Global Digital Divide: The Case of the East EU Countries. A Comparative Analysis of the East EU Countries Based on their Digital Economy and Society Index (2018-2022)
Global Digital Divide: The Case of the East EU Countries. A Comparative Analysis of the East EU Countries Based on their Digital Economy and Society Index (2018-2022)

Summary/Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of global digital inequalities, more specifically digital inequalities between countries on the Eastern border of the EU. Previous research on digital inequalities at the European level has looked at all European countries, concluding that Eastern European countries are the lagging group. In the present study, we investigated digital inequalities between countries on the Eastern border of the EU and grouped countries according to their digital development. The research relied on a secondary analysis of DESI data and sought to explain the digital divide between countries by including additional statistical data on national characteristics. To do this, we used linear regression and hierarchical cluster analysis methods. The main conclusion of the study is that the countries with the best digital performance are those in the North and West, namely Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, which belong to the pan-European digital middle group. The worst performers are Bulgaria and Romania, which are in the easternmost and southernmost points of the EU. At the two extremes are Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Poland, which are in the middle of the range of Eastern European countries in terms of digital development and in the low performing group of pan-European countries

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