There has been no greater reliance on digital tools than during the current period, as Europe continues to live under the reality of a global health pandemic.
In this context, the European Commission is charting Europe’s digital transition with a 20% outlay allocated to the sector as part of the bloc’s long-term budget. Where the bloc’s priorities lie in this broad field, however, is still up for debate.
Early this year, the EU executive is also due to present a so-called ‘Digital Compass,’ setting out the bloc’s future ambitions in the digital arena for 2030.
The goals are likely to cover areas vital for ensuring Europe’s ‘strategic autonomy’ and reducing dependence on third countries for the provision of key enabling technologies, while also taking into account the importance of the EU’s sustainability goals.
This event report covers DIGITALEUROPE’s annual Masters of Digital conference, which will hone in on many of these pressing issues, drawing on the political direction of high-level EU officials, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.
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EU ‘punching well below its weight’ in digital technologies, von der Leyen warns
The EU continues to lag behind China and the US when it comes to investments into key technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned.
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Sustainability should be ‘underlying principle‘ of digital policy: German minister
Digital innovations should be used as a tool for environmental protection and climate action, but we must act now, Germany's minister for the environment, Svenja Schulze, told EURACTIV in an interview.
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Europe’s top 5 priorities to kick-start the digital decade
Europe is still reeling from the pandemic’s effects and many countries are battling a third wave. Digital technologies have been proven to be essential in the crisis and are rightly viewed as a way to reinvent Europe’s economy after COVID. …