The Covid-19 pandemic having accelerated the digital transformation, one of the pillars of the recovery of Europe’s economies, digital services and artificial intelligence (AI) have become major priorities for the bloc. Slovenia’s EU presidency hopes to achieve progress on these dossiers.
The Slovenia Times • 13. June, 2021
The Digital Compass, a set of targets proposed by the European Commission in March, sets four priority areas: a digitally skilled population, secure and substantial digital infrastructure, digital transformation of business, and digitalisation of public sectors.
By 2030, 80% of adults are supposed to have at least basic digital skills, the EU should have twenty million IT experts, all households should enjoy gigabit internet speeds, and wherever there are settlements 5G mobile technology should be available.
All public services should be accessible online an 75% of European companies are supposed to use cloud computing services.
The targets are very ambitious and the majority of member states still have quite a way to go, according to Dušan Caf, director of the Slovenian Digital Society Institute. For example, the number of IT experts would have to double by 2030 if the target is to be achieved, he told the STA.
Caf sees problems in particular in countries which have so far not dedicated sufficient attention to digital skills – Slovenia among them.