The article analyzes the practice of implementing measures for the development of the digital economy in the regions of the Russian Federation. The authors considered the question of the variety of definitions of the digital economy, and concluded that the world Bank provides the most appropriate definition of the "digital economy" within the framework of the topic under study. This allowed the regions of Russia to be singled out among the key participants of the digital economy. Based on the results of the study, the authors concluded that there is a high involvement of Russian regions in the processes of digital transformation of the economy. At the same time, there is a delay in legal regulation of the ongoing processes: the implementation of the Federal project "Digital region" in 2020 was suspended, but the regions continued to actively develop digital solutions and apply digital technologies to solve economic and social problems.