Data Analysis and Related Applications 3

1Walking into the Digital Era: Comparison of the European Union Countries in the Last Decade

This study allows us to understand how European Union countries are more or less prepared for confronting the digital era. In particular, we aim to understand whether the least developed countries are close or fairly distant from the others. For this study, data for some variables associated with digital skills, digital economy and digital society have been collected from the Eurostat database during the period 2010–2020. To analyze the data, we applied a double principal component analysis.

These results allow us to identify the differences and similarities between countries and indicators from 2010–2020, and, more precisely, to study the countries’ evolution trends and the evolution of the relations between the different indicators.

1.1. Introduction

This study allows us to understand how the countries in the European Union are more or less prepared for confronting the digital era. People and societies have to deal with these new challenges not only to gain knowledge but also to promote growth, development and opportunities for everyone. In particular, it is interesting to see whether the least developed countries are close or relatively distant from the others in this route, in order to develop new strategies and to overcome detected fragilities.

Table 1.1. Variables considered in the study grouped by topic

G1: Activity and employment status of individualsV1 – % employed persons ...