technological systems, digital tools, and smart grids serving urban communities
219
The world is still fighting in 2021 with the effects of the pandemic, and most of the measures regarding social distancing are still enforced in order to contain the spread of the virus, despite the on-going vaccination campaigns. The labor sector, as well as the health and education sectors, are still trying to respect their obligation to carry out their activities in remote form, struggling with network malfunctions and the ‘digital divide’. As stated in the preamble of the Digital education plan: […] COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transition. While telework and distance learning have become a reality for millions of people in the EU, the limitations of our current digital preparedness were often also revealed. The pandemic has accentuated the digital skills gap that already existed and new inequalities are emerging as many people do not have the required level of digital skills or are in workplaces or schools lagging behind in digitalization41.
What is clear from this picture is that the traditional in presence way to work, study and assist patients in the health sector, are not just temporarily changed. They are presently the subject of an insightful transformation, with long-term scenarios still difficult to foresee. Internet of Things (IoT), home automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Modern buildings, in general, still obey the three principles of architecture set out by Vitruvius in “De Architectura”, namely Firmitas, Utilitas and Venustas42. Communication, European Skills, 2020. p. 1. “Haec autem ita fieri debent, ut habeatur ratio firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis”. (In all things to be made, the aim must be solidity, usefulness and beauty...), Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De Architectura, liber I, 2. 41
42
