Over the last few years, digital technologies have transformed the economy and society, affecting all sectors of activity and the daily lives of all Europeans. Data is at the centre of this transformation and more is to come. Data-driven innovation will bring enormous benefits for citizens, for example through improved personalised medicine, new mobility and through its contribution to the European Green Deal. 

In a society where individuals will generate ever-increasing amounts of data, the way in which the data are collected and used must place the interests of the individual first, in accordance with European values, fundamental rights and rules. Citizens will trust and embrace data-driven innovations only if they are confident that any personal data sharing in the EU will be subject to full compliance with the EU’s strict data protection rules. At the same time, the increasing volume of non-personal industrial data and public data in Europe, combined with technological change in how the data is stored and processed, will constitute a potential source of growth and innovation that should be tapped.

The European Data Strategy aims at creating a single market for data that will ensure Europe’s global competitiveness and data sovereignty. Common European data spaces will ensure that more data becomes available for use in the economy and society, while keeping companies and individuals who generate the data in control.

Data is an essential resource for economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, job creation and societal progress in general. In 2025, data servicies will:

• 530% increase of global data volume: From 33 zettabytes in 2018 to 175 zettabytes;
• €829 billion value of data economy in the EU27: From €301 billion (2.4% of EU GDP) in 2018;
• 10.9 million data professionals in the EU27: From 5.7 million in 2018;
• 65% Percentage of EU population with basic digital skills: From 57% in 2018.

Businesses will have more data available to innovate. This will be done by launching practical, fair and clear rules on data access and use, which comply with European values and rules such as personal data protection.

To ensure the EU’s leadership in the global data economy, this European strategy for data intends to:

• Adopt legislative measures on data governance, access and reuse, for example for business-to-government data sharing for the public interest;
• Make data more widely available by opening up high-value publicly held datasets across the EU and allowing their reuse for free;
• Invest €2 billion in a European High Impact Project (€4-6 billion to be invested in total in common European data spaces and a European federation) of cloud infrastructure and services to develop data processing infrastructures, data sharing tools, architectures and governance mechanisms for thriving data sharing and to federate energy-efficient and trustworthy cloud infrastructures and related services;
• Enable access to secure, fair and competitive cloud services by facilitating the set-up of a procurement marketplace for data processing services and creating clarity about the applicable regulatory framework on cloud framework of rules on cloud;
• Empower users to stay in control of their data and investing in capacity building for small and medium-sized enterprises and digital skills;
• Foster the roll out of common European data spaces in crucial sectors such as industrial manufacturing, green deal, mobility or health.

For information on how B2EU Consulting could support your organisation in developing a funding strategy and in unlocking different financing tools for your operation in the digital sector, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: info@b2eu-consulting.com.