Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ODDEA (Overcoming Digital Divide in Europe and Southeast Asia)
Reporting period: 2022-12-01 to 2024-11-30
The ODDEA project investigates the state of digitalization in the EU with special focus on Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, specifically in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Its primary goal is to contribute to understanding of the digital divide by analyzing its socioeconomic and technological factors which contribute to it. The project also aims to establish a systematic, standardized approach to measuring the digitalization progress in Southeast Asia. To achieve these objectives, the project facilitates knowledge exchange and collaboration between European and Southeast Asian researchers. Interdisciplinary research teams, including doctoral students, are trained to conduct original research and to build a cohort of academic experts to drive digital transformation. The project is also focuses on the identification of institutional and economic barriers to digitalization so as to provide actionable recommendations based on the research findings to shape digital transformation policies. The ultimate goal of the ODDEA project is to enhance economic and social development through overcoming digital divide which exists between selected Central European and Southeast Asian countries on one hand and digitally most advanced countries of the world on the other hand.
Within the Work package 1(State-of-the-Art Analysis) the researchers from all consortium institutions involved in the project conducted a comprehensive review of existing literature and indicators on digitalization and the digital divide in Europe and Southeast Asia. They identified similarities, differences, and gaps in digital transformation processes, which allowed to specify priorities for subsequent work packages. WP1 also facilitated the establishment of a research framework and interdisciplinary teams for collaborative studies. Within WP1 43 mobilities took place (64 researcher-months), 23 datasets were uploaded in the project library in ZENODO, 34 research studies were prepared, and 2 network-wide events (conferences) were organized.
Work Package 2 (Data Analysis of the Digital Economy) was based on the activities focused on mapping of the state of digitalization in Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The research activities were also focused on creating comparative datasets and specifying benchmarks to assess digital progress and disparities. These activities create the ground for further quantitative analyses and actionable insights within WP3 and WP4. During WP2, 53 mobilities took place, and 78 researcher-months of secondment mobilities were implemented. 32 datasets were uploaded in the project library in ZENODO, 43 research studies were prepared, and 2 network-wide events (conferences) were organized.
Throughout the whole implementation of the project the management of the project was implemented effectively in cooperation across the whole consortium. Regular Project Steering Committee meetings took place to plan and evaluate the implementation of the project activities. Three external quality experts (including one ethics expert) were involved in the external quality assurance of the project activities. Ethics expert has been involved in the ethics review of research outputs to ensure the compliance with EU ethical standards framework. The Ethics guidelines were developed for participating researchers and ethics training was implemented to train researchers in academic research ethics. The findings and the project have been disseminated through academic publications, conferences and conference presentations, and the stakeholder outreach was carried out through numerous activities using electronic and traditional channels.
Main Achievements
The activities carried out so far led to the following key achievements:
• Provided an empirical foundation to understand digital gaps and foster academic research collaboration between Europe and Southeast Asia.
• Delivered insights to support progress towards the standardized digitalization measurement and formulation of transformation strategies.
• Established an open-access data-sharing and open publication-sharing system promoting transparency and accessibility of project results for all stakeholders.
Work Package 2 (Data Analysis of the Digital Economy) was based on the activities focused on mapping of the state of digitalization in Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The research activities were also focused on creating comparative datasets and specifying benchmarks to assess digital progress and disparities. These activities create the ground for further quantitative analyses and actionable insights within WP3 and WP4. During WP2, 53 mobilities took place, and 78 researcher-months of secondment mobilities were implemented. 32 datasets were uploaded in the project library in ZENODO, 43 research studies were prepared, and 2 network-wide events (conferences) were organized.
Throughout the whole implementation of the project the management of the project was implemented effectively in cooperation across the whole consortium. Regular Project Steering Committee meetings took place to plan and evaluate the implementation of the project activities. Three external quality experts (including one ethics expert) were involved in the external quality assurance of the project activities. Ethics expert has been involved in the ethics review of research outputs to ensure the compliance with EU ethical standards framework. The Ethics guidelines were developed for participating researchers and ethics training was implemented to train researchers in academic research ethics. The findings and the project have been disseminated through academic publications, conferences and conference presentations, and the stakeholder outreach was carried out through numerous activities using electronic and traditional channels.
Main Achievements
The activities carried out so far led to the following key achievements:
• Provided an empirical foundation to understand digital gaps and foster academic research collaboration between Europe and Southeast Asia.
• Delivered insights to support progress towards the standardized digitalization measurement and formulation of transformation strategies.
• Established an open-access data-sharing and open publication-sharing system promoting transparency and accessibility of project results for all stakeholders.
Through its implementation so far, the ODDEA project has achieved significant advancements in understanding and addressing the digital divide across Europe and Southeast Asia going beyond the existing research frameworks. The systematic analysis of both socioeconomic and technological factors contributing to the digital divide, allowed the project to progress towards developing a comprehensive and replicable methodology for measuring digitalization progress in Southeast Asia and compare it to Europe. This aligned framework will provide a new tool for benchmarking state of the digitalization across different regions. The development and comparison of the digitalization related datasets for Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia have laid the ground for obtaining robust insights into the similarities and disparities in the digital transformation processes, and set the stage for targeted, evidence-based interventions. The project has also laid the ground for the study of institutional and economic barriers hindering digitalization. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and engaging researchers from diverse academic, geographical and cultural backgrounds, ODDEA has brought together a unique network of experts capable of conducting in-depth, cross-regional studies in the field of digitalization. The use of data-sharing platforms, such as ZENODO, ensures that findings are accessible and reproducible, which is an innovative way to promote transparency and knowledge dissemination. Additionally, the implemented ethical compliance framework and the Data Management Plan (DMP) can be considered best practices for managing research integrity and data protection and set new benchmarks for academic and policy-driven research on digitalization. These results go beyond traditional academic outputs and drive forward practical and scalable solutions to enhance digital inclusion and economic development.