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Shaping Europe’s digital future
Event report | Publication

Takeaways of the Webinar on National Initiatives for Digitising Industries

On March 4 2021, the European Commission (DG Connect), with the support of VVA and WIK, organised a webinar on the potential for Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRP) to support the digital transformation of the economy. The webinar reported on the results of a 3-year study to monitor progress in national initiatives for digitising industry.

The main objective of the webinar was to present Member States digitalisation initiatives and good practices building on a set of country reports (28 countries over 3 years) and an EU level analysis of ongoing national initiatives to digitise industry. Over 130 policymakers in charge of digitalisation, Digital Innovation Hubs, and Recovery & Resilience Plans attended the webinar.

The study on national digitisation initiatives has (a) enabled strategic insights about different approaches in the Member States, (b) identified their key success factors, and (c) led to the formulation of actionable recommendations for policymakers to address the challenges and opportunities in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of their digitalisation initiatives. MS should take the opportunity of the Recovery and Resilience Plans to intensify such initiatives.

At a strategic level, the study identified different “digitisation pathways” and good practices based on the starting points of each country in terms of digitisation, an understanding of each country’s key digitisation challenge, and a comprehensive view of their key enablers and obstacles.

The Digitising European Industry (DEI) initiative was launched by the European Commission in April 2016 to reinforce the EU's competitiveness in digital technologies and to ensure that every industry in Europe – whichever the sector, wherever the location, whatever the size – can fully benefit from digital innovations.
Within this framework, reporting and monitoring the development of national initiatives on digitalisation is key for the implementation of the different actions lines of the DEI initiative.

Download the Report of the workshop

Download the Agenda

Presentations

After three-year of study on monitoring progress in national initiatives on digitising industry mandated by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), it is now to time to review early findings of yearly digitalisation reports and analyses of measures in the broader framework of emerging digital growth strategies that are linked to national innovation and industrial policies, following the main DEI action lines:

The outbreak of the pandemic has deeply impacted the economic situation in the European Union. In the second quarter of 2020, GDP decreased by 11.4% compared with the previous quarter (Source: Eurostat, Information Release, 8 September 2020). Investments plummeted even more, by 15.4%. To avoid an enduring sluggish economic outlook for the coming years, investments and reforms, notably in relation to the digital transformation of the economy, are essential not only for the recovery but also for the resilience of European economies and societies. In the core objectives of the Recovery and Resilience national plans, member states have the opportunity to support and accelerate the twin green and digital transition. In the frame of the Next Generation EU, The Recovery & Resilience, with a minimum level of 20% investments related to digital is a unique opportunity to finance ambitious initiatives in support of the twin green and digital transition.

Member States can use this source of financing to invest in digital infrastructures, digitalisation of industry, upskilling and reskilling and research and innovation. It should prepare industries to recover from this crisis and prepare their long-lasting resilience.

Link to previous workshops and country reports

Related content

Workshop on National Initiatives on Digitising Industries and Recovery Fund

Event | 04 March 2021

The workshop aims to provide strategic insights on national digitalisation initiatives, after 3 years of monitoring progress in the context of the Digitising European Industry initiative. This workshop builds on country reports up to the end of 2020, as well as preliminary findings of an overall EU analysis of national initiatives on digitising industry, in collaboration with VVA and WIK.