Today DIGITALEUROPE published How to spend it: A digital investment plan for Europe.

In it we put forward 10 investment ideas that will make Europe more competitive and innovative, greener, and more resilient.  Underpinning these 10 pan-European priorities are 35 project case studies from our members across the EU.

Announced in President von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech and endorsed by European leaders, 20 per cent of the new € 750 billion post-COVID-19 recovery and resilience funding must be spent on digital investments.

President of DIGITALEUROPE, Hilary Mine said:

“The question is not if we invest in digital, but how. In this paper we aim to point decision-makers both in Brussels and in the Member States in the right direction. We want to inspire as well as put forward visionary ideas for pan-European projects and Member State investments. The solutions are already there, but they require political will to scale them up.”

Director General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl said:

“The investment decisions of today will shape Europe for the next five years, and speed is of essence.

We need to make sure we have the data and infrastructure to track and treat COVID-19, and prevent other diseases in the future. We need to digitally transform our industry and our public services, and protect critical digital infrastructure from cyberthreats.

We need to create good, well-paying jobs in sectors that have a viable future. To get there, we need to make sure that everyone has high speed internet and the skills to get a job and participate in an increasingly digitised society.

And finally, to reach the goals of the European Green Deal we need to harness smart digital solutions to boost energy efficiency and slash carbon emissions.”

The 10 digital investment ideas

You can read the full paper on our website here.

Digital education, skills and inclusion

1. A European digital upskilling and reskilling programme
2. Bringing schools into the digital age
3. Using artificial intelligence to predict the jobs of the future

Digital healthcare

4. Modernising and securing the EU’s health systems
5. Harnessing health data to benefit patients and speed up research

Digitising SMEs and scale-ups

6. Boosting SME growth and cross-border trade through a Europe-wide e-Administration portal
7. Unlocking open public data to empower scale-ups

Digital transformation, innovation and the Green Deal

8. A digital ‘Renovation Wave’ and a modernised construction sector

Connectivity and infrastructure

9. Bridging the urban–rural digital divide
10. Boosting growth of traditional sectors through 5G connectivity

Background

DIGITALEUROPE is the leading trade association representing digitally transforming industries in Europe. Our membership represents over 35,000 businesses who operate and invest in Europe. It includes 76 corporations which are global leaders in their field of activity, as well as 40 national trade associations from across Europe.