The Role of Digital Technologies in Shaping Modern Economic Resilience: Evidence from Global Crises (2015–2024)

This paper analyzes the pivotal role of digital technologies in enhancing economic resilience during major global disruptions between 2015 and 2024, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent supply chain shocks. Employing a difference-in-differences framework across 85 countries, the study measures resilience through GDP recovery speed, employment stability, and trade continuity. Key variables include broadband penetration, cloud computing adoption, and e-commerce intensity, sourced from World Bank, ITU, and UNCTAD databases. Findings reveal that a 10-percentage-point increase in digital infrastructure coverage accelerates GDP rebound by 1.8 months (p < 0.01), with stronger effects in middle-income economies transitioning to remote work models. Digital platforms mitigated 62% of job losses in service sectors during lockdowns. The analysis controls for fiscal stimulus, institutional quality, and pre-crisis digital maturity. Robustness checks using propensity score matching confirm causality. Results highlight technology's dual function as shock absorber and growth accelerator, although digital divides exacerbate inequality. Policy recommendations emphasize universal broadband access and digital literacy programs to build adaptive capacity. The study contributes to resilience theory by quantifying technology's buffering mechanisms in real time. (224 words)