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2019 – the third year of the Broadband Competence Offices (BCO) Network initiative – has been a great year in terms of cross-BCO engagement and exchange. The Network is growing stronger and more connected, with Member States and regions helping one another to overcome broadband deployment challenges. BCOs are also increasingly working with the European Commission to give input and shape the future of EU broadband policy and funding. Explore the 2019 activities of the European Broadband Competence Offices Network in this end of year report.

In times when cities are looking to digital solutions to tackle a growing range of interconnected challenges, a number of organisations representing European cities have recently taken the initiative to find a common ‘European way’ for the digital transformation of sustainable cities and communities by ensuring data and technological sovereignty in the European Union. The European Commission and the Committee of the Regions support the initiative.

This brochure features the winning projects from the 2019 European Broadband Awards, which recognise innovative ways of achieving the Gigabit Society objectives. In order to support the development of more such projects across the EU, this brochure showcases these projects’ good practices in: innovative models of financing, business and investment; cost reduction measures and co-investment; socio-economic impact in rural and remote areas; demand generation and take-up of connectivity; and quality and affordability of services.

The fourth Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom call on cybersecurity has just closed. 39 project proposals have been submitted by transport and energy companies, ICT firms, finance, health and water distribution interests, ministries and national organisations from 18 EU Member States and Norway, with 5 at least 4 being on a cross border basis. The applicants are proposing an overall investment of more than 25.4 million euros to improve their operational capabilities in cybersecurity, of which 18.7 million euros have been requested to be co-financed by the European Union.

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Telecom 2019–2 call in support of European Digital Service Infrastructures in the areas of Cybersecurity, eHealth, eProcurement, European e-Justice, European Platform for Digital Skills and Jobs and the Public Open Data is now closed. Ninety-five (95) proposals were received, requesting a total of EUR 54.888.829 for EUR 25.000.000 of available funding.

Twenty-seven projects in the areas of Automated Translation, eIdentification & eSignature, eDelivery, eInvoicing and Europeana have been selected to receive co-funding by the European Union. The funding comes from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme in the telecommunications sector. The successful projects include participation of entities from 26 EU Member States plus Norway and Iceland (EEA countries).

The European Commission has launched a call for proposals to set up a “European Digital Academy”, following the request of the European Parliament for a Preparatory Action in this field. The call foresees the provision of services aiming to disseminate knowledge on emerging digital technologies (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain, cybersecurity, robotics) and the development of innovative new online training modules on some of these technologies for European citizens and SMEs.

This brochure gives the current state of play of connectivity in the EU and the vision for the next decade. It gives statistics on broadband coverage, a short overview on telecom markets, presents broadband financing programmes and projects, describes the telecom rules and the steps towards 5G.

This brochure gives an overview of the WiFi4EU programme. It shows the magnitude of the Wi-Fi hot spots in the EU and the simplicity of the programme: from application to installation.

In preparation for the new Connecting Europe Facility programme (#CEF2digital) in 2021, a series of workshops is currently taking place to offer stakeholders the opportunity to learn more and provide input into its development.