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Research background: Countries with a similar background before 1990, in the communist bloc in Europe, have begun since the ‘90s to differentiate one from another in terms of development. Nowadays, in many aspects of the socio-economic environment, including welfare and labor productivity, the gaps between them are significant. Measurements done by World Bank Group through The Human Capital Project give us the opportunity to compare the achievements from the last 30 years of the ex-communist countries building strong democracies and open markets. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this paper is to identify the major gaps between 8 EU ex-communist countries in terms of human capital accumulation in the context of globalization – and the way the globalization fostered or suppressed the human development and human capital accumulation. Methods: We will do a comparative analysis of the indicators that the Human Capital Project are based on – life expectancy, expected years of schooling, quality of education and GDP/capita of the 8 EU ex-communist countries. Findings & Value added: This paper may add value to the economic and educational policies in the 8 EU ex-communist countries by identifying the policies that proved their effectiveness in generating higher labor productivity, policies that can be adapted and then adopted by the UE ex-communist countries that are less developed.

The shift from traditional to digital delivery of public services is a complicated process in which governments must balance the cost effectiveness and nondiscriminatory access to public services. This shift requires a deep understanding of the factors that may influence the digital delivery of public services and a strategy for making the change possible.The purpose of this paper is to point out the major differences between EU countries in terms of eGovernment performance.We will perform a comparative analysis among EU28 countries based on the indicators aggregated under eGovernment indicators group of the Digital Economy and Society Index.This paper provides a general analysis of the development of digital public services in the EU countries. Based on this analysis, public administration registering the lowest scores (i) can identify the best practices sources by looking at the countries with the highest scores, and (ii) can perform in depth research to identify the root causes of digital channels poor performance and improve them through custom-made interventions.

The consumption of internet-based services may vary among the EU countries and regions as they have different economic and demographic profiles. Since the consumption of this kind of services is crucial for the development of the EU digital economy, understanding the differences among countries, in terms of internet-based services consumption, may be crucial. The findings may support companies to adjust their business strategies and increase their competitiveness in the current economy that is moving online. Also, the findings may support policies that could stimulate the economy to become more digital.The purpose of this paper is to point out the major differences between EU countries in terms of internet-based services usage.We will perform a comparative analysis of the indicators aggregated under Take up of internet services indicators group of the Digital Economy and Society Index, among EU countries (Italy France and Ireland excluded due to the lack of data).This article may add value by increasing the awareness regarding the importance of internet-based services consumption and the importance of digital economy. The degree of novelty is high considering the context of COVID-19 pandemic that made many markets totally or partially dependent on technology, where both the citizens/consumers, and the staff of the private and public organizations were forced by the circumstances to consume and to provide goods and services via online. At the same time, based on well-defined statistical data, an analysis of the impact of Internet use at EU level in the main socio-economic branches is performed.