Russia’s information technology sector: The competitive environment transformation and structural shifts’ assessment

Abstract

Scholarly publications devoted to the issues of digital transformation concentrate on classical industries. At the same time, the information technology sector, which has been devel‑ oping for more than three decades, also experiences significant changes. The article explores the evolution of the Russian IT sector. The methodological basis of the research includes the con‑ cepts of the information society, business models and ecosystems, and the theory of industrial organisation. The study adopts methods of structrual-logical and statistical analysis, approaches to industrial organisation analysis, methods of assessment of structural shifts.The author identi‑ fies main segments of the Russian IT sector, namely hardware, software, and IT services mac‑ ro markets. Based on the structural approach to assessing the level of competition, the author scrutinises the dynamics of the level of concentration and the size of barriers to entry in the investigated market segments of the Russian IT sector in the recent years, and proves a trend for the blurring boundaries of industries and improving competitive environment. The author substantiates that it was the transformation of the sector that enabled new firms to successfully enter the market. Having assessed the structural shifts in the sphere of labour, the author con‑ cludes that the electronics markets were the ones most exposed to the transformation processes. The findings can underlie further research on the transformation processes of both individual information technology markets and global IT structures.