March 2020

DID YOU KNOW?

The European Commission has developed a Digital Strategy to help its citizens prosper in the digital age.

 EDC News: EU’s Digital Strategy

EU citizens are highly reliable on technology whether it is for medicine, economy, research, education or for basic day to day tasks. The dependency on and usage of technology is rapidly increasing. In 2019, internet usage increased to 87% of individuals in the 27 EU Members States, which, in comparison to 2009 gave an increase of 36.5%. The proof for this is further compounded by the increase in online ordering of goods or services (60% in 2019 giving a 87.5% from 2009). To address this ever-increasing need, to safeguard its citizens, meet the objectives of a climate-neutral EU by 2050 (COM 2019/640 final) and the EU becoming a global leader in digital technologies the European Commission (EC) developed a Digital Strategy (COM 2020/67 final).  The Digital strategy comprises of 3 key objectives:

• Technology that works for the people – aims to use technology to improve people’s lives either by improving the processes for medical diagnosis and treatment, enhancing their digital skills, improving online services and shopping, safeguarding personal privacy and improving data protection (Regulation 2016/679; DIR 2002/58)

• A fair and competitive digital economy – aims to use digital technologies to create a single market were companies can develop, market and compete on equal terms, thereby, boosting productivity and global competitiveness, and consumer confidence that their rights are respected. Furthermore, creating new opportunities for businesses by providing access to high-quality industrial data and supporting small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in their transition to incorporating artificial intelligence in their work practices

• Open, democratic and sustainable society – Transform the digital sector to reduce the level of carbon emissions it emits, empowering citizens by respecting their democratic values and fundamental rights and gaining their trust, digitalising national services (eHealth, eGoverment, Media and Digital Culture,  smart cities, safer internet, women in ICT) and combating disinformation

Furthermore, to help meet the strategy’s key objectives the European Commission developed actions, such as, increasing investments in supercomputing, artificial intelligence (COM 2020/65 final), cybersecurity (Regulation 2019/881), advanced digital skills (COM 2020/67 final; New skills agenda; COM 2016/381 final; COM 2016/383 final), data strategy (COM 2020/66 final) and incorporating the use of technology in economy and the society, such as, European industrial strategy (COM 2020/102 final). The EU is, also, committed to setting global standards for emerging technologies (such as, next generation internet) and will remain the most open region for trade and investment in the world, provided that businesses adhere to EU’s policies and regulations (COM 2015/497 final).

More information:

• Legal Documents
  • Shaping Europe's digital future, European Commission (webpage, COM 2020/67 final)
  • Europe’s role in shaping the future of Internet Policy and Governance (COM 2014/072 final), EUR-Lex.
  • Harmonising certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods, including the role of the Digital Single Market Strategy (DIR 2019/771/EC - repealing DIR 1999/44/EC; Regulation 2017/2394; DIR 2009/22/EC), EUR-Lex.
  • Identifying and addressing barriers to the Single Market (COM 2020/93 final), EUR-Lex
  • Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020 (JOIN 2020/7 final), – the European Commission called for the EU and its partners to work together on new policy priorities to support the digital and ecological transformation and to deliver on economies that work for all, EUR-Lex.
  • A new Circular Economy Action Plan, for a cleaner and more competitive Europe (COM 2020/98 final) – the use of digitalization (digital tools) to achieve the circular objectives, European Commission, EUR-Lex
  • Electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (Regulation 2014/910 - repealing DIR 1999/93/EC)
  • Establishing the Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027 (COM 2018/434 final ; SWD 2018/305 final)
  • A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe (SWD 2015/100 final;  Mid-term review SWD 2017/155 final)
• Policies
  • Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. ICT standardization – legal framework, priorities, stakeholder platform and rolling plan, European Commission
  •  Shaping the digital transformation in Europe - Working paper: Economic potential – summary of selected findings of the macro-economic simulations which assess the potential impact of disruptive digital technologies on the economy and society in the EU and its member states, European Commission (19/02/2020)
  •  Data protection under GDPR (Regulation 2016/679) - Framework outlining the use, processes and monitoring, transparency of, transfer (in EU and non-EU countries) personal data, Your Europe – European Union.
  • Online Privacy – different types of cookies that can be used on your website. Your Europe – European Union.
• Databases
  • Shaping the digital market search engine – legal documents, reports and studies, communications, funding, projects, events, news, blog posts
  • Shaping the ICT and standardisation search engine – legal documents, reports and studies, communications, funding, projects, events, news, blog posts
  • Next Generation Internet  search engine – reports and studies, communications, funding, projects, events, news, blog posts
• Statistics
  • Digital economy and digital society statistics at regional level, regions with the highest and the lowest share of people interacting with public authorities over the internet, Eurostat
  • Digital economy and society statistics - households and individuals, statistical data on various parts of the information society in the EU focusing on the availability and use of information technology by individuals within households, Statistics Explained - Eurostat
  • Being young in Europe today – digital world, people who use computers or the internet on a daily basis, Statistics Explained - Eurostat.
  • Is internet use safer today? – share of people experiencing security-related problems in private internet use in the EU in the last 12 months, Eurostat.
• Press releases
  • Commission outlines measures to deliver fast and ultra-fast broadband in Europe – the three complementary measures to facilitate the roll out and take up of fast and ultra-fast broadband the EU European Commission
• Factsheets
  • European Data Strategy (factsheet)
  • Excellence and trust in AI (factsheet)
  • Shaping Europe’s digital future (factsheet)