Digital Day 2021: EU countries commit to key digital initiatives for Europe's Digital Decade

At the online Digital Day 2021 (19 March) Ministers representing EU member states signed three Declarations to pool efforts and resources to promote international connectivity, incentivise the rollout of clean digital technologies and improve the regulatory environment for start-ups and scale-ups. These tangible commitments will help accelerate Europe's green and digital transformation and will contribute to the vision and goals of Europe's Digital Decade. In particular, 27 European countries signed the Declaration on European Data Gateways as a key element of the EU's Digital Decade, in which they committed to reinforce connectivity between Europe and its partners in Africa, Asia, the European Neighbourhood and Latin America. 25 European countries signed the Declaration on EU Startup Nations Standard, which aims to ensure that all European start-ups and scale-ups benefit from the best practices adopted by successful start-up ecosystems.

Finally, 26 European countries signed the Declaration on A Green and Digital Transformation of the EU to accelerate the use of green digital technologies for the benefit of the environment. At the same time, 26 Chief Executive Officers from the ICT sector joined the European Green Digital Coalition, committing on behalf of their companies to significantly reduce their carbon footprint by 2030, and to become climate neutral by 2040. Hosted by the Commission and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council, the fourth edition of the Digital Day is bringing together Members of the European Parliament, Ministers from Member States, industry executives and several other stakeholders. The last edition in 2019 focused on smart and sustainable agriculture, digitizing cultural heritage, as well as encouraging women's participation in the digital and technology sectors. Since then these initiatives have progressed significantly. More information is available in this joint press release by the Commission and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU.

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