Abstract
The present study focuses on how cybersecurity, digital spending and innovation are bound to affect economic development of developing nations in Asia and Africa in 2024. The study considers the effects of key dimensions of digital transformation individually and in combination on the GDP growth using a cross-sectional dataset of 200 observations of 58 emerging economies using both simple and multiple regression analyses. The results show that innovation has the most significant positive and statistically significant impact on the economic growth, and cybersecurity has a significant positive impact, as well. Digital spending, on the contrary, does not have a statistically significant independent effect. The integrated regression model describes the variation in economic growth of 60.8 percent, which indicates the structural interdependence of the elements of digital transformation. These findings imply that the innovation capacity is a major driver of economic growth in emerging markets, which is subject to the presence of strong cybersecurity infrastructure as well as digital expenditure is not quite enough without strategic alignment. The paper also adds to the literature on the digital economy by offering a combined analytical framework, as well as policy implication of strategic investment in innovation, strengthening of cybersecurity, and coordinated policies of digital transformation, to attain sustainable economic growth.
Keywords: Cybersecurity, Digital Spending, Economic Growth, Emerging Economies, Innovation.