The COVID-19 Pandemic as Accelerator for the Digital Transformation

In the wake of the Corona crisis, all governments were called upon to take mitigating measures, most of which represent far-reaching interventions in public life such as curfews, school closures, and closure of businesses. This menu of restrictions was practically in effect globally and reached a high diffusion within the international community. The specific circumstances of these mitigating measures limiting physical presence and interaction, drove policy-makers as well as scientists and pundits to assume that digital transformation could be accelerated, especially in those countries where digital processes have not yet been implemented in a broader way.
With the distance in time, it makes sense to look at this question in depth and especially to examine it comparatively: Can differences be identified between different regions? Where has digital transformation in fields such as political participation, government transactions or procedures in the health sector been pushed? What conditions played a role in whether or not the Covid pandemic accelerated digital transformation?
This panel gathers experts from all regions to get to the bottom of these questions and draw conclusions for possible future disruptions regarding the digitalization of political processes.