Part One: e-Governance and Cybersecurity. Part Two: Ukraine 2014: The Crisis Online. Part three: Separatism and De Facto States Online. Part Four: Democracy and Authoritarianism Online. Part Five: Digital Diplomacy

Based on a multidisciplinary analysis, the book presents a contemporary view of the main challenges facing regional development and regional policy in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly considering to what extent domestic and non-domestic legacies have affected the regionalization process in this area. The volume mainly focuses on the institutional arrangements at regional level, analyzing the motives, procedures and outcomes of either political or administrative reforms introduced in the latest years. The focus are the former communist countries, both members of the EU and not (case studies selected: Romania, Hungary, Poland and Serbia), with a specific chapter concentrating on a case study from the West – England – whose process of regionalization provides a useful point of reference for the experiences of its Central-East counterparts.

Twenty-five years into transformation, Central and Eastern European regions have undergone substantial socio-economic restructuring, integrating into European and global networks and producing new patterns of regional differentiation and development. Yet post-socialist modernisation has not been without its contradictions, manifesting in increasing social and territorial inequalities. Recent studies also suggest there are apparent limits to post-socialist growth models, accompanying a new set of challenges within an increasingly uncertain world. Aiming to deliver a new synthesis of regional development issues at the crossroads between ‘post-socialism’ and ‘post-transition’, this book identifies the main driving forces of spatial restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe, and charts the different regional development paths which take shape against the backdrop of post-crisis Europe. A comparative approach is used to highlight common development challenges and the underlying patterns of socio-economic differentiation alike. The issues investigated within the Handbook extend to a discussion of the varied economic consequences of transition, the social structures and institutional systems which underpin development processes, and the broadly understood sustainability of Central and Eastern Europe’s current development model. This book will be of interest to academics and policymakers working in the fields of regional studies, economic geography, development studies and policy.

Transformations caused by increasing virtual connectivity reach all business touchpoints, but the surge towards digital technologies is not distributed evenly across European markets, with the Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) region showing the strongest diversity of digital adoption levels. This Element outlines the characteristics of CEE digital markets, along with an additional contextual layer investigating online consumer behaviors. In-depth analysis of the similarities and differences in the region will allow the pace of ongoing digitization to be traced. The authors' objective in delivering this Element is to analyze the opportunities presented by the digital economy in CEE and to provide an actionable outlook for the e-commerce potential within the region's markets. Observations are based on in-depth analysis of dependencies between globalization of consumer behaviors and ongoing barriers to digital adoption caused by both economic and geo-political limitations.

The origins of this volume lie in the history of collaboration on regional development research between the editors and many of the authors over a period of ten years. Through a series of international research projects, conferences and seminars debating the emerging regional development challenges and regional policy responses in Central and Eastern Europe, the idea of a book that would take a comprehensive, systematic look at the issues was born. After a decade of reform, the book was conceived as an opportunity to take stock of the regional problems and disparities associated with the transition process and regional development policy challenges confronting regional, national and European policy-makers.

The impact of digitalization on people and society has become so large that we are talking about a massive digital change of society. Every person, rich or poor, every organization, every country, is profoundly affected by digitalization. Thousands of companies are going through digital transformation processes, to adjust their business model to the digital world in which you can only keep up if you operate internationally, through the Internet. No one can do without a smartphone and access to the Internet anymore. Social media have a major impact on everyone's life, including politics. Just like the industrial society had to be governed differently from the peasant society that preceded it, the digital world increasingly demands other forms of governance. Traditional laws no longer function properly, governments are losing grip on social media and the Internet, tech giants increasingly dominate the digital playing field, economies are rapidly changing from traditional to digital and cybercrime is given free rein. Digitalization also offers excellent opportunities to achieve the necessary global changes and improvements in numerous areas, such as migration, climate, good education and good healthcare for all. After extensive analysis of what is changing as a result of digitalization, this book takes an in-depth look at possible new forms of governance in the digital world. Europe has been taken as the starting point. First of all, because the author is most familiar with the state of the art in Europe, but also because Europe has already been taking a number of important initiatives in the field of digital legislation. Nevertheless, Europe is in many ways still very much behind large countries such as the US and China. This book makes numerous suggestions to strengthen the European digital position in the years to come. This is badly needed for the future prosperity of Europeans and for Europe's position in the world.