Digital Transformation: Challenges and Limits for the New Normal

The restrictions imposed by the pandemic crisis on economic activity and social interaction determined the forced digitization of households and workplaces. The chapter analyzes to what extent the COVID-19 crisis continued/accelerated the digital transformation of companies and the digital inclusion of individuals and households. Based on the statistical data available for the pandemic period, compared to the pre-pandemic period, it is evident that, at the company level, the digital adaptation was based on minimal, survival components. Thedigital transformation strategy, previously defined, continued only as an exception, the investments in ICT technology being redirected, mainly, to the facilitation of remote work, e-commerce and digital communication. The business environment has changed irreversibly, the work and life model has adapted to remote, flexible, modularized work, with important economic and social implications. At the level of the individual and the household, the effects of forced digitization were different, with the increase in digital discrimination and inequalities for the vulnerable categories and with significantly higher associated costs. Post-pandemic recovery and resilience requires the redefinition of activities and inter-human communication, a new normal, based on the acceptance of digitization as a basic component of work and life in households, at the workplace and in the community.