EVALUATION OF THE LEVEL OF BEING DIGITAL SOCIETY OF THE SIX WESTERN BALKAN (WB6) COUNTRIES CONSIDERING DIGITAL SOCIETY POLICY WITH MOORA METHOD

20th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGINEERING & NATURAL SCIENCES, Ohrid, Makedonya, 23 - 30 Mayıs 2026, ss.177-183, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

In today’s world, cloud computing, automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning,

blockchain, internet of things and advanced information communication technologies have

become an inextricable part of sectors such as production, manufacturing, communication,

economy, finance, education, health. Besides, digital technologies are deeply integrated into

daily and social life; the society in which we live is called as digital society. Moreover, trust

relationship between people and organizations are reshaped in digital society. Trust has built

from being based on human-to-human relationships to a digital platform or algorithm-based

understanding. Cybersecurity, data privacy and security are becoming increasingly important

for building trust. Literature review reveals that there are limited number of studies combining

Balkan countries, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, and digital society.

Objective of this study includes contributing to literature by providing a guide for digital

policymakers in strategic decision-making. This study aims to evaluate the level of being digital

society of Six Western Balkan (WB6) countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo,

Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) considering digital society policy. While

determining criteria, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Western Balkans Competitiveness Data Hub is utilized. Two sub-categories of digital society

policy namely “society” and “trust” were considered as dimensions. “Digital inclusion

framework” and “green digital technologies” were considered as criteria belongs to society

dimension. “Privacy and data protections”, “consumer protection in e-commerce” and

“cybersecurity” were considered criteria as trust dimension. Unique dataset was built on 2024

and were collected from OECD Western Balkans Competitiveness Data Hub regarding to

determined five criteria. Equal weights were assigned to each criterion. WB6 countries were

ranked according to their level of being digital society with implementing MOORA method.

Level of being digital society ranking results of WB6 countries from highest to lowest as

follows: Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.