The spread of digital innovation in the world began in the 1960s. and the first stage came down to the automation of technologies and processes. The next stage came in the mid-90s. and is associated with the global spread of the Internet and mobile communications, the extensive penetration of innovation into society. The current stage of innovatiоndriven development is characterized by the expansion of Internet access of millions of consumers, the integration of wide range of digital services, products, systems into the digital socio-ecological and economic system. The ongoing revolutionary changes deserve additional understanding and analysis, since they give to many countries such impetus for rapid growth that they change the very paradigm of development, and force them to measure and evaluate the life quality in a new way. In the context of problems covered in this article, it is especially relevant to conduct a causal analysis of digital transformation against the background of global transformations of the world economy.In the process of analyzing innovation as a tool for the development of public production, the authors identified the drivers of digital economy, determined their role at the present stage, and showed their distinctive aspects and features.