Development of a Component Model of Digital Maturity of a Regional Economic System

Abstract

The article develops a component model of the digital maturity of a regional economic system, revealing its composition, internal relationships, and target function. It is shown that digital maturity models focused primarily on individual organizations do not account for the multi-actor, spatial, and institutionally heterogeneous nature of a region. In the proposed model, digital maturity is represented as an integral property arising from the coordinated development of six components: infrastructural-spatial, economic-sectoral, human-capital and competence, analytical-data, institutional-governance, and social-accessibility. The complementarity and limited substitutability of the components are substantiated, which give rise to a “weak link” effect and determine the need to assess structural balance. The model comprises component, integration, and target levels. Its target function links digital maturity with the sustainability, governability, observability, and performance of regional development, as well as with the partial mitigation of the negative consequences of interregional socio-economic differentiation. The model provides a theoretical and methodological basis for constructing a system of factor indicators and for developing a subsequent methodology for assessing the digital maturity of regional economic systems.