数字经济发展伴随着网络信息技术的创新与扩散，迄今为止大致经历了四个典型阶段，分别是数字化阶段、网络化阶段、数据化阶段和智能化阶段。一个国家的数字经济竞争力取决于数字基础设施、数字产业、数字创新、数字治理等四个方面的交互作用。当前的全球数字经济发展格局中，中美两国呈现双引擎引领态势，美国综合优势明显，中国产业动能强劲，其他国家数字经济竞争力与中美两国存在一定差距，短期内难以撼动两国在数字经济领域的竞争优势。未来一段时期，数字经济依靠中美双轮驱动，将持续高速增长，促进全球实体经济的转型，推动公共治理变革，颠覆现有就业结构，引发数字安全威胁。
This annual report finds that the development of digital economy，consistent with the innovation and spreading of the Internet information technologies，has so far experienced four stages——digitization，networking，datafication，and intellectualization.The competitiveness of a country's digital economy depends on the interactions among its digital infrastructure，digital industry，digital innovation，and digital governance.The evaluation of 2016 global digital economy development revealed a twin-engine development pattern.The US，with its overall advantage，and China，with its industry momentum，are leading the digital economy development，leaving other counties far behind.In the near future，the competitive advantages and twin-engine status of China and US will remain while the digital economy sustaining a fast growth，digital economy will promote the global economy transformation and public governance reform，overturn the existing employment structure，and bring about security threat.
