The current digital transformation makes Russia’s regions look for new digital tools for sustainable development. The authors explored the possibilities of sustainable development across Russia and classified the regions as advanced, medium, or outsiders. A comparative analysis of indicators of digital development made it possible to formulate recommendations on using digital technologies for local sustainable development. The research revealed a gap between the goals of sustainable development and the implemented digitalization policy in some regions. The research relied on data systematization, economic analysis, graphical method, and other standard methods. The materials were obtained from the public sources of the Federal State Statistics Service, Statista, the United Nations, legislative and regulatory acts that regulate the sustainable and digital development of Russian regions, and sample studies conducted by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the Higher School of Economics. The contradictions between the regional programs for sustainable development and the actual digital transformation strategies correlated with digital inequality. The analysis highlighted the major problems and limitations of the sustainable development in Russian regions. Currently, the reginal sustainable development depends on the effectiveness of digital alignment policy, its directions, and a set of measures aimed at overcoming the existing constraints in the sustainable development.
Alekhina et al. (2026) studied this question.