DIGITAL DIVIDE AND TYPOLOGY OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES ACROSS TWO MEASUREMENT REGIMES OF THE DIGITAL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY INDEX

Abstract

The article assesses the digital divide and develops a typology of EU countries by the level and dynamics of digital development across two measurement regimes: the composite Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), 2016–2021, and the Digital Decade indicator system, 2021–2025. The discontinuation of the composite DESI after 2022 and the transition to the Digital Decade system created a structural incompatibility in the dynamics, preventing direct comparison across the reform. Indicators are placed on a common dimensionless scale, the divide is measured by the cross-country standard deviation of the domain score, and the typology is built by two clustering methods whose agreement is checked. The direction of change in the digital divide varies by domain and regime; the gap widened in 3 of 4 DESI domains, whereas in the Digital Decade regime Digital Public Services and Human Capital converge fastest and Integration diverges. A typology of 3 country groups is identified and reproduced in both regimes, all groups clearing the stability threshold under the main resampling scheme; the transition between regimes was accompanied by 8 of 27 countries changing group. The digital level is closely related to GDP per capita, whereas grouping by digital features does not coincide with the income partition. A country typology compared across the two regimes and a quantitative estimate of the structural shift between them are proposed for the first time. The results give an instrument for comparative analysis that stays valid when the measurement system changes, because it compares partitions rather than indicator values.

JEL: C38, O33, C43, L86.