Digitalization of transport in the South Russia macro-region and its environmental consequences

SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 Digitalización del transporte en la macrorregión del sur de Rusia y sus consecuencias ambientales Digitalization of transport in the South Russia macroregion and its environmental consequences MARINA YU. ZVEZDINA Don State Technical University Gagarin square 1, Rostov-on-Don, 344000, Russia E-mail: zvezdina.donst[email protected]u https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8383-6003 YULIYA A. SHOKOVA1 Don State Technical University Gagarin square 1, Rostov-on-Don, 344000, Russia E-mail: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2884-8121 YULIANNA V. MARCHENKO Don State Technical University Gagarin square 1, Rostov-on-Don, 344000, Russia E-mail: marchenko.donst[email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7600-492X SERGEY I POPOV Don State Technical University Gagarin square 1, Rostov-on-Don, 344000, Russia E-mail: popov.[email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8538-9478 Recibido/Received: 27/05/2023. Aceptado/Accepted: 10/02/2024 Cómo citar/How to cite: Zvezdina, Marina Yu et al. (2024). Digitalization of transport in the south russia macro-region and its environmental consequences. Sociología y Tecnociencia, 14 (2), 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24197/st.2.2024.1-22 Artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución 4.0 Internacional (CC-BY 4.0). / Open access article under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). 1 !Corresponding author. E-mail: shokova.do[email protected]u! Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 2 Resumen: Este documento evalúa la madurez digital de la industria del transporte y el almacenamiento en el sur de Rusia y los cambios relacionados en el fondo electromagnético de esta macrorregión. Se realizó el análisis de los puntos clave del proceso de digitalización de la economía en general y de la industria del transporte y almacenamiento en particular. Se identificaron los principales problemas relacionados con este proceso. Se presentan los resultados de la evaluación estadística de la relación entre los componentes individuales del índice de digitalización. Los resultados muestran que el acceso a Internet de banda ancha inalámbrica es el principal mecanismo de digitalización, y los suscriptores de la macrorregión Sur acceden principalmente a través de teléfonos inteligentes y tabletas. Palabras clave: Macrorregión del sur de Rusia, digitalización de la industria, transporte, brecha digital, redes de acceso a Internet de banda ancha, impacto ambiental, fondo electromagnético del territorio Abstract: This paper evaluates the digital maturity of the transport and storage industry in Southern Russia and the related changes in the electromagnetic background of this macro-region. The analysis of the key points of the process of digitalization of the economy in general and the transport and storage industry in particular was carried out. The main problems connected with this process were identified. The results of the statistical evaluation of the relationship between the individual components of the digitalization index are presented. The results show that wireless broadband Internet access is the main mechanism of digitization, and subscribers in the Southern macro-region access it primarily through smartphones and tablet computers. Keywords: South Russian macro-region, digitization of industry, transport, digital divide, broadband Internet access networks, environmental impact, electromagnetic background of the territory 1. INTRODUCTION The qualitative shifts in the global economy that began in the 1990s and were associated with the development of the Internet (Bukht & Heeks, 2018; Schvab, 2017) eventually led to the intensive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in various areas of life. It should be noted that the composition of ICT used in the economy has changed over time. At the beginning of the XXI century, four technologies were distinguished (big data, digitalization, virtualization and generativity) (Bukht & Heeks, 2018). After 2010, Huawei experts, based on the analysis of the development directions of countries with developed economies, identify 5 technologies used (Salahov, 2020), according to which statistical collections are compiled: broadband wireless networks; data processing centers (data centers); cloud technologies; Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT). It should be noted that the list of information and communication technologies used may vary for different industries. In this regard, the concepts of "digital transformation" and "digitalization" have been introduced in modern literature (Abdrakhmanova et al., 2021). From the analysis of the modern classification, it follows that networks of broadband wireless access to the Internet are moving to the first place among infocommunication technologies, since it is on their basis that the digital economy is Digitalization!of!transport!in!the!south!russia!macro-region!and!its!………… SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 3 being formed. As it is known (Salahov, 2020), the main difference between the digital economy and the traditional economy is that its product is not a specific material product, but information, and it is focused on the provision of services. The value of the contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) from its use is less than from the development of the industry as a whole, however, it requires less investment in a shorter time interval. As a result, the development of ICT provides an increase in labor and capital productivity, increased access to world markets, as well as a reduction in transaction costs (Ndungu, Morales & Ndirngu, 2016; Radelet, 2016; Bukht & Heeks, 2018; Arkhipova & Sirotin, 2019; Safiullin & Moiseeva, 2019; Abdrakhmanova et al., 2021; Mirolubova & Radionova, 2021; Zvezdina et al., 2022). The latter consequence makes the development of the digital economy an attractive direction for less developed and developing countries in which there is virtually no industry. A good example is the African countries, which experienced rapid GDP growth in 1994-2016. During this period, in the twenty fastest growing countries (excluding oil exporting countries), GDP growth averaged 5.8 % annually, and real per capita incomes more than doubled (Radelet, 2016). One of the reasons for this jump was a significant reduction in transaction costs due to the use of mobile telephony-based financial services technology (M-Pesa), which allowed expanding financial services to organizations and individuals, including those with low income. Thus, during this period, the percentage of the population covered by financial services in Kenya increased by 25 % (from 59 % to 83 %), in Tanzania and Uganda by 28 % and 15 %, respectively (Ndungu, Morales & Ndirngu, 2016). This made it possible to create new jobs in the banking sector through the expansion of financial services. The economic attractiveness of digital transformation has led to a sharp increase in the number of countries with wireless broadband networks on which it is based. Thus, during the period 2005-2013, the number of countries increased from 17 to 134, i.e. almost 8 times (Pastukh, Devyatkina & Sukhodolskata, 2014). In the Russian Federation, the development of digital transformation is planned by the state starting in 2017. Over the past period, strategic planning documents have been adopted, in particular, the "Forecast of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation until 2030", the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024", "Strategy of digital transformation of the transport industry of the Russian Federation" and a number of others. One of the difficulties of developing a country's digital transformation is its dependence on economic development. In this regard, the development of a roadmap for the development of the digital economy for each specific country requires a preliminary assessment of the readiness of the economy for the process of integrating ICT into its structure (Schvab, 2017; Abdrakhmanova et al., 2021), indicating the directions, timing and pace of its development, as well as possible negative consequences. The assessment of the timing and pace of ICT development, as well Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 4 as their positive impact on the economy, can be qualitatively carried out on the basis of an analysis of the relationship between the value of GDP (or the value of gross regional product, GRP) per capita and the value of the IDI indicator (Mirolubova & Radionova, 2021; Arkhipova & Sirotin, 2019; Pastukh, Devyatkina & Sukhodolskata, 2014; Kuzuvkova, Gencur & Kuzovkov, 2016; Kasimova, Magomedova & Rabadanova, 2021). For the Russian Federation, the main points of the roadmap are formulated in the national project "Industry 4+" (Devyatkin & Ivankovich, 2021). As a negative factor of digitalization, it notes a change in the electromagnetic background in places where wireless networks of mobile broadband access to the Internet are deployed. This is legitimate, since broadband wireless communication technologies are at the heart of digitalization (Abdrakhmanova et al., 2021). Ways and methods for assessing the electromagnetic environment (EME) near emitting antennas of base stations of various technologies (3G / 4G) or changes in the electromagnetic background of the territory as a whole are given in many publications of Russian and foreign scientists, for example, in (Markov, 2013; Suleiman et al. , 2014; Mordachev, 2016; Zvezdina et al., 2018; Mordachev, 2019; Zvezdina et al., 2021). However, a significant expansion of the used frequency range with 5G and higher technology requires additional studies to assess its negative consequences (Devyatkin & Ivankovich, 2021). It should be noted another feature of the development of a roadmap for the development of the digital economy for countries with different levels of economic development by region, leading to the formation of limited opportunities for part of the population to access modern means of communication, i.e. to the emergence of digital inequality (Arkhipova & Sirotin, 2019; Kaneva & Untura, 2019; Safiullin & Moiseeva, 2019; Mirolubova & Radionova, 2021; Grishchenko, 2020; Kramin & Imasheva, 2020; Litvintseva & Karelin, 2020). In relatively small states, digital inequality is observed mainly between urban and rural populations (Zvezdina et al., 2022). In the Russian Federation, which unites 85 regions at the time of 2022, digital inequality is also observed between regions (Arkhipova & Sirotin, 2019; Safiullin & Moiseeva, 2019; Kasimova, Magomedova & Rabadanova, 2021). This fact makes the assessment of the country's readiness for the development of the digital economy quite a difficult and voluminous task. In this regard, an attempt has been made in this article to localize the consideration of issues related to digitalization at the meso-level, i.e. limit the scope of research to the South Russian macro-region, which unites the Southern (SFD) and North Caucasian (NCFD) federal districts. To compare the results obtained, we will conduct an assessment with the leaders in the field of digitalization in the Russian Federation – the cities of Moscow (Central Federal District, CFD) and St. Petersburg (Northwestern Federal District, NFD). In addition to the restriction on the territory, we will introduce another restriction on the field of research due to the heterogeneity of economic development. In the analysis, we will not consider all branches of the economy, but only one "Transportation and Storage". Digitalization!of!transport!in!the!south!russia!macro-region!and!its!………… SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 5 The choice made is due, firstly, to the presence of this branch of the economy in the infrastructure of the region's economy (Grishaeva et al., 2018; Krasyul, Kolgan & Medvedeva, 2021; Marchenko et al., 2021; Popov et al., 2022), as well as the high level of broadband Internet usage (more than 70%). Secondly, the inclusion for all regions of this industry in the "Industry 4.0+" project (Rappaport et al., 2017; Alsweity et al., 2021; Devyatkin & Ivankovich, 2021) for the modernization of the road structure, including by providing basic conditions for the introduction and use of digital solutions for the operation of unmanned or highly automated vehicles, as well as training in the field of digital technologies for transport. Thus, the purpose of the article was to assess the level of digital maturity of the Transportation and Storage industry in the Southern Russian macro-region and the associated change in the electromagnetic background of the territory. It is necessary to solve the following tasks to achieve this goal: - analysis of the development of the digital transformation of the Russian economy against the background of global development, as well as the selected macro-region relative to Russia as a whole; - assessment of the digital divide in the "Transport and storage" industry between the subjects of the macro-region and identification of ways to eliminate it; - assessment of the environmental consequences of digitalization of the industry "Transportation and storage" in the South Russian macro-region. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1. Statistical data for the analysis of ICT development in Russia in general and in the selected region in particular When conducting research on the development and use of ICT in Russia and the selected macro-region, in particular, we use methods of abstraction, analysis and synthesis, comparative and correlation analysis. A number of indices were used as a quantitative measure to assess the level of development of ICT infrastructure and their demand by the population. Currently, a truncated composite indicator is used to assess the digital transformation of economic sectors - the digitalization index (Devyatkina & Sukhodolskata, 2014; Kuzuvkova, Gencur & Kuzovkov, 2016; Arkhipova & Sirotin, 2019; Salakhov, 2020; shepherd, Kasimova, Magomedova & Rabadanova, 2021; Zvezdina et al., 2022), which includes four indicators: the level of "digital maturity" of key sectors of the economy and social sphere (transport, education, healthcare, public administration, urban economy and construction); comparison of the share of mass socially significant services available electronically with the required level of 95%; comparison of the share of households with broadband Internet access with the required value of 97%; investments in domestic solutions in the field of information technology. Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 6 The article uses statistical data provided by the state bodies of the Russian Federation regarding the world ranking as of 2021, and for the Russian regions for 2018 (the closest to the date under study) to analyze the assessment of the development and use of ICT. When analyzing the digitalization of the macro-region, statistical data provided by the State Bodies of the Russian Federation for the state of 2019 (the closest to the study period) were used. The analysis of the pace of digitalization of organizations in the “Transportation and Storage industry” was carried out using statistical data provided by State Statistical Organizations as of 2018 (the latest available). As initial data, statistical data on the ranking of countries, as well as subjects of the studied macro-region in terms of the digitalization index, as well as the intensity of the use of digital technologies in transport organizations were used. 2.2. Methods and materials for assessing the electromagnetic environment in the locations of broadband wireless Internet access networks Of all the possible options for providing broadband Internet access, the simplest and cheapest for mobile subscribers is access via cellular networks. The assessment of the environmental impact of these networks on human health in the work is carried out using the approach proposed by V.I. Mordachev to assess the electromagnetic background on the territory of the cell as a whole (Mordachev, 2016; Mordachev, 2019). The choice of this technique is due to the fact that it allows you to take into account the totality of emitters operating at different frequencies. To this end, the methodology (Mordachev, 2016) uses indicators of the electromagnetic load on the territory and on the population as an integral system characteristic of the electromagnetic safety of the radio-electronic environment and the electromagnetic ecology of the urban development area with broadband networks. Indicators are defined as the total equivalent isotropically radiated power of a user or cellular base stations per unit of territory. The basic methodology (Mordachev, 2016), as well as its modification for 4G/5G technologies (Mordachev, 2019), allow us to take into account both the change in traffic in the network and the density of radiating units for each frequency range. The indicator of the electromagnetic load on the population is determined by the total intensity of the electromagnetic field from the base stations or the subscriber near the Earth's surface. The value of the total intensity of the electromagnetic background created by the antennas of the base stations and the subscriber at the observation point at a height of 1 m or 2 m, depending on whether the subscriber is sitting or standing for the values of confidence probability p ≤ 0.1. The maximum permissible level of radiated power (MPL) per 1 cm2 of human skin is used as an irradiation criterion. This value is regulated in the Sanitary Regulations and Norms (SanPiN) 2.1.8/2.2.4.1190-03 "Hygienic requirements for the placement and operation of land mobile radio communication facilities" in the frequency range Digitalization!of!transport!in!the!south!russia!macro-region!and!its!………… SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 7 of cellular networks (1-30 GHz). The value of the MPL according to these documents is 10 mW/cm2 for base station antennas, 100 mW/cm for smartphone antennas. The correctness of the methodology proposed by V.I. Mordachev was proved by the author by comparison with the results calculated by the method of computational forecasting (Markov, 2013; Zvezdina et al., 2018a; Zvezdina et al., 2018b; Skrynnikov, Paltsyn & Devyatkin, 2019; Spodobaev, 2019; Zvezdina et al., 2020; Maslov & Spodobaev, 2021a; Maslov & Spodobaev, 2021b; Spodobaev, 2021 Examples of visualization of the energy flux density distribution for various types of mobile communication antennas are given in (Zvezdina et al., 2018a; Zvezdina et al., 2018b; Zvezdina et al., 2020; Zvezdina et al., 2021). The emergence of lifethreatening situations, as shown in (Maslov & Spodobaev, 2021b), is observed either at the stage of compaction of existing buildings, since at the initial stage the installation of base station antennas is accompanied by an examination, or when deploying new networks over old ones. 3. RESULTS 3.1. Assessment of ICT development in Russia and the macro-region under study in the world ranking Based on a sample of statistical data on the development of ICT in the countries of the world, we will build the dependence of the IDI index value on GRP per capita as of 2021. To assess the relationship between the indicator of economic growth and well-being and the indicator of the development of ICT technologies, we use exponential functions for full regression, as recommended in (Litvintseva & Karelin, 2020). As a result , the model of the influence of the GRP value on the IDI index by country has the form: yi=1.848 ln(GNi)-12.342, (1) where GNIi – GDP (or GRP for regions) per capita in the equivalent of US dollars in the i-th region (country); y – the value of the IDI index in the i-th region (country) according to ITU data. The calculated coefficient of determination R2 according to the selected statistical data was 0.869, which indicates that the accuracy of the selection of the regression equation is high. Figure 1 shows the obtained dependencies. It should be noted that for the convenience of analyzing the position of the Russian Federation in the rating in the figure, restrictions were imposed on the size of GRP (less than $60,000). As a result, a number of countries (Denmark, Norway, USA, Brunei, Switzerland, Qatar, Ireland, Singapore and Luxembourg) with GRP exceeding 60 thousand US dollars and an IDI value from 8.48 to 8.98 were excluded from the analysis. For comparison with the data of individual regions in Fig. 1, the values of Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 8 the IDI index for the Southern Federal District, the North Caucasus Federal District, as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg are shown by triangles. Fig. 1. Dependence of the ICT development index on the value of GRP per capita in the region for 2021: diamonds – actual values for the countries of the world according to statistics for 2021; triangles – actual values for the macro-region under study according to statistics for 2018; solid line - regression dependence for the countries of the world. Source: Compiled by the authors. To analyze the ranking of federal districts by the level of ICT development relative to the world ranking, as before, we use exponential functions for full regression. The model of the influence of the GRP value on the IDI index for the studied federal districts of the macro-region has the form: yi=0.546 ln(GNi)+0.834. (2) The coefficient of determination R2 according to the selected statistical data was 0.985, which indicates that the accuracy of the selection of the regression equation is high. As it was previously revealed for countries, there is a relationship between the GRP value and indicators of the development and use of ICT. The calculated correlation coefficients between the GRP value and indicators of the development and use of ICT in the subjects of the macro-region are given in Table. 1. In the course of the correlation analysis, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol were excluded, in which significant differences between the indicated administrative units are mainly due to Western sanctions imposed against them to ban the use of communication equipment. Digitalization!of!transport!in!the!south!russia!macro-region!and!its!………… SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 9 Table 1. Correlation between GRP per capita and indicators of ICT development and use. GRP per capita, thousand US dollars 2019 Internet users, % Traffic of mobile BBA in the Internet, Gb Households with a computer, % Households with Internet access, % 1 0.51 -0.531 0.785 0.092 Source: Compiled by the authors. The regression equation for the dependence of the amount of mobile broadband traffic to the Internet after excluding the anomalous value corresponding to the Republic of Chechnya has the form: yi=90.519 exp(-0.267GNi)+138.629. (3) The coefficient of determination R2 according to the selected statistical data was 0.387, which indicates that the accuracy of the selection of the regression equation is relatively high. 3.2. Assessment of the digital divide in the “Transport and Storage” industry between the subjects of the macro-region Transport, as you know, is a link between various sectors of the economy. In accordance with the passport of the project "Strategies for Digital Transformation of the transport industry of the Russian Federation" with a deadline of 2021-2030, the transport industry of the Russian Federation currently faces a number of challenges. Among them, we can note the high accident rate due to the human factor, the inefficiency of the transportation process by traditional modes of transport, low mobility of the population, the possibility of financial fraud when paying for travel in cash, low awareness and coordination of actions of federal, regional and local authorities, subjects of transport activities on issues of transport security (including transport security, cybersecurity) and a number of others. At the basis of the implementation of measures to respond to these challenges in the project "Strategies for Digital Transformation of the Transport Industry of the Russian Federation" (Grishaeva, 2018; Abdrakhmanova et al., 2021; Alsweity et al., 2021; Krasyul, Kolgan & Medvedeva, 2021; Marchenko et al., 2021; Popov et al., 2022) there are such infocommunication technologies as broadband Internet, cloud services, RFID technologies, ERP systems, electronic sales. The analysis of the relationship between infocommunication technologies used in the digitalization of the industry showed Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 16 • The problem of a small number of base stations in the regions can be solved by optimizing the communication standards used in regional centers and on the periphery. In regions with low population density, which mostly include regional and republican centers of the macro-region, the deployment of broadband access networks with 4G technology is due to the need for increased economic development, rather than a high territorial density of consumers, and requires a longer period of ICT infrastructure development. In regions with a high population density, for example, in Moscow, the deployment of 5G networks is due to the high territorial density of consumers. The passports of the "Digital Transformation Strategy" projects approved in 2021 for each subject are the confirmations of the correctness of the formulated directions for reducing the digital divide in the macro-region. In them, directions for the development and use of information and communication technologies were formulated for each subject in key areas of the economy. 4.3. Results of the assessment of the negative consequences of digitalization of the “Transportation and Storage” industry in the South Russian macro-region The results of the assessment of the negative consequences of digitalization of the industry showed that the change in the communication standard from 3G to 5G, i.e. the increase in the operating frequency, leads for the same locality to an increase in quasi-stationary EMB from 3.8 to 4.5 times the relative standard EMB corresponding to the maximum permissible power level for a given territory. It should be noted that only one frequency was taken into account in the calculations (1.8 GHz for 3G, 2.6 GHz for 4G and 4.4 GHz for 5G). When taking into account the entire frequency range used in 5G in macro cells for voice and data transmission, the total EMB will increase significantly. An additional increase in EMB in 5G in the low-frequency range is also due to an increase in the number of base stations due to a decrease in the size of the macro cell. Summarizing the above, we can say that the current state of the digitalization level does not cause a significant electromagnetic load on the territory. A local change in the electromagnetic background associated with the radiation of base station antennas in 4G cellular communication systems can be compensated by the implementation of well-known organizational measures described, for example, in (Zvezdina et al., 2018a; Zvezdina et al., 2018b; Skrynnikov, Paltsyn & Devyatkin, 2019; Spodobaev, 2019; Zvezdina et al., 2020; Maslov & Spodobaev, 2021a; Maslov & Spodobaev, 2021b; Spodobaev, 2021; Zvezdina et al., 2021). The delay in the development of 5G networks, caused along with the reasons common to the whole country by the need to develop an appropriate ICT infrastructure in the macro-region, will allow the subjects of the South Russian macro-region to prepare more carefully for measures to eliminate the negative effects of the deployment of these networks. Digitalization!of!transport!in!the!south!russia!macro-region!and!its!………… SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 17 4. CONCLUSION The research and development results presented in the paper can be summarized in the following conclusions. • The process of digital transformation of various sectors of the economy is currently a global trend in economic development. This is due to the fact that with relatively small investments and for a relatively short time interval, it provides a 0.5-3% increase in GDP, depending on the initial level of development of the country's economy, which, in turn, makes the latter more competitive. At the moment, the Russian Federation, in terms of the level of development and use of information and communication technologies, belongs to countries with developing economies (Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Malaysia). • The process of increasing the digital maturity of the country's economy, and, consequently, its competitiveness, is associated with several aspects. Firstly, with the availability of broadband wireless Internet access networks (4G/LTE, 5G). It is on their basis that the advantages of digitalization can be used with less expensive Internet access via smartphones and tablets compared to a stationary computer. Secondly, in the absence of digital inequality between the regions that are part of the state. Thirdly, in the presence of highly qualified personnel in the field of ICT. Fourth, if there is a regulatory environment that provides a favorable legal regime for the emergence and development of digital technologies. At the same time, the modern approach to the digitalization process has allowed us to narrow the field of research and limit it to one branch of "Transportation and Storage" ("Transport and Logistics", depending on the statistical source) on the territory of the South Russian macro-region, which unites the Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts. The choice of the industry is due to its inclusion in the five mandatory for digitalization, marked in the passport of the project "Digital Transformation Strategy". • The analysis of the level of development and use of ICT in the South Russian macro-region showed that according to this indicator, the macro-region occupies the last two places in Russia. This is due to the fact that, firstly, the subjects of the macro-region are mainly subsidized, and, secondly, an inertial investment scenario was used during digitalization. Transition to an innovative scenario, as in the subjects for comparison (Moscow and St. Petersburg), is achieved by the development of a public-private partnership mechanism in subjects with low values of the digitalization index, which has proven itself well after 20 years of operation in African countries. This mechanism will eliminate digital inequality within the macro-region. It is possible to provide highly qualified personnel with the digitalization process of the “Transportation and Storage” industry by expanding the admission and adjusting the program of bachelors and masters studying at the Faculty of “Transport, Service and Operation” of the Don State Technical University. Marina Yu. Zvezdina et.al. SOCIOLOGÍA Y TECNOCIENCIA, 14.2. (2024): 1-22 ISSN: 1989-8487 18 The analysis of the economic development of the macro-region, as well as the distribution of population density across its territory, showed that the most optimal broadband Internet access technology for it is the 4G/LTE standard. The assessment of the environmental impact of these networks on the electromagnetic background of the territory showed that the current state of the digitalization level does not cause a significant electromagnetic load on the territory. A local change in the electromagnetic background associated with the radiation of base station antennas can be compensated by the implementation of well-known organizational measures. 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