Digital Europe
Ó An Roinn Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó An Roinn Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The European Commission’s Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) will provide strategic funding to support projects in five key capacity areas:
The Programme has a planned overall budgetary allocation of €7.5 billion and aims to shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, bringing benefits to everyone, but in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The second call for proposals of the Digital Europe Programme has been published and the following topics are open for submission:
The deadline for submissions is 17 May 2022. Further information on the Digital Europe Programme can be found at the Commission website.
The vision for the EU Digital Single Market is to establish a single market for digital services in the Union, while ensuring fair competition, a high level of consumer protection and personal data protection for European citizens and business.
Since 2015, 28 out of 30 EU Digital Single Market legislative initiatives have been adopted under three pillars:
The European Commission considers that the DSM can create opportunities for new startups and existing companies in a market of over 500 million people, potentially contributing €415 billion per year to Europe's economy, creating jobs and transforming our public services.
Enhanced use of digital technologies can improve citizens' access to information and culture, improve their job opportunities and promote modern open government.
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has been responsible for negotiations on a number of legislative initiatives under the EU Digital Single Market, including:
DECC feeds into a whole of government perspective on the DSM via the Interdepartmental Committee on the EU Digital Single Market led by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
The European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) represents a revision of the entire EU regulatory framework for the telecommunications sector. It will repeal and replace the Framework Directive, the Authorisation Directive, the Access Directive and the Universal Services Directive.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the formulation of a set of principles to promote and uphold EU values in the digital space. The consultation, open until 2 September, seeks to open a wide societal debate and gather views from citizens, non-governmental and civil society organisations, businesses, administrations and all interested parties. These principles will guide the EU and Member States in designing digital rules and regulations that deliver the benefits of digitalisation for all citizens.
The contributions to the public consultation will feed into a proposal from the Commission for a joint inter-institutional declaration on Digital Principles of the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission. This proposal is expected by the end of 2021.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the Data Act and amended rules on the legal protection of databases, which is open until 3 September 2021.
The initiative aims to facilitate access to and use of data, and to review the rules on the legal protection of databases. It seeks to strike the right balance between rights to access data and incentives to invest in data, without changing the current data protection rules.
The consultation will collect information on the following aspects:
The European Commission has launched a consultation and a discussion forum to help shape its Digital Compass policy programme.
The consultation, open until 3 August, aims to gain feedback on:
On 9 March 2020, the Commission published a Communication on the 2030 Digital Compass where it stated the vision for a European way to a digitalised economy and society, and where it set out Europe’s digital ambitions for 2030 in the form of concrete targets and tools. The Communication presented a vision which centered around the following four cardinal points; skills, government, infrastructures, and business. The Commission is now preparing a proposal for the policy programme that will operationalise this vision. All stakeholders, including start-ups, SMEs, researches, public administrations, organisations and interested citizens can help shape the Commission’s policy programme proposal. They can share valuable experience and insights about the digital transformation by joining the discussions on the Digital Compass on the EU’s online forum, Futurium.
The Commission aims to enable the Digital Decade with a set of concrete tools as follows: key targets and milestones for each cardinal point, a governance structure to facilitate joint commitments between the Member States and the Commission, and a mechanism to operate and deploy Multi-Country Projects that combine investments from EU Member States, the Commission and the private sector.
Ireland has signed the EuroQCI Declaration, joining all 27 EU Member States in committing to working together, along with the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to build the EuroQCI – a secure quantum communication infrastructure that will span the whole EU. Such high-performing, secure communications networks will be essential to meeting Europe’s cybersecurity needs in the years to come.
The EuroQCI will be part of a wider Commission plan to launch a satellite-based secure connectivity system that will make high-speed broadband available everywhere in Europe. This plan will provide reliable, cost-effective connectivity services with enhanced digital security. As such, the EuroQCI will complement existing communication infrastructures with an additional layer of security based on the principles of quantum mechanics – for example, by providing services based on quantum key distribution, a highly secure form of encryption.
The European Commission have recently published its White Paper entitled ‘How to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs?’. This White Paper is the Commission’s first communication about what a future Digital Networks Act may address. It lays out some of the challenges facing the electronic communications sector and proposes twelve scenarios or public policy actions that it may take to address these challenges. There is a brief introduction which sets out the aim of the White Paper. This is followed by CION setting out the trends and challenges in the digital infrastructure sector. This section is followed by a section that sets out policy issues and possible solutions. It is divided into three pillars which are:
The Commission are seeking feedback through a public consultation on these actions by Sunday, 30 June 2024 and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications will be coordinating the response on behalf of government departments. In order to inform the discussion, the department invites submissions from interested parties on the White Paper. Please contact rachel.oneill@decc.gov.ie with ‘Submission on White Paper’ by 5pm Friday, 17 May 2024.