Integration Mechanisms of Development of the Digital Economy and the Prospects for Their Activation in Russia

Purpose: Describing the influence of the integration mechanisms of digitalization (its elements) on the formation of the digital economy and evaluating the prospects for their activation in Russia. Design/methodology/approach: Methods used: classification; comparative method; statistical method. Findings: The authors determine the influence of the integration mechanisms of digitalization (its elements) on the formation of the digital economy and formulate the prospects for their activation in Russia. The influence of the elements of digitalization on the formation of the digital economy is studied by the example of the USA (leader in the sphere of digital technologies), China (a country that demonstrates a quick growth of digitalization), Canada (a country that demonstrates high indicators of the development of digitalization), and Russia (a country with developing digitalization). The main characteristics and problem aspects of the development of digitalization and the digital economy of the given countries are described, and the advantages in this sphere are assessed. Based on the revealed specific features and problems of development, the prospects for improving the mechanism of development of the digital economy are formulated: the possibility for the technological import substitution through a partnership with China, which might become a supplier of certain technologies and equipment; improvement of the assessment of the effectiveness of investments and investment flows in the digital economy; formation of a favourable climate of the development of digital technologies in Russia. Originality/value: The novel aspect of this research is a further elaboration of the characteristics of the influence of the integration mechanisms of digitalization (its elements) on the formation of the digital economy. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.