Assessment of International Digital Economy and Society Index Using Entropy based TOPSIS Methods

Abstract: This paper assesses the International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI) which measures the development of the digital economy. Based on the European Commission’s I-DESI database of 45 countries from 2015 to 2018, the study compares criteria weights initially used for dimensions against new ones calculated using the Entropy method. Then, it recalculates the I-DESI using three different methods (Entropy, TOPSIS and Entropy-based TOPSIS) and finally compares countries rankings using Spearman’s correlation and Kendall W test. Results show that calculated entropy weights and initial scoring ones diverge considerably. In entropy, “Integration of Digital Technology and Business” rises as an important dimension while the I-DESI scoring model selected “Human Capital” instead. “Use of Internet Services by Citizens” dimension has double the weight in entropy. Finally, comparisons of the four ranking methods show, on average, a very strong positive relationship between the I-DESI initial model and both TOPSIS and Entropy methods for the period 2015 to 2018, and a moderate positive one with the Entropy-based TOPSIS. Keywords: Digital Economy Assessment, Entropy Method, I-DESI, Kendall’s W, Spearman’s Correlation, TOPSIS Method. Title: Assessment of International Digital Economy and Society Index Using Entropy based TOPSIS Methods Author: Mohamed Noufal Zerhouni, Çiğdem Özarı International Journal of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management (IJRRCEM) ISSN 2349-7807 Vol. 9, Issue 2, April 2022 - June 2022 Page No: 70-77 Paper Publications Website: www.paperpublications.org Published Date: 25-May-2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6579884 Paper Download link (Source) https://www.paperpublications.org/upload/book/Assessment%20of%20International-25052022-5.pdfInternational Journal of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management, ISSN 2349-7807, Paper Publications, Website: www.paperpublications.or