Purpose. This article aims to improve the theoretical and applied bases of activating the development of the IT sphere in Ukraine by determining the factors that influence this process and the stages this process went through.
Design/methodology/approach. In the article, authors use a set of scientific methods that ensured the conceptual integrity of the study, in particular: logic – to study the evolution of the IT-sphere; system – to highlight the conceptual foundations of the IT products market; methods of dialectical reasoning, induction, deduction – to justify strategic priorities; comparative and statistical analysis – to study the peculiarities of the development of the-IT sphere; economic and mathematical modelling – to build trends, regression models and forecasts; cluster analysis – to identify regional asymmetries in the development of the IT sector of Ukraine.
Findings. The article summarizes scientific approaches to the interpretation of the IT sphere. The authors of the article interpret IT-sphere with the activities of economic agents involved in developing a computerized system, storage, data processing, and data management. The authors describe the institutional and legal support for the IT market regulation; the components of the IT market. The authors investigate the chronology of the IT-sphere formation in Ukraine and identify five stages of its development: before 1990; 1990–2000; 2000–2020; 2011–2019; 2019 and to present. The article shows that during the pandemic, the domestic IT sector does not lose its potential, increases exports, and does not reduce public funds payments. Employment in the domestic IT sector is identified as prestigious based on a study of the rate of change in the number of IT specialists in Ukraine, the share of young people among them, and a comparative assessment of their income and income in other sectors of Ukraine’s economy.
Originality/value. The authors hypothetically assume that the system of higher education and the volume of government procurement for IT specialists’ training affect the development of IT entrepreneurship in Ukraine. Based on the analysis of data on the distribution by region of Ukraine of the number of higher education institutions, the number of students in higher education institutions, the volume of government procurement for the training of IT specialists, the authors conclude the most increased localization of these indicators in the following regions: Kyiv, Kharkiv region, Lviv region, Dnipropetrovsk region, Odesa region. The authors show that the results of cluster analysis harmonize with the official information on the number of IT companies in Ukraine. This allowed the authors to prove the conclusion about the validity of the hypothetical assumption.
A separate part of the article is dedicated to the strategic priorities of the state policy of developing the IT-sphere of Ukraine. The authors consider the effective development of the IT-sphere of Ukraine as strategic progress based on sustainability (viability for future generations), social value (producing effects that are beneficial to society), planning and predictability; effectiveness (multifaceted expediency); controllability, and settlement (state influence). Among the expected results of effective development of the IT-sphere of Ukraine, the authors single out the following: strengthening the role of the IT-sphere in the national economy; development of international cooperation; digitalization of social life and e-government; improving the business climate in IT and related fields; intensification of investment and innovation processes; enhancing the quality of life; expansion of the middle class.
Practical implications. The study results can be used by public authorities and local selfgovernment, and extensive IT companies to predict and influence IT development in some countries.
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