Reproductive mechanisms of digital inequality

The relevance of overcoming the global asymmetry in access to digital solutions and technologies is of particular importance in the context of the pervasive use of digital solutions in all areas of the national economy, including at critical information infrastructure facilities. In this connection, the problem arises of both gaining access to modern achievements of science and technology in the field of information technology, and the long-term development of sectors of the national economy that directly determine the achievement of technological sovereignty, overcoming technological cooling, as well as long-term socio-economic development. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the thesis about the high level of monopolization of the global information technology market as a reproductive mechanism of global digital inequality. The purpose of the study is achieved based on the following tasks: identifying key sectors of information infrastructure, identifying the global structure of the market for ready-made digital, hardware and infrastructure solutions, assessing the level of monopolization of these markets, as well as determining the prospects for the development of information and communication technologies in developing countries. The research methods are based on secondary analysis of open data regarding the level of monopolization of the markets for ready-made software, hardware and infrastructure solutions, as well as the ownership structure of the world’s largest suppliers of ready-made solutions in the field of information and telecommunications technologies. The study proved (in some industries extremely) a high level of monopolization of markets for ready-made solutions in the field of information and telecommunication technologies, and confirmed the super-monopolization of the digital technology market at the level of the ownership structure of world monopolies, which confirms the identified mechanism for the reproduction of digital inequality in the global economic system.