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The digitalisation of the public sector was already an emerging trend prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in municipal administrative settings was gaining traction in limited fields, with the digital preparedness of employees yet to be fully established. As already argued within academic debates, digitalisation leads to the emergence of e-leadership. As such, in order to evaluate the dynamics in operation, this study focuses on local municipalities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, analysing the pre-pandemic practices. Moreover, it examines the challenges to public servants brought about by the adoption of ICT tools. As a pilot study, proposing further avenues for future research to explore, it expands the theoretical understanding of how digitalisation fosters e-leadership in local administration. The qualitative analysis relies upon interviews with managers and employees within local municipalities. The results suggest that even in the pre-pandemic period, an overall positive attitude towards digitalisation and e-leadership had already been established. However, the findings demonstrate that there are emerging challenges stemming from the process. More often than not, they are associated with the need for suitable training, difficulties in establishing an appropriate work-life balance, and disparities between the traditional organisational culture and digitalisation. Keywords: digitalisation, e-leadership, public sector, local government, municipality.

This Book of Abstracts provides an overview of all selected papers, Pecha Kucha and posters that will be presented at BOBCATSSS 2021 Virtual Conference on "Digital Transformation" (https://bobcatsss2021.sciencesconf.org/). The conference is jointly organized by the Porto Accounting and Business School - Porto Polytechnic (ISCAP), Portugal, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT), Sofia, Bulgaria and University of Leon, Spain. BOBCATSSS is an international annual symposium which addresses hot topics for librarians and information professionals in a fast-changing environment. It is created by and for students, teachers, researchers and professionals in the information field. BOBCATSSS is held under the auspices of BOBCATSSS Association (https://bobcatsss.info/, former EUCLID (European Association for Library and Information Education and Research). It is a tradition which has been passed on from one European country to another since 1993, providing a rich professional conference, accompanied by numerous opportunities for networking, personal exchanges, discussions, and learning. The 29th conference of BOBCATSSS is a virtual edition, due to the COVID-19 worldwide crisis. This year, we have chosen “DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION” as the theme for BOBCATSSS 2021. Information and communication technologies have a great impact on society, namely concerning the immediacy of access to information, the constant increase in the available information volume, the automation of services, the dematerialization of processes, the change in supports and formats, the attention to the client and changes in the behaviour of individuals. These impacts are also felt in the way people interact with information, in professional, academic, personal and playful terms. Soon, half of the consumers will be digital natives, and this will force the digital transformation in organizations, creating new opportunities for change, including in organizational, cultural and legal standards. Digital transformation as an effect of a process marked by the influence of ICT in society will influence changes in every social dimension, including business models and in the way they develop, with ICT and, inseparably, information, having a leading role in any organization. According to Rogers (2016)1 and Herbert (2017)2, it is possible to identify five domains where the digital transformation takes place, and which are based on the transversal use of ICT: 1. Customers, who interact dynamically with organizations 2. Competition, which impliesa differentiation of organizations in relation to the consumer / final customer 3. Information, which due to its essential nature for the business, whether structured or not, will require an increasingly strict management 4. Innovation, focusing on the development of new ideas 5. Value, which becomes volatile in the face of market demand.

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 led the world to a new era of digitalization, as the mandatory worldwide social isolation in the first quarter of the year 2020 changed the communication between people to happen mainly through digital platforms. It is to be expected that due to time and money-saving aspects, remote working and studying will continue after the worse days of the pandemic, and hours of digital device usage will also remain massive in the future. Purpose: This scoping review aimed to identify existing research results and possible information deficiencies in the existing studies and compare empirical evidence of how the outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the use of digital devices and, thereby, digital eye strain in adults. Methods: This scoping review consisted of eight qualitative descriptive survey studies. The main literature search was conducted on the 21st of March 2022 from three different databases, PubMed, CINAHL, and Academic search premier, using key search terms ("computer vision syndrome" OR "digital eye strain") AND ("covid-19" OR "sars-cov-2"). Only studies regarding adults (age limit 18 years), available in full text and published in English, were included. Results: The reported average increase in screen time after the outbreak of COVID-19 ranged between 2.1h – 4.8h ± 2.8h, raising the total screen time to 8.65h ± 3,74h - 11.1h ± 4.5h. The prevalence of digital eye strain ranged between 66.6% to 94.3%. The increase in screen time was the most reported risk factor for DES. Young adults were found to be more symptomatic than relatively older people. Even though the prevalence of DES remained quite the same compared to pre-covid time, the frequency and intensity of symptoms became more severe while total screen time increased in all age groups. Additionally, the median DES scores were higher for those whose screen time jumped more during the pandemic. The most common symptoms were headache, dryness of the eyes, eye strain, and eye fatigue. Conclusions: The results give an alarming sign of how this new era of digitalization may lead to epidemic worsening or even chronic state of digital eye strain in the future, especially among young adults, all students, and remote workers, if total screen time remains as high as reported in recent studies, adequate breaks are not taken care of, and proper ergonomics are neglected.

Digital connectivity – loosely defined as connecting people through digital means promises to enhance our quality of life, as envisaged in Japan’s ‘Society 5.0’, which aims to spur economic growth and solve social problems digitally. On the other hand, digital connectivity also creates challenges and demands a quest for optimum equilibrium between economic growth and national as well as human security. The COVID-19 pandemic which erupted in late 2019 has accelerated world dependence on digital connectivity in order to sustain human contact. Digital means have allowed us to continue our lives, work and pleasure connections, and have simultaneously expanded digital risks at home and globally. The COVID-19 scenario has also demonstrated how digital technology can even threaten our sovereignty and basic values such as freedom, democracy, privacy, human rights and dignity. Japan and the EU approach the digital age with a common emphasis on leading standards to set and promote a human-centred digital connectivity. The two zones can cooperate bilaterally and beyond in responding to challenges on digital connectivity, as is stipulated in three key documents, namely Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Japan-EU Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and Japan-EU Partnership

Aquesta publicació s'elabora a partir de les contribucions de cadascú dels membres nacionals que integren la Network of Eurofound Correspondents. Pel cas d'Espanya la contribució ha estat realitzada per l'Alejandro Godino (veure annex 4 Network of Eurofound Correspondents) This report presents Eurofound's research on telework during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It explores changes in the incidence of telework, working conditions experienced by employees working from home and changes to regulations addressing issues related to this working arrangement. The findings reveal a rapid escalation of telework triggered by the pandemic: in 2021, 2 out of 10 European employees were teleworking - a figure that most likely would not have been reached before 2027 had the pandemic not occurred. The health crisis unleashed the social and technological potential for flexibility in terms of working time and place. The impacts of telework on working conditions were initially difficult to determine because it was difficult to disentangle them from pandemic-induced factors, such as lockdowns and school closures. However, both the positive impacts, such as the contribution of telework to improving work-life balance, and the negative impacts, such as reduced social interaction and an increase in overtime worked, have become more evident. The rise in telework and an awareness of its implications for working conditions have prompted a renewed focus on regulatory frameworks, with new telework regulations passed in several EU Member States

Due to the non-predictable Covid-19 pandemic, the physical stores of luxury brands which were living a three-dimensional and unique dream to all their visitors, had to close their doors and settle for online sales to ensure their survival. However, information online is trapped on two-dimensional sites and screens. This gap between the natural and digital worlds prevents luxury brands from expressing their proper DNA of know-how and heritage. Augmented reality, a technology that overlays our natural environment with virtual 3D images, answers the issue of viewing products directly in the context customers will apply them; augmented reality increases the ability to visualize and purchase them accordingly. Many luxury brands are already applying augmented reality in entertainment, especially on social media, but this technology is being applied more consistently within organizations. Luxury companies are using it not only for product design, but for manufacturing, logistics, marketing, service, and sales, and they have seen significant improvements in quality and productivity. Augmented reality will also have a significant impact on the competitiveness of businesses. Therefore, luxury brands implement this tool into their value chain. This research provides readers with answers to the question: How can luxury companies integrate augmented reality throughout the value chain? Face à pandemia de Covid-19, as lojas físicas das marcas de luxo, que até então proporcionavam um sonho tridimensional e único para todos os seus visitantes, tiveram de fechar portas e contentar-se com as vendas online de modo a garantir a sua sobrevivência. Porém, no Mundo digital a informação está confinada entre ecrãs bidimensionais. Este fosso entre o Mundo real e o digital dificulta as marcas de luxo a expressarem o seu ADN. A realidade aumentada, uma tecnologia que sobrepõe o nosso ambiente natural com imagens virtuais em 3D, responde à questão da visualização directa dos produtos nos diferentes contextos em que os clientes poderão aplicar; a realidade aumentada aumenta a capacidade de visualização e facilita a compra final. Várias marcas de luxo já estão a utilizar realidade aumentada relacionando-a com o entretenimento, mas esta tecnologia está a ser aplicada de forma mais consistente dentro das organizações. As empresas de luxo estão a utilizá-la não só para a concepção de produtos, mas também no seu fabrico, logística, marketing, serviço e vendas. Deste modo, as marcas de luxo têm implementado cada vez mais esta ferramenta na sua cadeia de valor. Este trabalho procura dar resposta à seguinte pergunta: Como podem as empresas de luxo integrar a realidade aumentada ao longo da sua cadeia de valor?

Across Africa, agriculture is a primary sector of employment, and African women provide about 40 percent of the agricultural labor across the continent. Yet women farmers face systemic barriers to success, leading to large gender gaps in agricultural productivity that range from 23 percent in Tanzania to 66 percent in Niger. These gender gaps not only represent major untapped economic potential but could also yield sizable gains for African economies if they were closed. For instance, in Nigeria, closing the gender productivity gap in agriculture could boost gross domestic product by an estimated US2.3 billion dollars and potentially as much as US8.1 billion dollars due to spillovers to other economic sectors. Several factors driving female farmers’ lower productivity are the time and bandwidth taxes from care and household responsibilities, limited access to and control of hired labor and other productive inputs, skills and information gaps, low financial liquidity, and restrictive social norms. Over 90 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s extreme poor, who are some of the most vulnerable to shocks, are engaged in agriculture. In the face of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and global price shocks, that can exacerbate food insecurity, women farmers need targeted support and access to productive inputs that can secure their livelihoods and mitigate existing gender inequalities. Impact evaluation evidence from the Africa Gender Innovation Lab points toward policy solutions that can address many of these constraints and help women farmers reach their full potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, but with substantial regional differences in the speed of this transformation. In this paper we show that the COVID-19 pandemic favors the prepared region: regions with a high quality entrepreneurial ecosystem seem to be more adaptive in the sense of revealing a more rapid digital transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper we analyzed this spatially uneven digital transformation with data on (1) startups (new retail web shops) and (2) established firms (new entrants on the largest e-commerce platform in the Netherlands) in the 40 city regions of the Netherlands.

The article is devoted to identifying the features of the transformation of the regional models of the households’ financial behavior. An algorithm and a method for determining the level of the households’ financial behavior transformation are proposed. Based on this methodology, the authors made calculations that allowed to group the regions according to the level of the households’ financial behavior transformation. As a result, four groups of regions have been identified: with a high level of the households’ financial behavior transformation, with a level above average, with a medium and low level of the households’ financial behavior transformation. Features of each group of regions are described. The increase in the impact of digitalization on the financial behavior of households as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been demonstrated.

In this thesis a soft actuator was built for usage in a prosthetic arm. The actuator was made from a combination of silicone and ethanol because the phase change of ethanol inside the silicone can achieve motion in the material. The aim of this thesis was to create a soft actuator targeted for usage in the medical field. The main goal was to make the actuator and the arm lightweight, strong, portable and cheap. The actuator mould was 3D printed from PLA plastic, the actuator was made, and different experiments were carried out on the actuator motion, and the prosthetic arm was designed using Solidworks software. The hypothesis was that with proper design of the arm, mixture ratio of silicone (mould silicone 1520) and ethanol (actuator) the actuator will be strong enough to mimic human hand muscle movements. The actuator achieved clearly visible movement in one of the experiments and results were recorded. Stress analysis was not done due to the COVID-19 pandemic which caused the school and laboratories to be closed for safety.