Digital Leadership in the Economies of the G20 Countries: A Secondary Research

Abstract

Digitalization in leadership practice requires broader research. Today’s economic leaders must be in line with the global mindset in supporting a culture of innovation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the digital leadership capabilities of the G20 countries in terms of digital readiness, innovation, and competitiveness 4.0 and to determine the relationship between these variables. The global digital readiness index 2019 (Cisco 2020) was utilized to obtain data on digital readiness (X), the global innovation index (Cornell University et al. 2019) was applied for the data collection on innovation (Y1), and the global competitiveness 4.0 index (WEF 2019) was used to obtain data on competitiveness 4.0 (Y2). All data were cross-sectional for the year 2019. Digital readiness consists of basic needs, human resources, ease of doing business, business and government investment, start-up environment, technology infrastructure, and technology adoption. The components of innovation are institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs, and creative outputs. Competitiveness 4.0 is about institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism, and innovation capability. We found that G20 countries had the digital leadership capability in digital readiness, innovation, and competitiveness 4.0. The G20 countries were leaders in global digitalization. Some of them were consistent in digital readiness and innovation. Some were consistent in digital readiness and competitiveness 4.0, and some others were consistent in their 4.0 innovation and competitiveness 4.0. Digital readiness, innovation, and competitiveness 4.0 positively related to each other.