The issue of the readiness of the Russian economy to implement digital transformation

In the article, the author carried out an integral qualitative assessment of the readiness of the domestic economy for the transition of its functioning to the format of industry 4.0. The degree of infrastructural and institutional compliance of the country’s economy with the criteria necessary for the implementation of the digital transition is investigated. The relevance of the article is due to the compression of the time available for the domestic economy to implement digital transformation, which are caused by the economic and infrastructural consequences of the Covid–19 pandemic and the tightening of competition between countries for the right to dominate the information space. The result of the scientific work done by the author is a comprehensive assessment of the readiness of the Russian economy for digital transformation, indicating its strengths and weaknesses. Taking into account the most significant factors determining Russia’s readiness for digital transformation, the framework directions for supporting the digital transformation of the country’s economy are proposed.

Health Literacy and Digital Communication

The SARS-COV-2 pandemic has placed the entire planet under a global health threat, but it has also provided a golden opportunity for us to make the digital transition. With the successive confinements and restrictions on circulation and communication to which we were subjected, we had to look for other models of relationships, work, and learning. In a few months, the Portuguese went from an essentially playful and informative use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to an intensive work, academic, and communicational use.

Digital transition of industrial enterprises into the “smart” ecosystem

Digital transformation is the foundation for the development of industrial enterprises and inevitably leads to interconnected changes in products, services, strategies, business processes and relations between enterprises and market segments. Smart production cannot develop effectively in the form of isolated projects since development is required in the context of market sectors. So industrial enterprises expand their ecosystems, and thanks to coordinated innovations, the active introduction and dissemination of their digital transformation processes begins. In the context of digitalization, the “smart” ecosystem is becoming a global and growing multisectoral environment not only for industrial enterprises, but also for all market participants – suppliers, partners, public organizations, customers, etc. These associations contribute to faster adoption of innovative technologies, connecting resources for maximum results, flexible response to sharp changes in the market, which, in the context of digital transformation, require enterprises to achieve comprehensive results. The purpose of this study is to identify and identify the features of the digital transition of industrial enterprises to the smart ecosystem. The author determined what conditions contribute to the emergence of fundamentally new ecosystems of industrial enterprises that initiate the active development of innovative technologies and products, as well as the emergence of new opportunities for expanding the sphere of activity. An analysis of the stages of creating an effective “smart” ecosystem of industrial enterprises was carried out, and the characteristics of each of them were identified. It is noted that this smart ecosystem development plan will allow industrial enterprises to make more effective preparations for active external cooperation even in limited industry conditions. The study identifies six key factors, which include: synchronization of the life cycles of the enterprise; providing intelligent software and network connectivity for traditional industrial products; use analytics to take stock of production activities and make decisions based on data from a variety of sources, including products connected to the network; in-house production should be flexible; the transition to a smart ecosystem should start with an all-as-a-service business model; creating and managing smart ecosystems. These factors affect the successful and efficient functioning of the smart ecosystem of industrial enterprises in modern conditions, which will subsequently allow the provision of personalized, contextual, innovative services that generate regular revenues.

Increasing Resource Efficiency of Bauxites Using LIBS

The EU aluminium production from, e.g., bauxite is one of the backbones to support Europe’s green and digital transition. In support of sustainable bauxite exploration and mining, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used on the major facies of the karst bauxite deposits of SODICAPEI (Southern France). Our results showed that LIBS is a very promising technology to define the bottom and top layer of bauxite ores and to access critical parameters crucial for bauxite mining and processing. First LIBS tests were made on scandium standards to find appropriate Sc emission lines for future applications.

Sustainable development and new forms of work. A scenario of common, basic challenges for public and private players (International Labour Forum – Academic Discussion «Employment and the Labour Market: Contours of De-Standardisation» St.Petersburg, 23 Apr

The article illustrates the implications for the world of work of two decisive factors of change in the global situation: the joint commitment of states to promote sustainable development according to the normative guidelines of the United Nations and the effects of the pandemic crisis. It proposes the reference to the institutionalist theoretical approach as the most appropriate to provide a valid interpretation of the diversity of orientations in economic and social development policies, including labour policies, which occur on the global scene. The article presents the analyzes on the professions of the future and the relative employment prospects for 2030 contained in two studies developed in Italy on the basis of predictive models that applied specific Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, officially presented in the first half of 2021. Presented research recalls the ultimate meaning of the phenomenon of structural crisis, the value of institutionalist theory in understanding the complexity of the processes of development, and progress of communities and, in the context of the choice for sustainability, the importance of the changes that lie ahead in the world of work in relation to the specific green and digital transition processes currently promoted by the states. Article’s findings may stimulate research on predictive models in the field of employment and new professions projected beyond short-term trends, in the broader dimensions of perspectives and scenarios

Summary of the ‘Dialogue on the Future of Europe: Building a Digital European Union’ Conference Organised by the Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law as Part of the ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’ Series

On June 21, 2021, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice (Deputy State Secretariat for EU Relations) and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law (MFI) organised a high-profile international conference entitled ‘Dialogue on the Future of Europe: Building a Digital European Union’ as part of a series in which two previous conferences were held on June 25 and September 21, 2020. By organising these events, Hungary is among the first Member States to launch a dialogue as part of a series of discussions on the future of Europe. As a proactive actor, Hungary has contributed to the ongoing exchange of views offering a comprehensive assessment of and approach to the digital developments and perspectives of the European Union. The June 21, 2021 conference – composed of three thematic panel discussions – focused on the future of digitalisation and competitiveness in the European Union. Highly accomplished national speakers such as Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga and Hungarian Member of Parliament and President of the Economic Committee Erik Bánki and international speakers such as Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and State Secretary Ana Paula Zacarias gave presentations outlining their visions. This article summarizes those presentations. In addition to public officials and economic actors, academic experts and researchers on digital transition also gave presentations at the conference. The conclusions drawn from their exchanges of views seek to contribute to the creation of sensible decisions leading towards a digital future, while also raising public awareness regarding digitalisation, a realm of growing influence on policymaking.

The digital transition of social security in Finland. Frontrunner experiencing headwinds?

Digitalization transforms our societies in a profound way. Public administrations and social security institutions are at different stages in this process. Digitalization poses technological, legal, and organizational challenges. Finland has typically been a frontrunner in the adaptation of ICT technology. This case study critically assesses the current state-of-the-art in the field of digitalization in Finnish social security. The text singles out the projects that are on-going and those that are planned for the immediate future. The article shows that Finnish social security institutions have integrated digital processes into their operations, but legal and ethical challenges exist, especially in the use of artificial intelligence and automatic decision-making in social security.

Digital transition and public administration in Italy: the experience of the Italian National Social Security Institution − INPS

The innovation and modernization processes of national public administrations feature prominently in the process of digital transition that the whole Europe is going through. In Italy, the National Institute of Social Security (Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale, INPS) has historically always been at the forefront in terms of digital skills and the use of Information Technology for the provision of social security services, constituting a model of excellence in the landscape of public administrations both in Italy and Europe. INPS is currently facing a strategic challenge: that of constituting the driving force for the digital transition of the Italian public sector. To meet this challenge, the Italian Social Security Institute has equipped itself with an ICT Plan that represents a marked discontinuity with respect to past plans and which deserves, as a result of its innovative character, to be analyzed in detail. In particular, the ICT Strategic Plan of INPS for the three-year period of 2020−2022 aims to introduce a paradigm shift towards the digitization of the public services that the Social Security Institute offers to the whole country, planning a radical technological, organizational and cultural innovation, an enabling prerequisite for creating a new model service for citizens, businesses and other public administrations.