On 9 March 2021, the Commission set out its vision for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030 in its Communication “Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade”. The vision revolves around four principal points with specific targets for each: (i) a digitally skilled population and highly skilled digital professionals; (ii) secure and efficient sustainable digital infrastructures; (iii) the digital transformation of businesses; and (iv) the digitalisation of public services.

To deliver this vision, the Commission is proposing a “Digital Compass” in the form of a policy programme to be adopted by co-decision of the European Parliament and Council. The Digital Compass will include:

• a set of common EU digital targets for 2030, with key performance indicators for each of the four principal points;
• a robust governance structure, including a monitoring mechanism and annual reporting to assess progress towards the targets through a score of “traffic lights”; co-operative analysis between the Commission and Member States to address identified gaps through joint commitments and targeted actions at European and/or national level; a stakeholder forum; and
• a mechanism to operate and deploy multi-Country Projects to build Europe’s strategic capacity in critical areas.

The consultation, which is in the form of a questionnaire, seeks to collect views from: citizens; the business community (particularly SMEs); Member States and public authorities; local, economic and social partners; and other digital stakeholders from research/academia and civil society. It is divided into four sections to gather feedback and input on the following key elements of the Digital Compass Communication:

• overall need and vision for accelerating EU’s digital transformation;
• approaches for reaching the 2030 targets for each principal point;
• design of the governance framework; and
• mechanism to facilitate the development and implementation of multi-Country Projects.

The Commission says that responses to the consultation will be used to prepare a policy programme and pave the way for the smooth and effective realisation of the Digital Decade objectives. The consultation closes on 3 August 2021. To access the consultation, click here.