Abstract of doctoral thesis - Vassiliki Tzavara

Take-off of technology during the transition to the "New Digital Age" of the post-Covid-19 period. A case study of the readiness of the society and its members regarding the Security, Τhe Economy and the Transformations of the in-terpersonal relations.

 

Technological Revolution has already brought about significant changes in society and the possibility of future evolution of technology is expected to be decisive in the "New Digital Age". At the beginning of this year we were faced with an unexpected pandemic of the coronavirus (Covid-19), during which the possibilities of technology made an effort to normalize the functioning of our society. The sectors that benefited are: • education using new technologies (distance education),• remote work for most of the private and public sectors,• goverment and digital transactions with citizens that previously required the physical presence of the citizen (formal declarations, certificates, etc.).• maintaining people's routine and control of emotional state because of restrictive measures for the movement of people, through internet communication (messenger, viber, skype, etc.).• informing people through social media, blogs.• management of financial issues through the electronic services (bill payments, money transfers, etc.).• safety control to avoid crowding at points of interest, by drones..• use 3D printers to print face masks. The benefits of technology in this difficult period of time have been the appropriation of people with technological capabilities. It does not mean, however, that there were no doubts about the correct use and the consequences that may occur in the future.Examples mentioned:• cybersecurity and how to transfer confidential information in order for government employees to work remotely.• influence on management and decision-making processes.• guiding the public opinion through social media.• impact on the environment by spending energy.• child and adolescent addiction trough mobile phone use.• health effects (eg dry eyes, migraines, headaches, spine pains, sleep disorders).In order for the people of a society to benefit from the future digital world, e-illiteracy must be eliminated. It is therefore necessary to further analyze if this possible and how much time is required for the people of society to partcipate. It seems that health will have a significant benefit with the technologies that are already used and the upcoming technologies. For example, Telemedicine includes the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Of course, we do not forget the contribution of technology to research activity (eg drugs). In the field of Economy and as the continuous use of technologies will bring globalization, the use of blockchain technology with the predominant digital currency being Bitcoin plays an important role.So as society seems to be evolving for the better with the use of Technology, the evolution of the human species as a member of a society remains questionable, specifically on issues related to social isolation, the impact of relationships between individuals, their psychology, raising children and the functioning of a family as part of society. In addition, the question remains unanswered whether in the future people will be able to protect their personal data and whether they will be "monitored" in some way in order to be led to the majority or at least to the ideologies and perceptions that may be recruited by the respective governments.Finally, Cybersecurity has been and will be an issue of paramount importance. With the gradual transition of the Government, the security of its systems and archives must be constantly ensured. This work for Greece has been undertaken by the Directorate-General for Cybersecurity, of the Ministry of Digital Government and prepares the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which sets out strategic objectives, priorities and policy and regulatory measures. ensuring a high level of security for telecommunications and IT systems at national level.In this proposed paper, future issues of the use of new technology and their impact on areas essential for the smooth running of the Society will be presented. An attempt will be made to approach the future model of people and how society is going to exist as a global whole with its subsets. Research will also be done on whether or not to revolutionize the economy using digital cryptocurrencies. In other words, if digital cryptocurrency can prevail in transactions and what will be its benefits for people and for society.

Finally, the proposed solutions for the maintenance of the Cybersecurity of the Greek state will be developed in view of the upcoming changes concerning the digital age. It is known that there are many risks in digital world and therefore an assessment of these risks and a strategy to deal with them is required. In particular, in the post-covid-19 period, the need for security is considered urgent.

The Methodology that will be followed includes reference and analysis of the technologies that will affect in the future the behavior of the person as a member of a society, the way of functioning of the person's daily life (online shopping, distance education, social relations, remote work etc. ). Research will follow on whether Technology will affect some professions and how new professions can be born through this process. In the field of economics, the methodology of analysis of cryptocurrency mining will be followed and research will follow on the possibility of the predominance of digital currency as the only method of transactions. At the same time, it will be investigated whether the energy resources are sufficient for the extraction of cryptocurrencies and the security that can be provided to the state for the control of transactions. Finally, regarding Cybersecurity, the existing infrastructure and staff training will be analyzed in order to find ways to deal with security in the circulation of secret documents, cyber attack/terrorism and issues that will arise during the investigation.

Summarizing the proposed work is expected to highlight the benefits and problems that may arise from the rapidly evolving evolution of Technology. According to the current data of the Covid-19 period, it is considered necessary to accelerate the transition of people and society in general to the use of new technologies in order to enter the    "New Digital Age".