The economic impact of digital technologies in Europe

Abstract

This paper analyses the economic impact of digital technologies in Europe distinguishing between different stages/domains of the digitalization process. A set of composite ICT indicators is used capturing the access to ICTs, the ability to use them and the digital empowerment of individuals in key social and economic domains. We argue that the mere accessibility to ICT facilities is only a pre-condition for moving towards a digitalized society, while the “level” and the “quality” in the use of these technologies, as well as the conditions facilitating or hampering digital empowerment, play a much more important role. Several transmission mechanisms from ICT access, usage and digital empowerment to key macroeconomic variables (namely labor productivity, GDP per capita, employment growth and the employment rate) are identified. The econometric evidence supports our hypotheses showing that the usage of ICT, and mostly digital empowerment, exert the major economic effects, especially on employment also favoring the inclusion of “disadvantaged” groups in the labor market. We conclude that digitalization may drive productivity and employment growth and that inclusive policies may effectively contribute to bridge the gap between the most favoured and the disadvantaged parts of the population, thus helping achieving the 2020 Europe targets

A Model of Digital Inequality in the Knowledge Society: The Case of Slovenia

“…Therefore, the next step for Slovenia is to initiate a nationwide campaign to increase digital skills, including a change in formal education programmes from primary school onwards, and digital lifelong learning initiatives. As stressed by Evangelista et al (2014), who carried out wide-ranging research amongst numerous European countries, digital inclusion will enable growth, decrease unemployment, and help narrow the gap between the more favoured and marginal parts of modern society.…”

“…This is then also related to the individual's material situation. Evangelista, Guerrieri & Meliciani (2014) describe this economic impact of ICT in the composite indicator of 'empowerment of an individual' in day-to-day life in key social and economic domains. Morganti et al (2014) claim that the maximum economic impact of the information society can only be achieved through a holistic set of policies ranging from telecoms and computing, to the adoption of the internet and e-commerce.…”

“…Nevertheless, the researchers established (Evangelista et al, 2014) that indexes of different national or international agencies analyse too heterogeneous, non-standardised, and often inadequate data to conduct an adequate analysis of digital inequality. In the area of e-government benchmarking, critics warn that e-government indexes mostly measure the offer or ex-ante existence of websites and services in all countries and environments, without focusing on specifics (Bannister, 2007;Misuraca et al, 2013;Whitmore, 2012).…”

Zukunft der Arbeit – Eine praxisnahe Betrachtung

“…In der Implementierung von intelligenten Produktionssystemen werden Unternehmen mit neuen Anforderungen in der Vernetzung von Mensch, Technik und Organisation konfrontiert (Hirsch-Kreinsen 2014b;Botthof und Hartmann 2015b;Grote 2015). Dabei handelt es sich um einen komplexen und wechselseitigen Zusammenhang, der von einer Vielzahl von Einflussfaktoren geprägt wird, deren Einfluss darüber entscheidet, in welcher Weise die technologisch gegebenen neuen Nutzungspotenziale tatsächlich ausgeschöpft werden und welche Konsequenzen für Arbeit sich einspielen (Evangelista et al 2014).…”

Governance Strategies for a Sustainable Digital World

“…Digitalization, defined as the increased connectivity and networking of digital technologies to enhance communication, services, and trade between people, organizations, and things [1], has been posited as both an emerging opportunity and as a challenge to the United Nations (UN) Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), comprising 17 goals and 169 targets or objectives [2]. The growth and maturation of the digital world, where an increasing scale of individual and communal activities are being recorded, digitized, and analyzed for future technological improvement, is creating unique opportunities to enhance social and environmental well-being, and further improve global standards of living while preserving and improving environmental health for future generations [3][4][5].…”