Since the dawn of the 21st century, internet, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and digital applications have been infiltrating every aspect of human lives and reshaping social and economic activities and it has become evident that theworld is racing to a “digital economy” era. There is no universally agreed definition of “digital economy”. Early attempts confined it to ICT and high-tech sectors in the developed economies. But as ICT continues to generate widespread transformations across other sectors, creating new business models and structures that increasingly involve the developing world, the digital economy is now perceived as encompassing the whole economy with no geographical limits (Ismail, 2020; Cooper, 2017).

According to the 2019 Digital Economy Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), thenotion of ‘digital economy’ is currently frequently used to refer to transformations occurring worldwide in patterns of production, consumption and trade. In other words, creating a whole new landscape for business today. ‘The far-reaching nature of the transformation has led many to identify it as a fourth industrial revolution, or 4.0 for short’ (ITC, 2018).

Read the full report here.