In the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives and the operation
of the whole economy. The technological possibilities in the era of Industry 4.0 were
already given, but the spread of digital solutions accelerated due to the pandemic,
which was the catalyst of technological progress. The adaptation of new technologies
was faster, and the length of the digital transition has been shortened. The impact
of the pandemic prevails in both technological leader and follower countries, and
because of this, the technological gap between developed and developing countries
may decrease. The technological follower countries can converge to leaders mainly
in digital infrastructure which is the essential condition of the new technological
era but some constraints remain that prevent them from taking advantage of technological
progress. This technological revolution requires promoting the use, adoption, and
adaptation of new technologies in all countries regardless of the level of technological
development. This research aims to analyse the changes in European countries’ innovation
performance in the last years when the COVID-19 pandemic prevailed with data from
European Innovation Scoreboard. Using simple and multivariate statistical methods,
the similarities and differences in technological progress in times of pandemic can
be highlighted between the technological leader and follower countries in the European
Union.