Brussels (Brussels Morning) – The EU Commission’s Digital Decade report highlights shortfalls in digital goals for 2030, needing investments in skills, connectivity, AI, data, semiconductors, and start-ups.
The European Commission has issued the second report on the State of the Digital Decade, providing an exhaustive overview of the improvements made in the quest to acquire the digital objectives and targets set for 2030 by the Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP). The report is accompanied by an examination of the national Digital Decade strategic roadmaps offered by Member States, detailing the intended national measures, actions and grants to contribute to the EU’s digital transformation.
What gaps exist in EU digital transformation?
The EU Commission‘s analysis indicates that, in the current scenario, the collective actions of Member States will fall short of the EU’s level of ambition. The specified gaps include the requirement for additional investments, both at the EU and national levels, in special in the areas of digital skills, high-quality connectivity, uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics by companies, semiconductor production and start-up ecosystems.
Both the EU and Member States have an essential role to play in enforcing the latest legal framework, taking action to facilitate the dissemination of digital technologies and assuring its citizens are equipped with satisfactory digital skills to fully satisfy from the digital transformation.
EU Commission report emphasises that adopting and developing innovative technologies is critical for Europe’s competitiveness, especially in the current geopolitical landscape and due to growing cybersecurity threats, demanding improved resilience and robust security measures.
The report stresses that the EU is far from acquiring the connectivity targets set by the DDPP: Fibre networks, essential for delivering gigabit connectivity and boosting the take-up of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, cloud, and the Internet of Things (IoT), only achieve 64% of households.
A major challenge in the EU’s digital transformation remains the little spread of digital technologies beyond large cities. To contain this digital divide, it is fundamental to promote cooperation between European actors at cross-border and local levels, for instance through Multi-Country Projects, European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs). A string of successes has been accomplished since last year in this regard, with three EDICs specified by the end of May 2024.
Moreover, the report presents that, the digital skills threshold set by the Digital Decade is still far from being fulfilled, with only 55.6% of the EU population having at least basic digital skills.
How is gender inequality impacting the EU’s digital workforce?
According to the current direction, the number of ICT specialists in the EU will be about 12
million in 2030, with a persisting gender inequality. To reach the targets, Member States should pursue a multi-faceted strategy to foster digital skills at all levels of education and incentivise young people, especially girls, to take an attraction in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Member States are moving towards the target of making all critical public services and electronic health records accessible to residents and businesses online, as well as delivering them with a secure electronic identification (eID). Despite inconsistent take-up across Member States, eID is presently available to 93% of the EU population and the EU Digital Identity Wallet is hoped to incentivise its use. However, in a business-as-usual plan, achieving 100% of digital public services for citizens and companies by 2030 remains challenging.
