shopping, Borders and Unfamiliarity: Consumer Mobility in Europe, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie (Journal of Economic and Human Geography), vol. 99, no. 4, p. 497—505. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2008.00484.x.
24. Zvereva, A. A., Belyaeva, Zh. S., Sohag, K. 2019, Impact of the Economy Digitalization on Welfare in the Developed and Developing Countries, Economy of Region, vol. 15, no. 4, p. 1050— 1062 (in Russ.). doi: https://doi.org/10.17059/2019-4-7.
25. Beck, J. 2021, Open government and cross-border cooperation — perspectives for the context of transnational policy-making in border-regions, Central and Eastern European eDem and eGov Days 2021, Budapesta, Hungary, 5—8 May, p. 141—159. doi: https://doi.10.24989/ocg.v341.10.
26. Voynikov, V. V., Entina, E. G., Entin, M. L. 2019, Prospects, Needs and Pitfalls of Constitutionalization of the EU and the EAEU, Polis. Political Studies, no. 4, p. 89— 103. doi: https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2019.04.07 (in Russ.).
27. Kuzavko, A. S. (ed.) 2019, Dnepro-Dvinskiy region v zerkale sotsiologii [The Dnieper-Dvina region in the mirror of sociology], monograph, Smolensk, SmolGU Publishing House, 141 p. (in Russ.).
28. Borozdin, A. N., Kovarda, V. V. 2020, Analysis of the information security system in the process of digitalization of its turnover within the EEU in the aspect of improving economic security, The Eurasian Scientific Journal, no. 4 (12), available at: https://esj.today/PDF/41ECVN420.pdf (accessed 1.09.2021) (in Russ.).
29. Smirnov, E. N. 2019, Parameters of development and regulation of the international digital trade at the present stage, E-Management, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 78—84. doi: https://doi.org/10.26425/ 2658-3445-2019-1-78-84 (in Russ.).