technology and innovation report
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The EU’s digital decade In March 2021, the European Commission laid out its vision for digital transformation in Europe from 2021 to 2030, a timeframe it is terming the EU’s ‘Digital Decade’. The Commission plans to use both “a robust joint governance framework to monitor progress and address insufficiencies” and “multi-country projects combining investments from the EU, member states and the private sector” to achieve the targets it has set out for the digital decade. The most notable of these targets fall under four main groupings. Skills: In terms of digital skills, the Commission aims for there to be at least 20 million ICT specialists in Europe, with gender convergence in this workforce. It is also hoped that a minimum of 80 per cent of the European population will possess basic digital skills by 2030. Digital infrastructure: “Gigabit for everyone, 5G everywhere” reads the first of the Commission’s aims in this regard, with plans also afoot to double the EU’s share in global production of cutting-edge semiconductors. In terms of edge and cloud data, the Commission plans to have 10,000 climate neutral highly secure edge nodes by 2030. It also hopes to see the building of the EU’s first computer with quantum acceleration. Digital transformation of business: The Commission has set a target of 75 per cent of EU companies using cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and/or big data by 2030. It plans to “grow scale ups” and finance and to double the number of EU unicorn companies, a process that has already begun, with 23 companies becoming unicorns in 2021 as of June, compared to just eight in the whole of 2020. It is also hoped that more than 90 per cent of European SMEs will “reach at least a basic level of digital intensity”. Digitalisation of public services: The Commission has set ambitious targets for the governments of its member states, with 100 per cent of key public services to be available online and 100 per cent of citizens having access to digital medical records by 2030 if targets are met. The Commission has also set an 80 per cent target for citizens using digital ID. A framework of digital principles will be established to “help promote and uphold EU values in the digital space”, with the framework to be “identified through a wide societal debate”. Examples given by the Commission as to what this debate could concern include:
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