IMPACT OF DIGITAL INCLUSION ON COUNTRY INFORMATION SECURITY

Abstract

In Ukraine, a fundamentally new landscape of threats to information security is now being formed, which is largely due to difficult geopolitical conditions, in particular, the exacerbation of information wars in the context of a military conflict with the Russian Federation, the growth of cyber threats and implemented cyberattacks, a low level of digital inclusion of the population, and the loss of innovative technological achievements. This requires not only a quick response to current threats, but also building the capacity to prevent them, in particular through the growth of digital inclusion. This will become the basis for countering information wars, stimulating economic growth, ensuring social stability, unity, cohesion and sustainability of communities and the country as a whole. The article examines approaches to understanding the concept of «information security of the country». Proceeding from the fact that it is based on the concept of «information threat», we investigate its essence and approaches to multidimensional classification. Information discrimination as a specific threat to the country's information security is being studied in depth. This is because it is a combination of the inaccessibility of ICTs and the lack of skills required to use them safely. To neutralize the negative impact of information discrimination, it is necessary to increase the level of digital inclusion of citizens and society, which implies their safe participation in all possible aspects of the functioning of the information society. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to form a long-term roadmap for the development of the country's intellectual capital, which requires significant investments in education and information skills based on the optimal trajectory of educational transformations that minimizes information threats. Educational institutions should be transformed into effective centres for the transfer of knowledge and technology for the growth of digital inclusion of citizens and communities in order to counter information threats and information wars, to ensure social stability, unity, cohesion and resilience of communities and the country as a whole.