Shaping Europes digital and sustainable future: Analysis of the digital economy and society index in the pre- and post-pandemic period

In an increasingly interconnected and sustainability-focused world, Europe embraces the process of digital transformation. The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) serves as a compass, guiding policymakers, managers, and citizens through the complexities of this process, while also integrating key sustainability goals. The current document aims to assess the state of digital transformation and sustainable development in the post-pandemic EU, focusing on the strategies, market trends, and objectives of EU countries. Our research aims to fill a research gap on the impact of digital initiatives on economic growth, employment, and sustainable development by conducting a comparative analysis before and after COVID-19. The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is based on four main dimensions, defined to measure competitiveness from a digital and sustainability point of view. The research methodology is based on two linear regression models to explore the correlation between DESI, GDP per capita, and HRST (Human Resources in Science and Technology). Our main objective is to identify the relationships between digital evolution, economic growth, employment trends, and sustainability initiatives pre- and post-pandemic. We used data available from the EU Commission and Eurostat databases for 27 European countries. The main research question is: Is there a significant impact of economic growth, employment fluctuation in the field of science and technology, and sustainability efforts on the digitalisation level in EU countries? Our results show that the determination coefficient increased from 26.2% pre-pandemic to 44% post-pandemic, indicating that the regression model's independent variables have enhanced their ability to explain variations in the dependent variable after the pandemic. The conclusions suggest a shift in the relationship between DESI, HRST, and sustainability factors before and after the pandemic, with improved explanatory power post-pandemic.