Europe’s Digital Decade 2030 Collaboration & Target Monitoring Kicked Off
On 9 January 2023, the Digital Decade policy programme 2030 (DDPP), a monitoring and cooperation mechanism to achieve common targets for Europe's digital transformation by 2030, has formally entered into force.
For the first time, starting now and leading up to 2030, the 27 Member States, EP and Commission have jointly set concrete objectives and targets in the four (4) key areas:
- Improve basic and advanced digital skills;
- Improve the take-up of data economy and related digital transformation in the EU, including in SMEs and other organisations;
- Further advance the EU's data processing infrastructure, including connectivity; and
- Make public services and administration available online.
These all directly relate to the Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles, the EU's ‘digital DNA', which was signed in December 2022. The targets embody the policy programme's objectives, such as ensuring safe and secure digital technology, a competitive online environment for SMEs, safe cybersecurity practices, fair access to digital opportunities for all, as well as developing sustainable, energy and resource-efficient innovations. The Commission will also provide an annual assessment report to make sure that rights and freedoms enshrined in the EU's legal framework are respected online as they are offline.
The Digital Decade 2030 objectives and targets are accompanied by a cooperation process that started yesterday, in order to take stock of progress and define milestones so that the objectives and targets can be reached by 2030. DDPP also creates a new framework for multi-country projects that will allow Member States to join forces on digital initiatives.
Seven (7) years, 2023 towards 2030, sounds as a long period, but it is quite short; better start today!
The Digital Decade objectives and targets will guide the actions of Member States. These will be assessed by the Commission in an annual progress report. A high-level expert group, the Digital Decade Board will further reinforce the on digital transformation cooperation between Commission and Member States. A forum will be created to bring on board various stakeholders and discuss views. Pooling investments between Member States is necessary to achieve some of the ambitions; to join efforts for large-scale impact, the DDPP therefor creates a process to identify and launch multi-country projects (MCPs).
The coming months the Commission together with Member States will develop key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to monitor progress towards individual targets, within the framework of the annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) for the digital targets and will develop projected EU trajectories for each of them together with Member States. In June, the Commission will publish the first annual progress report (State of the Digital Decade).
Before 9 October, Members States will have to submit their first national strategic roadmaps, describing the policies, measures and actions that they plan to make, at national level, to reach the programme's objectives and targets.
On the DDPP now having entered into force, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age yesterday stated: 'Technology will continue to play an increasingly important role in our societies and in our lives. With the monitoring mechanism we now have concrete goals for how to make digital technology work for all people and for businesses.'
If you may want to learn more what this means for your organisation, sector, supply chain and ecosystems, what your readiness level is, how to get fir for the Digital Decade, where the opportunities are, and which risks to prepare for and mitigate? Just give us a call.