Assessment of the digital gap in developing countries

The article assesses the prospects for the development of entrepreneurial activity in the EU and Ukraine in the conditions of digitalization of the economy. A methodical approach for the analysis of the development of entrepreneurial activity in the EU countries and Ukraine in the context of the digitalization of the economy has been formed, which consists of three stages. Attention is drawn to the fact that the WDCR, NRI, GII indices combine mainly institutional, economic and technological indicators that reflect the development of regulatory and legal research base, use of ICT in business, information security. The EGDI index has a more social orientation and reflects socio-economic integration - it is designed to assess the level of development of the information society. An analysis of the dynamics of changes in entrepreneurial activity in EU countries and Ukraine in the conditions of digitalization of the economy was carried out. It was established that despite the lower level of development of digitalization in Ukraine compared to the EU countries, the development trends both in the EU as a whole and in Ukraine clearly coincide. The impact of the digital component on the development of entrepreneurial activity in EU countries and Ukraine was modeled using correlation-regression analysis. It was noted that the level of digitalization does not affect the speed of the legislative body's reaction to eliminate the deterioration of the conditions of business activity, and the establishment of index indicators only according to the adopted normative legal acts does not take into account the effectiveness of the implementation of legislative changes in the field of business activity. It was concluded that among the three variables, the e-government development index has the greatest influence on the development of entrepreneurial activity. Belgium, Croatia, Italy, Slovakia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Hungary have the greatest direct relationship between the development of entrepreneurial activity, the digital government development index, and digital competitiveness.