The research conducted in this paper aims to appraise the interlinkages between public governance and digital transformation at the level of the European Union. We employ two advanced approaches to modelling longitudinal data compiled at the level of the EU-27 Member States during the 2010–2021 period, namely, structural equation modelling and Gaussian and Mixed-Markov graphical models. The main results indicate positive impacts on government effectiveness arise from the human capital involved in complex activities that engage the use of digital services, e-government users, and integration of digital technologies, and the effect of demands and supplies of digital public services using open data. This further supports the government’s capabilities in enforcing regulations and policies to control corruption and sustain the achievement of digital skills, at least at a basic level, by the entire society. Moreover, good perceptions and a higher degree of confidence in the rules of law have a positive influence on the need for connectivity of digital services, especially the supply side of fixed and mobile broadband. Lastly, a relevant impact of regulatory quality is identified in the digital connectivity of broadband infrastructure, which is enclosed by the public governance representative indicators under the influence of a stronger integration of digitalisation.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the digitalization of medical services present significant challenges for the medical sector of the European Union, with profound implications for health systems and the provision of high-performance public health services. The sustainability and resilience of health systems are based on the introduction of information and communication technology in health processes and services, eliminating the vulnerability that can have significant consequences for health, social cohesion, and economic progress. This research aims to assess the impact of digitalization on several dimensions of health, introducing specific implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research methodology consists of three procedures: cluster analysis performed through vector quantization, agglomerative clustering, and an analytical approach consisting of data mapping. The main results highlight the importance of effective national responses and provide recommendations, various priorities, and objectives to strengthen health systems at the European level. Finally, the results reveal the need to reduce the gaps between the EU member states and a new approach to policy, governance, investment, health spending, and the performing provision of digital services.

The recent worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of a performant public sector in terms of health. To achieve greater use and efficiency of health information and communication technology (ICT), the whole community of European states needs a model to develop a common strategy to support the implementation of e-health and reduce decision-making difficulties. Our research suggests such a model, starting from the level of adoption to the implementation of e-health and points out the existing disparities in the European countries regarding the difficulties of adopting e-health. We draw a composite index to assess the inequalities present in the quality of life, the public health system, and the adoption of e-health. Furthermore, to return to a hierarchy of European countries, the relative distance method (RDM) is applied by combining various classification criteria. The results identify the European countries with the highest levels of adoption (Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom), where e-health is routine, and the countries with the lowest levels of adoption (Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia), where e-health is not widespread. These results reveal critical implications in identifying solutions to reduce the gaps between countries, identifying public policies to support the adoption of e-health, and reducing difficulties in decision-making.