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The digitalisation of society as well as of individual branches of the economy determines the speed of economic growth and the ability to adapt new technologies to business and social processes. That is why analyzing the degree and pace of digitalization of individual countries is so important for assessing the economic potential of European Union countries. A very important phenomenon analysed is also the capacity for convergence of countries with a much lower degree of digitalisation. The aim of the article is an research of the convergence of the level of digitisation of individual European Union countries on the basis of the analysis of the DESI index. The research used statistical data available from European Union studies between 2017-2022. Statistica 13 was used to carry out the statistical analyses. The results of the conducted research do not inspire optimism as the expected catch-up effect is definitely lower than predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern societies, digitalization plays a tremendously important role for people and businesses. Apart from an economic representation, competitiveness characterizes a society from political, cultural, or human points of view. In this article, we aim to highlight the role of digital development from a competitiveness perspective, as there are few studies related to this relationship. The empirical investigation is based on panel data analysis for European Union countries for 2017–2022, considering the digital economy and society index (DESI) and the index developed by International Institute for Management Development (IMD), respectively IMD world competitiveness index. The results obtained are reported both for general indices and for the components of DESI, presented separately for the groups of Central and Eastern European countries and Western European countries. They indicate different influences for the two groups of countries, with only a few common aspects. The most obvious is the case of skilled labor. This aspect demonstrates the link between the various dimensions of digitalization and changes in human capital development strategies, as they appear in the specialized literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between entrepreneurship and productivity for the 27 EU member countries using panel data. Given the critical role that digitalization plays in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the model was estimated using the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and its subcomponents as instruments for entrepreneurship. The results show a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurship and productivity, as well as a positive relation between digitalization and entrepreneurship. Moreover, all components of the DESI index except for Human Capital also demonstrate a positive relationship with entrepreneurship. These results provide policymakers with a digital agenda to stimulate entrepreneurship as an engine of productivity and growth and shed light on the importance of empirically evaluating entrepreneurship in the light of digitalization. • Entrepreneurship is found to stimulate productivity for the EU & UK. • This provides support the "creative destruction" theory. • Importance of empirically evaluating digitalization in entrepreneurship research. • Possessing user skills is not sufficient to stimulate productive entrepreneurship. • Interaction of users with technology shapes technology affordance and creates value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital competitiveness is gaining more and more attention as a source of competitive advantage at the business and national economies levels. Digital economy performance is a matter of national strategies for achieving economic growth and socioeconomic development. Widely accepted instruments for reporting progress in these areas have been recently developed, including the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI index). The current study aims to use the DESI index and its five dimensions (namely Connectivity, Human Capital, Use of Internet Services, Integration of Digital Technology and Digital Public Services) not only as a tool for recognizing the current state, but also to forecast progress under the Greek economic environment. The Gompertz model was used as a methodological tool and it is valuable that a diffusion model has been implemented on a composite index related to countries' digital competitiveness. Moreover, the results reveal the areas where convergencies and divergencies exist between Greece and the rest of the EU-28 member states, while forecast permits one to evaluate how current policies have a significant impact on digital competitiveness. Results indicate that Greece is facing significant challenges as a result of the low state of digitization, coming from both the demand side (businesses that consume internet services) and the offer side (institutional and governmental constraints). The proposed results could be used in order to readjust existing policies and to spot aspects where further improvement is needed to achieve high standards of digital competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]