Executive Summary
The Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, established by Decision (EU) 2022/2481, sets a comprehensive framework for the EU’s digital transformation by 2030. It aims to foster a human-centric, sustainable, and inclusive digital society, ensuring all citizens and businesses benefit from digital advancements. The programme defines measurable targets in four key areas: digital skills, connectivity, digital business, and digital public services. It introduces a robust monitoring and cooperation mechanism, requiring annual progress reports and national strategic roadmaps from Member States. Multi-country projects enable pooled investments for large-scale, cross-border digital initiatives. The policy emphasizes respect for EU values, digital rights, and principles, and seeks to bridge digital divides, enhance digital sovereignty, and support innovation, sustainability, and resilience across the Union. Regular stakeholder engagement and transparent governance underpin its implementation, ensuring alignment with broader EU objectives such as the European Green Deal.
Characteristics
- Human-centric and inclusive: The Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 aims for a digital transformation based on European values, fundamental rights, inclusion, accessibility, equality, and sustainability, ensuring no one is left behind and everyone can benefit from digital opportunities.
- Four key target areas: The programme sets measurable 2030 targets in digital skills, digital infrastructure/connectivity, digitalisation of businesses, and digital public services, with annual monitoring and reporting by the European Commission.
- Multi-country projects: It establishes a framework for large-scale, cross-border projects, allowing Member States to pool investments and resources to address strategic digital challenges and accelerate progress towards targets.
- Governance and cooperation: The programme features a robust monitoring and cooperation mechanism involving the Commission, Member States, and stakeholders, including regular national roadmaps, peer reviews, and structured dialogues to ensure coordinated progress.
- Sustainability and resilience: Emphasis is placed on secure, resilient, and sustainable digital infrastructure and technologies, supporting the European Green Deal, reducing environmental impact, and strengthening digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.
- Rights and principles: The Digital Decade is guided by the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, ensuring that digital transformation respects EU values, promotes fairness, and protects citizens’ rights in the digital world.
Actors
Civil Society Actors
Economic Actors
Political Actors
Research and Innovation Actors
Practical Applications
- The Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 has established a monitoring and cooperation mechanism between the European Commission and Member States to achieve measurable digital targets by 2030, including annual reporting and national digital decade strategic roadmaps.
- The European Commission publishes an annual "Report on the State of the Digital Decade" to assess progress, identify gaps, and recommend concrete policies, measures, and actions for Member States.
- Member States are required to submit national digital decade strategic roadmaps, detailing planned, adopted, and implemented policies, measures, and actions, including investment sources and alignment with EU objectives.
- Multi-country projects have been established as a framework for large-scale, cross-border digital initiatives, requiring participation from at least three Member States, and can be implemented through mechanisms such as European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs).
- €128 million in EU funding has been announced to advance 5G connectivity across Europe, supporting the Digital Decade connectivity targets.
- The European Commission coordinates the implementation of multi-country projects, including calls for expressions of interest, guidance on funding and implementation mechanisms, and support services for participating Member States.
- The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is used as the official monitoring tool, with key performance indicators (KPIs) set by the Commission to track progress towards digital targets.
- The European Cancer Imaging Initiative is an active multi-country project using AI-powered imaging to improve cancer care and radiology across the EU.
- The Digital Decade policy programme leverages existing EU funding mechanisms, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility, European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund, Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe, and the Connecting Europe Facility, to support digital transformation projects.
- The European Skills Agenda and the ‘Pact for Skills’ initiative are being implemented to foster high-tech partnerships for digital skills, including training in cybersecurity and promoting gender-balanced participation in digital education and careers.
- The Women in Digital Scoreboard is integrated into DESI to monitor and address the digital gender divide across Member States.
- The Commission and Member States have established structured dialogues, peer review processes, and stakeholder consultations (including SMEs, social partners, and civil society) to guide and adjust national and EU-level digital strategies.
- The Digital Decade policy programme has set up a framework for the deployment of key digital infrastructure, such as European common data infrastructure and services, pan-European 5G corridors, supercomputers and quantum computers (EuroHPC), ultra-secure quantum and space-based communication infrastructures, and a network of security operations centres.
Resulting Commitments
- By 2030, at least 80% of those aged 16-74 in the EU must have at least basic digital skills.
- By 2030, at least 20 million ICT specialists must be employed within the EU, with efforts to promote access for women and increase the number of ICT graduates.
- By 2030, all end users at a fixed location must be covered by a gigabit network up to the network termination point, and all populated areas must be covered by next-generation wireless high-speed networks with performance at least equivalent to that of 5G.
- By 2030, the production of cutting-edge semiconductors in the EU must be at least 20% of world production in value, in accordance with EU law on environmental sustainability.
- By 2030, at least 10,000 climate-neutral highly secure edge nodes must be deployed in the EU, distributed to guarantee access to data services with low latency wherever businesses are located.
- By 2025, the EU must have its first computer with quantum acceleration, paving the way for the EU to be at the cutting edge of quantum capabilities by 2030.
- By 2030, at least 75% of EU enterprises must have taken up one or more of the following: cloud computing services, big data, or artificial intelligence.
- By 2030, more than 90% of EU SMEs must reach at least a basic level of digital intensity.
- By 2030, the number of unicorns in the EU must be at least doubled.
- By 2030, there must be 100% online accessible provision of key public services, and, where relevant, it must be possible for citizens and businesses in the EU to interact online with public administrations.
- By 2030, 100% of EU citizens must have access to their electronic health records.
- By 2030, 100% of EU citizens must have access to secure electronic identification (eID) means that are recognised throughout the EU.
- The Commission must review the digital targets and relevant definitions by 30 June 2026.
- Each Member State must submit its national digital decade strategic roadmap by 9 October 2023.
- The Commission must submit its first Report on the Digital Decade by 9 January 2024.
- Every two years after the second Report on the Digital Decade, Member States must submit adjustments to their national roadmaps.
Technical Details
Scope
Regional
Lead Country
European Union (EU)
Policy & Strategic Alignment
EU Policy Alignment
SDG Alignment
Beneficiary Groups
Community Organizations
Civil Society / NGOs
Citizens
General Citizens / Consumers
Companies
SMEs / Businesses
Small and Medium Enterprises
SMEs / Businesses
Women in Tech
Women & Girls
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Business Uptake of Advanced Digital Technologies
European Commission and Member States
Digital Business / Technology Adoption
Deployed Climate-Neutral Edge Nodes
European Commission and Member States
Digital Infrastructure / Edge Computing
EU Share of Global Semiconductor Production
European Commission and Member States
Digital Infrastructure / Semiconductors
Gigabit and 5G Network Coverage
European Commission and Member States
Digital Infrastructure / Connectivity
ICT Specialists Employed
European Commission and Member States
Digital Skills / Labour Market
Number of Unicorns in the EU
European Commission and Member States
Digital Business / Startups & Scale-ups
Online Accessibility of Key Public Services
European Commission and Member States
Digital Public Services
Population with Basic Digital Skills
European Commission and Member States
Digital Skills
Quantum Computer Deployment
European Commission and Member States
Digital Infrastructure / Quantum Computing
SMEs with Basic Digital Intensity
European Commission and Member States
Digital Business / SMEs