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Digital Decade of the European Union

Digital Decade of the European Union
11 March 2021

On March 9th, the European Commission has presented targets and a general vision for a successful digital transformation of Europe by 2030. The digital vision is a large factor in achieving a more climate neutral, circular and resilient economy.

The Idea behind the Digital Decade

The European Union aims to be digitally sovereign in an open and interconnected world, to empower people and businesses to aim for a human centred, sustainable and more prosperous digital future. The Digital Decade, presented by President von der Leyen, is a response to the European Council’s call for a Digital Compass and builds on the Commission’s digital strategy of February 2020. It proposed to agree on a set of digital principles, to rapidly launch important multi-country projects, and to prepare a legislative proposal setting out a robust governance framework, to monitor progress (the Digital Compass).

Objectives of the Digital Compass

The purpose of the Digital Compass is to translate the EU’s digital ambitions for 2030 into concrete terms. It contains four major goals, to be achieved by 2030:

  • Digitally skilled citizens and highly skilled digital professionals: at least 80% of all adults should have basic digital skills, and there should be 20 million employed ICT specialists in the EU – while more women should take up such jobs.
  • Secure, performant and sustainable digital infrastructures: all EU households should have gigabit connectivity and all populated areas should be covered by 5G; the production of cutting-edge and sustainable semiconductors in Europe should be 20% of world production; 10,000 climate neutral highly secure edge nodes should be deployed in the EU; and Europe should have its first quantum computer.
  • Digital transformation of businesses: three out of four companies should use cloud computing services, big data and Artificial Intelligence; more than 90% SMEs should reach at least basic level of digital intensity; and the number of EU unicorns should double.
  • Digitalisation of public services: all key public services should be available online; all citizens will have access to their e-medical records; and 80% citizens should use an eID solution.

The EU will work to promote a positive and people-centred digital agenda within international organisations and through strong international digital partnerships.

Funding and Opportunities

The Commission will combine the investments from the EU budget, Member States and European Industries and build on the Recovery and Resilience Facility and other EU funding. This way, a rapid launch of the multi-country projects can be realised in time. Combining EU internal investments together with the funding available under the new external cooperation instruments will allow the EU to work with global partners to achieve its goals.

B2EU Consulting can help private or public actors to gain access to means of financial or legislative support. Our boutique consulting firm is specialized in European funds and can assist industries on positioning itself favorably for financial support and a smooth transaction to a more digital future.

Image © European Commission, 2021

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