On Wednesday, the Commission adopted three of the four work programmes promised under Digital Europe Programme. This Programme, which is the first funding programme of the EU trying to bring technology closer to citizens and businesses, aims at reinforcing EU critical digital capacities by focusing on several key areas including: artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, advanced computing, data infrastructure, governance and processing, the deployment of these technologies and their best use for critical sectors like energy, climate change and environment, manufacturing, agriculture and health.
With a total budget amounting to €1.98 billion, the three programmes adopted yesterday are: the DIGITAL Europe Work Programme 2021-2022, with a buget of €1.38 billion, the DIGITAL Europe – EDIH Work Programme 2021-2023 with a budget of €329 million, and the DIGITAL Europe – Cybersecurity Work Programme 2021-2022 with a budget of €269 million.
The main work program DIGITAL Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 will focus on investment in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and data spaces, quantum communication infrastructure, advanced digital skills, and the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society, until the end of 2022.
The DIGITAL Europe – Cybersecurity Work Programme 2021-2022, operational until the end of 2022, is designed to fund projects in the area of cybersecurity. The DIGITAL Europe – EDIH Work Programme 2021-2023 focuses, in turn, on the set-up and operation of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs.
These work programmes will mainly be implemented through grants and tenders. The first calls for the Digital Europe Programme will be published by the end of November, while more calls will follow in 2022.