Digitalization and Its Limits in Reducing Economic and Social Divide in Northern Greece

A decade-long financial crisis that started in 2008 led to economic and social instability, demographic changes and an exodus of qualified young people from Greece. The consequences of that crisis are still being felt. The aim of this paper is to explore digitalization in northern Greece from the viewpoint of bridging economic and social divides. The digital divide is analyzed by looking at access, skills, and the ability of people to use digitalization for their own goals. The focus of research is on social sustainability through the lens of digitalization in agriculture and tourism. The methodology of the research is quantitative, based on statistical analysis of data from the databases at the Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Data was generated from the annual Eurostat’s survey on the use of information and communication technologies in households and by individuals. The finding of this research is that the use of digital technologies in northern Greece has been growing. Greece has been trying to enhance digitalization with various projects that are co-financed by the European Union. Ηοwever, there are limitations of digitalization in ensuring economic and social sustainability so as to bridge the economic and social divide.