Digital Sustainability in Agriculture: Twofold Approach

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of sustainability of agriculture in the context of active digitalization of the economy. The paper identifies and defines two main areas of digital sustainability of agriculture. On the one hand, the introduction of digital technologies has an impact on the development of agriculture and rural areas, and on the other hand, the process of digital transformation itself has a certain level of sustainability. To study the role of digitalization in achieving the goals of sustainable development in agriculture, a comprehensive analysis was carried out in three areas. Firstly, the theory and practice of introducing digital technologies have been studied, the types and characteristics of sustainability indicators, internal and external factors, as well as tools for improving sustainability in agriculture have been considered. Secondly, the relationship between the indicators of the use of information and communication technologies and the development of economic entities in the industry has been identified. Thirdly, a statistical analysis of the impact of digitalization on indicators characterizing the agricultural sustainability was carried out using the variability indicator as the main criterion. As part of the study of the sustainability of the digitalization process in agriculture, the influence of business models of the digital economy and technology on the businesses was studied in terms of the stages of value creation and directions for ensuring sustainability, the links between the sustainability of the organization and digital transformation strategies were clarified and systematized. The study used FAO statistics and IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking.