The EU is falling short of reaching its 2030 targets in the areas of digital transformation of businesses and the development of digital skills.
On 27 September 2023, the European Commission published the first annual report on the State of the Digital Decade. It measures and assesses the progress of all EU Member States towards the targets defined under the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 (DDPP), set out to be reached by 2030 (see SwissCore article). The report includes horizontal recommendations for all EU Member States to enhance the digital transformation. Furthermore, it contains country-specific calls for action based on their performance and potential to contribute to achieving the collective Digital Decade targets and objectives.
Thus far, the Digital and Society Index (DESI) has served as the main indicator for reporting on the digital transition within the EU. The DESI annual report monitors the Member States’s digital development and includes the strengths and weaknesses of individual countries. The DESI has now been integrated into the State of the Digital Decade report. This is somewhat symbolic of the aspired shift away from the focus on assessing a country’s relative performance and towards a collective effort for a digital transition of all EU countries. It will be supported through the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC), set up under the DDPP. The EDIC is a legal framework with the purpose to accelerate and streamline the initiation and execution of multi-country projects.
According to the targets, the report is divided into four main pillars: (i) Digital infrastructure, (ii) digital transformation of businesses, (iii) digital skills, and (iv) digital public services.
In the digital infrastructure pillar, the overall target has been set at making a gigabit connection available for everyone. So far, the overall 5G coverage amounts to 81%, still being remarkably lower in rural areas. The individual countries are encouraged to map out their connectivity gaps and come up with additional funding of up to €200 billion to complement private investments in areas where the latter is not viable. Another goal in this pillar is to reach a market share of 20% of the global semiconductor industry, doubling the EU’s current market share of 10%. Next to the Chips Act that entered into force in September 2023 on the EU level (see SwissCore article), the recommendation for the Member States is to foster domestic chips design and production capacities through respective investments.
Regarding the targets related to the digitisation of businesses, the numerical data published in the Digital Decade report depicts a rather pessimistic scenario. For instance, the use of artificial intelligence in EU enterprises now stands at less than 9%, leaving a long way to go to reach the 2030 target of 75%. A similar tendency is reported for the 2030 target of 90% of small and medium businesses (SMEs) achieving a basic level of digital intensity. Currently standing at only 69% and with insufficient progress among Member States, they should raise awareness about the benefits of digitalising businesses, and promote and support the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs).
The EU then committed to increasing basic digital skills among those aged 16-74 to at least 80%. Furthermore, the target was set to reach 20 million employed ICT specialists, simultaneously reaching a gender balance among these experts (also see SwissCore article). However, the report indicates that by 2030, given the existing circumstances, just 59% of the population will have acquired fundamental digital skills. The count of ICT specialists is unlikely to surpass 12 million, predisposed to fall short of around 8 million of the 2030 objective. Moreover, in 2022, only 19% of the ICT workforce comprised women, maintaining a significant gender gap. Member States should prioritise investments in high-quality education and skill development while promoting women’s early involvement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Moreover, providing shorter and more flexible courses is seen as an impactful initiative introduced by Member States.
Finally, the digitalisation of public services seems well underway, with the Member States working towards goals such as online accessibility for all key public services and access to secure electronic identification (eID) for all citizens. For the cross-border availability of online public services, some challenges still need to be tackled to reach the 2030 target.
The Member States will outline the actions they intend to take to reach the objectives and targets in their national roadmaps to be submitted to the European Commission in October 2023.