Digitalization as a Catalyst to Overcome the Negative Consequences of the Pandemic and Martial Law

Abstract

The article is aimed at studying the peculiarities of the manifestation of the digital economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and martial law, identifying the impact of digitalization on the prospects for the development of Ukrainian business. The digital economy, the functioning of which is based on the creation, distribution and use of digital technologies and related products and services, is constantly evolving in accordance with new challenges of economic development, which is reflected in the expansion of its architecture. In recent years, the transformation of economic activity models caused by the use of end-to-end digital technologies (artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, wireless technologies, etc.) has been actualized, which has turned digitalization into the most important factor of economic growth. Digital technologies were used in various spheres of economic activity even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the latter significantly intensified the digital transformation of business processes. The use of online applications, the provision of online services, the creation of hybrid business models that combine the features of offline and online services, has allowed many economic actors to switch to a remote work format, reducing losses from social distancing and other preventive measures, and some companies have even managed to increase the efficiency of their activities. Improving the efficiency of management and production activities based on digital solutions has turned digitalization from an anti-crisis tool into a source of profitability for companies in the long term. A certain similarity of the challenges caused by the coronavirus crisis and the disruption of the domestic economy as a result of Russian aggression has led to the need to intensify the use of digital technologies by business and the State. A number of measures implemented during martial law by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine together with other executive bodies create digital preconditions for increasing the resilience of the Ukrainian economy now and in the period of its post-war development.