ABSTRACT
Following the publication of the report on Public Administrations' Digital Response to COVID-19 in the European Union, this paper aims at showcasing good practices regarding the development and/or the implementation of digital solutions by public administrations to avoid the disruption of public services during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis, looking at the period from March to June 2020. The paper explores the factors enabling the continuation of public services in this timeframe thanks to the development and/or implementation of digital solutions. A three-pronged data collection was adopted: desk research, a survey sent to national representatives of EU Member States, and three country-specific case studies. Results show that many EU public administrations have demonstrated their resilience and ability to adapt in times of crisis thanks to digitalisation. Supported by political and hierarchical leadership, public administrations leveraged in-house digital skills and cross-administration collaboration and harnessed pre-existing interoperability efforts to implement digital solutions in short timespans. © 2021 ACM.
ABSTRACT
Background: The massive adoption of e-learning in academic education during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may be beneficial to digitally skilled individuals, such as Generation Z (Gen Z) members. However, some studies have underscored its negative psychological impact on the mental health of the young adults. We aimed to examine the psychological impact of prolonged e-learning on emotional adaptation among undergraduate students. A secondary objective was to identify key components for preventive interventions targeted toward the academic community by investigating the buffering effect of e-leaning on the impact of negative life events experienced during the pandemic. Methods: The participants were 529 Italian undergraduate students aged 18-26 years. We administered measures of personality traits, anxiety symptoms, peritraumatic dissociation, stress, and affinity for e-learning. This study examined emotional adaptation among Gen Z members who were subjected to prolonged academic e-learning during the 2nd COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Results: Dysfunctional anxiety was not a major issue among our participants. This is indicative of the adoption of effective anxiety management skills during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the findings also underscored the vulnerability of the Gen Z population. Further, coronavirus anxiety significantly predicted mental health through the mediating effect of personality traits. Conclusions: Therefore, health care professionals should design and implement interventions and programmes that focus on coronavirus anxiety and psychological distress.