DIGITAL ECONOMY AS AN ELEMENT OF ENSURING SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNDER MODERN CONDITIONS

Abstract

The article examines the digital economy as a component of the mechanism for ensuring sustainable development of enterprises under wartime and European integration conditions. Ukraine's accelerating digital transition since 2020, combined with the economic shocks of the full-scale Russian invasion, makes the topic particularly relevant: enterprises have had to maintain continuity and competitiveness simultaneously, and digital tools proved central to that task. The study draws on a review of Ukrainian and foreign publications (2018–2025), comparative analysis of definitional approaches to the digital economy and digitalization, and secondary data on Ukraine's IT sector and EU digital benchmarks. Domestic scholars tend to emphasise the applied, sector-specific dimension of digitalization, while foreign researchers focus on its systemic and measurable effects on sustainable development indicators — a distinction that shapes how recommendations are formulated for different policy levels. The analysis identifies the main channels through which digitalization strengthens enterprise resilience: reducing operational costs through automation, preserving and expanding markets via e-commerce, improving management quality through big data analytics, and deepening integration with public services through e-governance tools. At the enterprise level, cloud ERP/BAS systems, CRM platforms, and digital marketing are the most impactful instruments; at the macro level, the Diia platform, Prozorro, and DESI-aligned policy reforms create the enabling environment. The Ukrainian IT sector's ability to grow its export revenues to USD 7.3 billion in 2022 — the only sector with positive export dynamics that year — illustrates the strategic importance of digitalization under crisis conditions, though the subsequent decline to USD 6.45 billion by 2024 signals that resilience cannot be taken for granted. The practical contribution of the article is a structured framework of digital tools for enterprise sustainability and a set of priority directions for Ukrainian enterprises operating under martial law and pursuing European integration.