21 Oct 2020

Ten investment ideas for a stronger digital Europe after the crisis

Today DIGITALEUROPE published How to spend it: A digital investment plan for Europe. Building upon our five broad priorities outlined in June, 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 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, and protect critical digital infrastructure from cyberthreats.

We need to make data available for SMEs and industries, and boost the digital transformation of the private sector and our public services.

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

And finally, we need to reach the goals of the European Green Deal and at the same time develop European competitiveness in smart digital solutions to boost energy efficiency and decrease carbon emissions.”