The market of information technologies: the realities of Ukraine

Abstract

Background. The transition to the information society, which came in the twentieth century, was characterized by an increase in the number of the employed population in the information sector. The global penetration of information technology in all areas of human life through the development of Internet infrastructure, digital knowledge bases, distance learning, neural computer integration will become one of the criteria for assessing the development or backwardness of the country. Aware of the global trends, the Government of Ukraine identified the main problem areas, namely: the lack of a national strategy for the development of the information society, sectoral and inter-sectoral programs; insufficient information and cyber security of the state; uncertainty at the legislative level of the principles of the development of digital society, protection of intellectual property and rights of consumers of information services; different levels of knowledge of information technologies of citizens and their inequality in access to electronic communications and information resources; burdensome procedures for the entities entering the market of information technology; low level of implementation and use of IT opportunities in the spheres of education, science and various sectors of the economy.
Identification of the problems of functioning of the domestic market of information technologies and the search for ways to solve them became the object of research of domestic and foreign practitioners, namely: O. Alhimovich, I. Beda, K. Vasyuk, T. Kitsmey [5], O. Ryzhenko, V. Fishchuk [6]. The research does not take into account the challenges of globalization, the needs and capabilities of the subjects of the information technology market.
The aim of the research is taking into account the peculiarity of the modern dynamic information society and the new priorities of information development, it is important to study the trends of the information technology market and conceptual approaches to the development of the digital economy in Ukraine.
Material and methods. To monitor the information technology market, data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, governmental organizations, regulatory documents, and information resources on the Internet were used. To achieve the goal, methods of comparative and system analysis were used to study the development of information technology. Methods of analysis and synthesis, comparisons, analogies, economic and statistical methods are used to substantiate the process of using information technologies in human life.
Results. With the intensive development of information technology, there is a need to differentiate between the concepts of "information technology market" and "digital economy".
There is a dynamic growth of the global information technology market. Ukraine, which has the potential for highly skilled, talented IT specialists, who create unique projects, is not in the first position. However, already in 2016, the Government of Ukraine defined the development of the IT industry as one of the priority areas for the country's economy, especially IT services exports. There was an increase of IT industry by 15–20 %, the market volume increased 1.2 times. The gradual development of information technology in Ukraine has led to an increase in the number of Internet users and, as a result, to increase income from providing Internet services. The contribution of the IT industry to domestic GDP over the past four years has increased 2.5 times. 12 Ukrainian IT companies ranked among the 100 of the top outsourcing service providers, indicating their competitiveness on the global market.
In 2016, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Resolution On Recommendations of the Parliamentary Hearings on the topic: Reforms in the field of Information and Communication Technologies and Development of the Information Space of Ukraine, which includes the creation of more favorable taxation conditions for IT industry and promotion small business development. Especially considering the experience of 10 neighboring countries of Ukraine that provide tax breaks for IT companies and as a result, the dynamic development of the IT market.
According to the world experts, one of the first areas of the development of the IT industry in Ukraine should be: creation of funds for investment in IT projects such as the EU, the USA, Canada, China, where they are used to finance projects within the country and is an intermediate link between world investors, local venture funds and startups; assistance in the development of technological parks with preferential taxation (within the technology park IT products are in full cycle from innovation to innovation); creation of favorable, competitive conditions for talented IT specialists (in order to prevent their outflow abroad); support for domestic start-ups through the creation of special programs at the state level (including educational IT start-ups).
Conclusion. The foregoing points to the need for the formation of an effective state policy and the creation of appropriate conditions for its implementation. This not only will contribute to the growth of GDP, but will increase the level of their penetration into all spheres of human life. And, the first step was the adoption of the Concept for the Development of the Digital Economy and Society of Ukraine for 2018–2020 and the adoption of a plan of measures for its implementation, which states that the path to the digital economy lies through the domestic market of information and digital technologies.
Therefore, further research will be aimed at studying the issues of digital transformation of the country's economy in terms of challenges, needs and capabilities.