Digital Transformation Tools in Regional Economy: A Review of Program and Target Documents

Regional economies are undergoing digital transformation amid structural changes and increasing external uncertainty. Regions are turning into key actors of socio-economic development and centers of digital sovereignty. This article describes the tools driving the digital economic shift across Russian regions. The digital transformation of a regional economy can serve as both a technological innovation and a strategic catalyst for sustainable development. Sustainable digital transformation can be analyzed through technocentric, information-analytical, strategic, resource-based, process-oriented, sociotechnical, value-oriented, institutional, and ecosystem approaches. These approaches can be grouped into instrumental, organizational, and institutional categories. This article describes the tax, financial, institutional, sectoral, infrastructural, and personnel tools of digital transformation used in Russian regions, comparing them with the digital development scheme implemented in the Republic of Belarus. The digital tools of economic transformation are divided into tax and financial mechanisms for stimulating and supporting the IT sector; strategic planning and institution-building tools; digital industry acceleration programs; infrastructural and network technological solutions; and mechanisms for developing human resources, science, and education. The findings can be used to adjust current digital development strategies in Russian regions to the actual economic environment.