The Digital Ecosystem of the ASEAN Economic Community: Assessing the Outcomes of Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation

The article analyzes the degree of influence exerted by cooperation led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the science, technology and innovation field on shaping the digital tools of establishing its main economic integration project, namely, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Salient features of the AEC digital tools are revealed, obstacles to their usage and upgrade are scrutinized, major global trends in cooperation in the science, technology and innovation field from the perspective of their impact on ASEAN’s prospective plans are explored and summarized. The evolution of ASEAN’s policy in the science, technology and innovation field as its response to obstacles in creating the AEC digital ecosystem amidst the trends of global science, technology and innovation development that are unfavorable for the association is traced, and its main results are assessed. From the author’s perspective, ASEAN-led cooperation in the science, technology and innovation field, despite its long history and diversified institutional foundation, has been unable to exert considerable influence upon creating the AEC digital ecosystem due to lack of advanced non-digital and digital tools at ASEAN’s disposal. The research applies general, specialized, and disciplinary scientific methods integrated into an interdisciplinary approach. The academic novelty of the article is premised on its research focus, since so far neither Russian, nor foreign scholars have explored ASEAN’s science, technology, and innovation policy from the perspective of the AEC digital dimension. The relevance and the practical significance of the paper stem from the urgency of conceptualizing under-researched aspects of ASEAN’s policy after the association finalized the establishment of the ASEAN Community 2025 and announced the ASEAN Community 2045.