Renew Europe secures boost in Europe’s digital transformation

by Linda Aziz-Rohlje

Citizens and businesses will soon be able to benefit from a big boost in Europe’s digital transformation, particularly within the fields of artificial intelligence, supercomputing, cybersecurity and advanced digital skills. The Digital Europe Programme (DEP), successfully negotiated under the leadership of Renew Europe’s MEP Valter Flego, got green light in plenary.

“ With DEP as one of the EU flagship programmes, Europe will be ready to speed up its digital transformation and become the global leader in the digital field”, says Mr Flego.

DEP is the first Pan-European digital investment programme ever, and a major step in building up strategic digital capacities of the EU and in facilitating the wide deployment of digital technologies and solutions. The programme will also help overcome the investment gap affecting both public and private sectors in the digital sphere. Furthermore, the programme aims to spread widely tested technologies using European Digital Innovation Hubs, which will help companies improve business and production processes, products, or services using digital technologies.

The financial envelope agreed for the DEP is €7.588 billion in current prices.

MEP Flego stresses that given the ongoing digital and green transitions, and recent COVID-19 related developments, the programme’s objectives are more important than ever:

“I am convinced that the deal we have sealed on the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) will serve as enabler to achieve one of the main EU priorities for the upcoming decade — to assure a new generation of digital technologies. DEP remains the most important tool in reaching our goal of asserting Europe’s digital sovereignty.