Introduction. From current challenges to future opportunities: a collective scientific perspective on digital transformation in the era of post-crisis recovery

Economy in the era of digital transformation: trends, opportunities and perspectives

The idea for this collective monograph emerged as a result of an urgent scientific and practical demand for a comprehensive analysis of the processes of digital transformation of the economy under the conditions of past and ongoing crisis phenomena – from global pandemics to military conflicts and climate disasters. Researchers from various fields of knowledge joined efforts for an in-depth study of transformational processes in national economies, paying particular attention to digital drivers of development, tools of post-crisis recovery, tax and investment strategies, regional resilience, as well as institutional adaptability.

The unification of international research efforts is driven by the need to compare and correlate the experiences of different countries in overcoming crises through digital tools and innovative models, as well as by the search for unconventional solutions to existing problems. This allowed the authors to broaden the geography of scientific inquiry, integrate macroeconomic, sectoral, and regional approaches, and develop practical recommendations relevant both for countries with developing economies and for those with a high level of digitalization.

Without exaggeration, it can be stated that digital transformation, since the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, has ceased to be merely a technological phenomenon and has turned into a strategic foundation for stable socio-economic development, competitiveness, resilience, institutional renewal, and investment attraction. The issue of digital transformation becomes especially acute in the context of:

- post-war recovery of territories (as in the case of Ukraine);
- intensified global competition;
- increasing scale of technogenic and climate-related emergencies;
- transformation of logistics and tax models;
- increasing importance of trust and transparency in international economic relations.

The modern economy requires not just modernization – but a revision of the very paradigm of development, taking into account flexibility, adaptability, and digital governance. This monograph responds to that challenge by presenting a set of analytical studies in key areas, namely: digital taxation, smart economy, digital drivers of business model transformation in the paradigm of the circular economy, blockchain in territorial recovery, digitalization in transport and logistics, digital remediation tools and their impact on regional development, as well as the associated national competitiveness and investment attractiveness.

The aim of this monograph is to form a scientifically grounded, interdisciplinary, and practice-oriented approach to studying the digital transformation of the economy in the context of: global and regional challenges, post-crisis recovery (including post-war scenarios), development of new models of digital policy, taxation and state anti-crisis management, strengthening sustainable territorial development, and attracting investment through transparent digital mechanisms.

The target audience of the monograph is quite broad. This monographic research may be interesting and useful to a wide range of specialists, namely: economists and financial analysts working in the field of taxation, digital public governance, sustainable development; public administrators in foreign economic activity and representatives of international organizations; specialists in investment activities focused on the implementation of digital projects in high-risk countries; professionals in digital technologies, blockchain system developers, electronic governance platform and smart infrastructure developers; academic researchers, postgraduate students, and students in economic and management fields.

According to the authors, this monograph reflects not only the current state of digital transformation processes in the economy but also sets a methodological and conceptual framework for further scientific and applied research, raising questions of strategic importance for planning the development of priority directions in the near future and for the swift achievement of the goals of a sustainable future.