Interoperable Europe, through the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO), is delighted to announce the publication of a new report.
'Digital path to recovery and resilience in the European Union'
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Purpose of the report
The unprecedented health and economic crises, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, forced the European Commission to put forward various instruments aimed at helping Member States recover and better prepare for their future. The European Commission agreed on 27 May 2020 on the creation of a new temporary recovery instrument, the NextGenerationEU, meant to enable the investment of more than €750 billion through different funding mechanisms. The most important of these mechanisms is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), made up of €672.5 billion in loans and grants, which will directly fund reforms and investments put forward by the Member States in their Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Thus, the purpose of the report 'Digital path to recovery and resilience in the European Union' is to analyse Member States’ Recovery and Resilience Plans by identifying and assessing the prominence and importance of digital initiatives within the Plans. To do so, a screening of the national Recovery and Resilience Plans was performed, in order to identify and provide an overview of the main investments, and when available, of the overarching reforms, that the Member States will undertake with regard to digital transformation. While analysing the specificities of each Member State’s Plan, the goal of the report was also to identify and highlight the main upcoming trends in the digital sphere.
Main findings
The data analysis showcased that many Member States are heavily investing in the development and deployment of high-speed networks with the goal of bridging the digital divide, as well as in the digitalisation of their public administrations through the simplification of internal administrative processes and procedures, the promotion of interoperability and the Once-Only principle, among others.
Investments in human capital also appear as a clear investment priority for many Member States, as they are being urged to invest in the upskilling and reskilling of their citizens by boosting digital skills and training for all, as well as in transforming education systems to be continuously adapted to the challenges of the 21stcentury.
Boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalisation of businesses also appears as an evident investment priority when analysing the Recovery and Resilience Plans. Concretely, Member States are mostly focused on fostering the digitalisation of their SMEs, by promoting the introduction of advanced digital technologies and the improvement of their production processes through digitalisation. In fact, to increase the Union’s resilience and its competitiveness at global level, Member States are also heavily investing in the deployment of advanced digital technologies, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and blockchain.