ИСТИНА

It has been empirically proven that information and communication technologies (ICT) make a major contribution to economic growth and can be its consequence. The ICT infrastructure is one of the four bases of the knowledge economy concept. ICTs make it possible to create implicit knowledge and transform it into explicit knowledge, which contributes to better replication and dissemination of innovations and technologies. Through technology transfer, the competitiveness of the nation can be ensured in the long term. Thus, we can justify the indirect impact of the development of ICT on the socio-economic situation and the growth of the national and regional economy. We propose to use static and dynamic approaches to assessing the impact of ICT factors on the socio-economic indicators of the development of regions and countries. The static approach is based on the use of the Cobb-Douglas production function, which, after some transformation, shows that the volume of output per capita depends on capital per capita and total factor productivity (ICT infrastructure). Similarly, using the neoclassical model of economic growth, we conclude that the growth of production per capita is equal to the growth of capital per capita and the growth of total factor productivity or technological progress (dynamic approach). The paper shows, when the impact of ICT is on GDP per capita, there is a one-time increase. Then it decreases to the previous level. When efforts are directed immediately at increasing economic growth, stable rates of economic growth are achieved, which leads to a constant and exponential increase in output. The study analyses the impact of ICT on GRP per capita and economic growth rates in the regions of Russia. This factor is relevant for economic development – the ICT infrastructure has a positive effect on economic indicators. Another system of models for comparison is calculated for 27 countries of the European Union. The results obtained indicate that for the EU countries, the period when the development of ICT infrastructure is especially relevant was passed until 2000. A comparison is made with similar studies in African countries, where the impact is also ambiguous. As a result, conclusions are drawn that the development of ICT infrastructure is a necessary, but not sufficient measure for the innovative development of the economy. In the future, the role of information and communication technologies in the development of innovation and the economy is shifting from stimulating to supporting innovation.