Digital Economy – a Modern Challenge for the Russian Economy. Search for an Asymmetric Response

Digital Economy – a Modern Challenge for the Russian Economy. Search for an Asymmetric Response

Only the one who has lost his aspirations is lost forever.
Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"

The problem of choice is one of the most difficult and tragic in human history. Not only your fate will depend on what you choose, but also the fate of many people who, by the will of fate, are related to you by kinship or blood. Whether it is divine providence, or the laws of the universe, in this case remains an open and unanswered question.

A person, as well as the state, is doomed to death and destruction if he is unable or able to respond symmetrically or asymmetrically to the challenges of a hostile environment. In this case, the fate of a person, more than ever, is similar to the history of the state. A dog that does not bark is the object of ridicule and reproaches, and sometimes banishment. The highest level of development of the country is mainly related to the policy of internal harmony and external energy. The ability to find a compromise within oneself and outside becomes an advantage of the state, which has the opportunity to accumulate internal intellectual energy for creation and breakthrough.

Without a doubt, internal cohesion and external reaction are a crucial indicator of the viability of civilization and culture. Giving an adequate response to a challenge is one of the most important laws of the development of large states, which to some extent embody a certain type of civilization. Russia, as one of the largest Eurasian countries, is a symbol of Russian, Orthodox and partly Soviet civilization, therefore, considering Russia as the legal successor of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, it is very important to understand that the existence and development of these states depended on the decisions taken by the ruling elites to the challenges that historical Russia faced at that time.. The fate of the state and the country as a whole depended on it.

Troubles, Patriotic wars, and periods of social and economic revolutions are all the external and internal responses of the elites and the country as a whole to the challenges that arose in different eras and put at stake the very existence of the Russian state, its independence and sovereignty. In part, this state of affairs has made it possible for civilization to withstand the onslaught of external and internal pressures. To be at the epicenter of global development and progress. Let's look at the current challenges to the Russian state, primarily the economy, to which it must provide an adequate response.

Without a doubt, and this is evidenced by the overwhelming number of experts, this is the raw material and low-value-added nature of the economy in Russia. In many respects, we have lagged, probably forever, behind the developed countries of the world. Many readers would assume that our task is to catch up with the developed world and overtake it. As it was in Peter's time or in Stalin's five-year plans. But Russia doesn't have the human, financial, or intellectual potential it had back then to squander it on running after the leaders of the modern world. Russia must find its own asymmetric response to the economic and, above all, technological realities of our time. It no longer makes sense to catch up with the developed economies of the world in many respects, it is worth focusing on breakthrough, completely new technologies that will become key and decisive for the near future. First of all, it is the digitalization of the economy, artificial intelligence, working with large amounts of information, and finally, neural networks and robotics. Undoubtedly, our geography gives us unlimited opportunities for the development of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency mining.

Let's take a look at each of them and try to predict the possible responses of the Russian state to those challenges, the answers to which would be breakthrough and proactive.

The digitalization of the economy, first of all, for Russia provides tremendous opportunities for the intensification of the entire economy as a whole and individual industries in particular. Digital penetration into all sectors of the economy is, without a doubt, impossible without the development of 5G technology and the development of standards in the field of 6G. In the modern world, the race for Internet speed and data transfer speed has begun. Those who have it faster, better, and more affordable will have a competitive advantage over other countries.

The development of artificial intelligence and effective work with large amounts of data is an important minimum, without which it is impossible for Russia to "jump" into the outgoing train of the digital revolution, and, moreover, the creation of breakthrough technologies will make it possible to lead a new revolution, which many call neuro-digital, when the line between humans and robots will increasingly blur. Russia has every chance of becoming a world leader here.

Neural networks and robotics are stable trends of the digital revolution that are gaining tremendous momentum, which can throw our state onto the crest of a new technological wave. This is a matter not only of the economy, but also of the security of the state. Recent armed conflicts have demonstrated a completely new look of modern armies, with an increased percentage of robotization, automation of military systems and their autonomy. It also has a tremendous impact on the civilian economy, which is more or less adopting the technological achievements of the military industry. The connection of the military-industrial complex with the peaceful economy is the most important challenge for Russia, the solution of which will allow for a huge technological leap, where the military-industrial complex will be the locomotive of the digital economy.

Only the lazy in our country do not talk about the dependence of the Russian financial system on the dollar, the euro and foreign markets. It's no secret that financially, Russia is a province, and as long as the Bretton Woods global financial system exists, fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate and non—economic methods of devaluing the ruble will remain as commonplace as cloudy weather in Moscow. The digital economy, the further spread of digital currencies, and their mining open up enormous opportunities for Russia.

Russia, being a world leader in electricity production and having a cool and sometimes extremely cold climate, can become the world's leading hub for mining and creating new cryptocurrencies. The time is not far off when the world will not notice how it will switch completely to digital currency, and it is very important that Russia leads this movement, and not be at the tail end of this process.

Summing up, we can reasonably assume that modern trends in the field of digital technologies give us another chance for advanced modernization, when the Russian Federation is able to move from the tail of the global digital village to the vanguard in a short time and become a trendsetter in many areas of the digital and neuro-digital revolution. As one of the sheikhs of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Zaki Yamani, noted, the Stone Age ended not because the stones ran out, but because new technologies appeared. Those who do not possess these technologies will find themselves on the periphery and will be doomed to a subordinate dependent existence. The very existence of our state and civilization will depend on how we get out of this next technological revolution.

Verbovsky Vadim Vladimirovich, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of World History and International Relations, Director of the Center for Global and Regional Security (Moscow)


A source:
Federal Online Media Davydov.Index / Media Registration Certificate No.FS77-68962 dated March 14, 2017 issued by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor).Published on June 7, 2021, 07:20 // https://davydov.in/everything/cifrovaya-ekonomika-sovremennyj-vyzov-rossijskoj-ekonomiki-poiski-assimetrichnogo-otveta/