T he implementation of new automation technologies together with the development of artificial intelligence can free up a significant amount of labor. This sharply increases the risks of digital transformation. At the same time, certain regions and cities differ greatly in their ability to adapt to future changes. In this article, we seek to determine the capabilities of Russian regions to reduce risks and adapt to digital transformation. The literature stipulates that there are several factors able to reduce these risks. First of all, they are associated with retraining, ICT and STEAM-technologies' development, the promotion of economic activities that are less subject to automation. As Кeywords: digital economy; robots; STEAM; automation risks; technological exclusion; nescience economy; human capital; entrepreneurship; ICT a result of econometric calculations, we identified several factors that contribute to the new industries' development (in our case, ICT development), and, accordingly, increase regional adaptivity. These factors include diversification, the concentration of human capital, favorable entrepreneurship conditions, the creative potential of residents, and the development of ICT infrastructure. We identified several regions with high social risks and low adaptivity, which are mainly the poorly developed regions of southern Russia, where entrepreneurial risks are high, STEAM specialists are not trained, shadow economy is large. This work contributes policy tools for adaptation to digital transformation.

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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) suffered from government restrictions and a drop in consumer demand in 2020–2021 and therefore became one of the main targets of anti-crisis support worldwide. We aimed to identify trends and factors influencing the SMEs’ dynamics in the Russian regions during the coronacrisis, including the impact of entrepreneurship policy. We have verified with the econometric analysis that the SMEs’ number reduction was more serious in regions with a large SME sector, with a high proportion of industries potentially affected by the crisis, with stricter anti-pandemic measures. The latter factor had an impact not only on the domestic market, but also on SMEs in neighboring regions, which proves the existence of close ties between enterprises of different regions. However, there are some factors that influenced the SMEs development positively: relatively higher income level, more favourable business climate and larger consumer market. The previously undertaken efforts of the regional authorities to improve the business climate had a positive effect on the SMEs survival during the crisis. Business digitalization turned out to be an effective way to adapt (online services and sales), and state support policies could be more efficient (targeted and accessible) in digitally advanced regions. The agrarian regions due to continued demand for food got through the crisis more easily, while the border regions, focused on foreign trade relations, suffered more. In general, the business performance reduction was smaller in the regions that significantly intensified support. In a group of proactive regions (Tyumen, Belgorod, Ulyanovsk oblast, Crimea, 1 etc.), where both general and specific support were increased above the national average, SMEs decrease rate was 1.6% lower. According to our calculations, during crises special attention should be paid to supporting business digitalization, improving regional business climate and increasing the accessibility of markets for SMEs (transport development, import substitution, etc.). These measures can become a significant factor in business development after the events of 2022.

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