Dan Zaharia

For often antiquated education systems and frequently IT-shy teachers in the Balkans, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a sharp, sometimes impossible learning curve as schools embark almost overnight on an e-learning experiment that has exposed huge disparities between and within countries, between private and public schools and cities and villages in terms in knowledge and resources.

Iasi in the northeast, the ugly sister among Romania's big cities, seemed to buck the trend. 

But today this once neglected city is changing fast, from a run-down post-industrial centre into a regional hub for IT, attracting international companies and global giants such as Amazon, Oracle and the research division of the German automotive manufacturer Continental.