To ensure the EU stays on track to meet its digital transformation ambitions, EU countries need additional investments in digital skills, high-quality connectivity, and uptake of Artificial Intelligence. These are the main conclusions of the second report on the State of the Digital Decade, which assesses the progress made in achieving the digital objectives and targets set for 2030 by the EU’s Digital Decade Policy Programme. The report also analyses EU countries’ national Digital Decade strategic roadmaps that detail the planned national measures to contribute to the EU’s digital transformation. A key finding of the report is the need for EU countries to strengthen their actions and to be more ambitious in achieving the Digital Decade’s goals which are key to ensuring the EU’s future economic prosperity.
The report highlights that there are still notable gaps in meeting certain targets. Fibre networks only reach 64% of households, while 5G networks only reach 50% of the EU’s territory and their performance is still insufficient to deliver advanced 5G services. Similarly, the uptake of AI, cloud and/or big data by European companies scored well below the Digital Decade target of 75%. Under current trends, only 64% of businesses will use cloud, 50% big data and only 17% AI by 2030.
To address these shortcomings, the Commission and EU countries should work together to foster a truly functional Digital Single Market. They are also encouraged to incentivise the take-up of innovative digital tools by small businesses.
The digital skills targets set by the Digital Decade are also still far from being achieved, with only 55.6% of the EU population having at least basic digital skills. The report calls for EU countries to follow a multi-faceted approach to foster digital skills at all levels of education, and incentivise young people, particularly girls, to take interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
On a more positive note, EU countries are progressing towards the target of making all key public services and electronic health records accessible online, as well as providing them with a secure electronic identification.
EU countries will now have to review and adjust their national roadmaps to align with the ambition of the Digital Decade Policy Programme before 2 December 2024. The Commission will monitor and assess the implementation of these recommendations and report on the progress made in the next State of the Digital Decade report in 2025.
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A Europe fit for the Digital Age