The 20% of the NextGenerationEU budget will go to Europe’s Digital Decade. NextGenerationEU budget of €750 billion will repair the economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, these investments aim to make a greener Europe, more digital, resilient, and better prepared for the challenges ahead.
What’s the Next Digital Decade?
This pandemic forced many of us to go online to continue to some extend our daily lives. Wherever possible, people started working from home, classrooms became digital, and businesses found new avenues to collaborate with employees or reach out to customers. Undoubtedly, this was a learning period for all followed by a smooth, for some, or difficult transitioning period for others. Moreover, this crisis exposed our weaknesses and highlighted the importance of digital transformation to prepare for a similar future crisis.
Therefore, the lag caused by the pandemic in network investments needs to be reinforced in the coming years. It is imperative to increase Europe’s connectivity will create a more inclusive, resilient, and innovative Europe. Specifically, further investments in Digital Europe will have the following effects.
• Can potentially cut emissions by 15% in some sectors
• Safer, more efficient, more precise remote operations
• Guarantees equal opportunities, especially in rural areas
• Innovations in medicine, energy, transport, security
Digital Sector Opportunities
As mentioned above, the EU is set to spend 20% of the NextGenerationEU budget, or €150 billion, towards the Next Digital Decade. That means specific sectors of the digital economy will greatly benefit in the coming years. These investments will mainly be directed to:
• Increase digital skills
• High-speed connectivity
• The development of Human-centric AI
• To supercomputers
• Safer data sharing
• Digitize health
• Increase cybersecurity
Conclusions
The Next Digital Decade will offer great opportunities for partnerships in digital sectors in the years ahead. EUcalls’ smart platform is the ideal hub to find partners and the right call to achieve EU’s digital transformation. Keep an eye on EUcalls platform for research and innovation ideas, funding, and find your future winning consortia.
