Annexes to COM(2018)434 - Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027

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dossier COM(2018)434 - Digital Europe programme for the period 2021-2027.
document COM(2018)434 EN
date April 29, 2021
ANNEX I

ACTIONS

Technical description of the Programme: scope of actions

The initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions of the Programme shall be implemented in accordance with the following technical description:

Specific Objective 1 – High Performance Computing

The Programme shall implement the European strategy on HPC by supporting a full Union ecosystem that provides the necessary HPC and data capabilities for Europe to compete globally. The strategy aims to deploy a world-class HPC and data infrastructure with exascale capabilities between 2022 and 2023, and with post-exascale facilities between 2026 and 2027 to endow the Union with its own independent and competitive HPC technology supply, achieve excellence in HPC applications and widen the availability and use of HPC.

Initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective shall include:

1.A joint procurement framework enabling a co-designed approach for the acquisition of an integrated network of world-class HPC, including the acquisition of exascale supercomputing and data infrastructure. That network will be easily accessible to public and private users, in particular SMEs, irrespective of the Member State in which they are located, and will be easily accessible for research purposes, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1488.

2.A joint procurement framework for the acquisition of post-exascale supercomputing infrastructure, including the integration with quantum computing technologies.

3.Coordination and adequate financial resources at Union level to support the development, procurement and operation of such infrastructure.

4.Networking of Member States HPC and data capacities and support for Member States wishing to upgrade or acquire new HPC capacities.

5.Networking of national High Performance Computing competence centres, at least one per Member State and associated with their national supercomputing centres to provide HPC services to industry, in particular SMEs, the academic community and public administrations.

6.The deployment of ready to use operational technology, in particular supercomputing as a service resulting from research and innovation to build an integrated European HPC ecosystem, covering all segments of the scientific and industrial value chain (hardware, software, applications, services, interconnections and advanced digital skills).

Specific Objective 2 – Artificial Intelligence

The Programme shall build up and strengthen core AI capacities in Europe, including data resources and repositories of algorithms, and make them accessible to all public administrations and businesses, and shall reinforce and network existing and newly established AI testing and experimentation facilities in Member States.

Initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective shall include:

1.The creation of common European data spaces that make accessible data across Europe, including information gathered from the re-use of public sector information, and become a data input source for AI solutions. The spaces should be open to the public and private sectors. For increased usage, data within a space are to be made interoperable, in particular through data formats that are open, machine readable, standardised and documented, both in the interactions between the public and private sectors, within sectors and across sectors (semantic interoperability).

2.The development of common European libraries or interfaces to libraries of algorithms that make them easily accessible to all potential European users on the basis of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Businesses and the public sector are to be able to identify and acquire whichever solution would work best for their needs.

3.Co-investment with Member States in world class reference facilities for testing and experimentation in real setting focusing on the applications of AI in essential sectors such as health, earth or environment monitoring, transport and mobility, security, manufacturing and finance, as well as in other areas of public interest. Those facilities are to be open to all actors across Europe and connected to the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs. Those facilities are to be equipped with or connected to large computing and data handling facilities, as well as latest AI technologies, including emerging areas such as neuromorphic computing, deep learning and robotics.

Specific Objective 3 – Cybersecurity and Trust

The Programme shall stimulate the reinforcement, building and acquisition of essential capacities to secure the Union’s digital economy, society and democracy by reinforcing the Union cybersecurity industrial potential and competitiveness, as well as by improving capabilities of both the private and public sectors to protect citizens and businesses from cyber threats, including by supporting the implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/1148.

Initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective shall include:

1.Co-investment with Member States in advanced cybersecurity equipment, infrastructures and knowhow that are essential to protect critical infrastructures and the Digital Single Market at large. Such co-investment could include investments in quantum facilities and data resources for cybersecurity, situational awareness in cyberspace as well as other tools to be made available to public and private sector across Europe.

2.Scaling up existing technological capacities and networking the competence centres in Member States and making sure that those capacities respond to public sector and industry needs, including through products and services that reinforce cybersecurity and trust within the Digital Single Market.

3.Ensuring wide deployment of effective state-of-the-art cybersecurity and trust solutions across the Member States. Such deployment includes strengthening the security and safety of products, from their design to their commercialisation.

4.Support closing the cybersecurity skills gap by, for example, aligning cybersecurity skills programmes, adapting them to specific sectorial needs and facilitating access to targeted specialised training.

Specific Objective 4 – Advanced digital skills

The Programme shall support access to advanced digital skills and training opportunities on those skills, in particular in HPC, big data analytics, AI, distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain) and cybersecurity for the current and future workforce by offering, inter alia, students, recent graduates, current workers and citizens of all ages in need of upskilling, wherever they are situated, with the means to acquire and develop those skills.

Initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective shall include:

1.Access to on-the-job training by taking part in traineeships in competence centres and businesses that deploy advanced digital technologies.

2.Access to courses in advanced digital technologies which are to be offered by higher education institutions, research institutions and industry professional certification bodies in cooperation with the bodies involved in the Programme (topics are expected to include AI, cybersecurity, distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain), HPC and quantum technologies).

3.Participation in short-term, specialised professional training that have been pre-certified, for example in the area of cybersecurity.

Interventions shall focus on advanced digital skills related to specific technologies.

The European Digital Innovation Hubs provided for in Article 16 shall act as facilitators for training opportunities, liaising with education and training providers.

Specific Objective 5 – Deployment and Best Use of Digital Capacities and Interoperability

Projects serving the deployment and the best use of digital capacities or interoperability shall constitute projects of common interest.

I.Initial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective related to the digital transformation of areas of public interest shall include:
1.Modernisation of public administrations:

1.1.Support Member States in the implementation of the principles of the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment in all policy domains, creating, where necessary, the necessary registries and interconnecting them in full compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

1.2.Support the design, piloting, deployment, maintenance, evolution and promotion of a coherent eco-system of cross-border digital services infrastructure and facilitate seamless end-to-end, secure, interoperable, multi-lingual cross-border or cross-sector solutions and common frameworks within public administrations. Methodologies for assessing the impact and benefits shall also be included.

1.3.Support the assessment, updating and promotion of existing common specifications and standards as well as the development, establishment and promotion of new common specifications, open specifications and standards through the Union’s standardisation platforms and in cooperation with European or international standardisation organisations as appropriate.

1.4.Cooperate towards a European ecosystem for trusted infrastructures, possibly using services and applications based on distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain), including support for interoperability and standardisation and fostering the deployment of Union cross-border applications.

2.Health

2.1.Ensure that citizens have control over their personal data and can access, share, use, and manage their personal health data across borders securely and in a way that guarantees their privacy, irrespective of their location or the location of the data, in accordance with applicable data protection legislation. Complete the eHealth digital service infrastructure and extend it by new digital services in relation to disease prevention, health and care and support the deployment of such services, building on a broad support by Union activities and Member States, in particular in the eHealth network according to Article 14 of Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

2.2.Make available better data for research, disease prevention and personalised health and care. Ensure that European health researchers and clinical practitioners have access to the necessary scale of resources (shared data spaces, including data storage and computing, expertise and analytical capacities) to achieve breakthroughs in major as well as in rare diseases. The target is to ensure a population-based cohort of at least 10 million citizens.

2.3.Make digital tools available for citizen empowerment and for person-centred care by supporting the exchange of innovative and best practices in digital health, capacity building and technical assistance, in particular for cybersecurity, AI and HPC.

3.Judiciary

Enable seamless and secure cross-border electronic communication within the judiciary and between the judiciary and other competent bodies in the area of civil and criminal justice. Improve access to justice and to legal information and procedures for citizens, businesses, legal practitioners and members of the judiciary by providing semantically interoperable interconnections to databases and registers as well as by facilitating online out-of-court dispute resolution. Promote the development and implementation of innovative technologies for courts and the legal profession based, inter alia, on AI solutions which are likely to streamline and speed-up procedures (for example, ‘legal tech’ applications).

4.Transport, mobility, energy and environment

Deploy decentralised solutions and infrastructures required for large-scale digital applications such as connected automated driving, unmanned aerial vehicles, smart mobility concepts, smart cities, smart rural areas or outermost regions, in support of transport, energy and environmental policies and in coordination with the actions for digitalising the transport and energy sectors under Connecting Europe Facility.

5.Education, culture and media

Provide creators, creative industry and cultural sectors in Europe with access to the latest digital technologies from AI to advanced computing. Exploit the European cultural heritage, including Europeana, to support education and research and to promote cultural diversity, social cohesion and European society. Support the uptake of digital technologies in education, as well as private and publicly funded cultural institutions.

6.Other actions supporting the Digital Single Market

Support actions such as fostering digital and media literacy and raising awareness among minors, parents and teachers regarding risks minors may encounter online and ways to protect them, tackling cyberbullying and the dissemination of child sexual abuse material online by supporting a pan-European network of Safer internet Centres. Promote measures aimed at detecting and combatting intentional disinformation spread, thereby increasing the Union’s overall resilience; support a Union observatory for the digital platform economy as well as studies and outreach activities.

The actions referred to in points 1 to 6 may be partly supported by European Digital Innovation Hubs through the same capacities developed to assist industry with their digital transformation (see point (II).

IIInitial and, where appropriate, subsequent actions under this objective related to the digital transformation of industry shall include:

Contribution to the upscaling of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs to ensure access to digital capacities for any business, in particular SMEs, in any region across the Union. Such contribution includes:

1.Access to common European data spaces and AI platforms and European HPC facilities for data analytics and compute intensive applications

2.Access to AI large scale testing facilities and to advanced cybersecurity tools

3.Access to advanced digital skills

The actions referred to in the first subparagraph will be coordinated with, and will complement, the innovation actions in digital technologies supported, in particular, under Horizon Europe, as well as investments in European Digital Innovation Hubs supported under the ERDF. Grants for market replication may also be provided from the Programme, in compliance with state aid rules. Support for access to financing for further steps in their digital transformation will be achieved with financial instruments making use of the InvestEU Programme.


(1) Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare (OJ L 88, 4.4.2011, p. 45).


ANNEX II

MEASURABLE INDICATORS TO MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND TO REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE PROGRAMME TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ITS SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Specific Objective 1 – High Performance Computing

1.1.The number of jointly procured HPC infrastructures

1.2.The usage of the exascale and post-exascale computers in total and by various stakeholder groups (universities, SMEs etc.)

Specific Objective 2 – Artificial Intelligence

2.1.The total amount co-invested in testing and experimentation facilities

2.2.The usage of common European libraries or interfaces to libraries of algorithms, usage of common European data spaces and usage of testing and experimentation facilities related to actions under this Regulation

2.3.The number of cases for which organisations decide to integrate AI in their products, processes or services, as a result of the Programme

Specific Objective 3 – Cybersecurity and Trust

3.1.The number of cybersecurity infrastructure, or tools, or both jointly procured (1)

3.2.The number of users and user communities getting access to European cybersecurity facilities

Specific Objective 4 – Advanced Digital Skills

4.1.The number of persons who have received training to acquire advanced digital skills supported by the Programme

4.2.The number of enterprises, in particular SMEs, having difficulty recruiting ICT specialists

4.3.The number of people reporting an improved employment situation after the end of the training supported by the Programme

Specific Objective 5 – Deployment and Best Use of Digital Capacity and Interoperability

5.1.The take-up of digital public services

5.2.Enterprises with high digital intensity score

5.3.The extent of the alignment of the National Interoperability Framework with the European Interoperability Framework

5.4.The number of businesses and public sector entities which have used the services of European Digital Innovation Hubs


(1) ‘Infrastructures’ would typically mean a research or experimentation infrastructure such as testbeds, cyber ranges or computing/communication facilities. This could be either data and/or software only, or involve physical facilities.

’Tools’ would typically mean a physical device and/or software/algorithm used to increase the security of ICT systems. Examples would be intrusion detection software or data resources allowing situational awareness of critical infrastructures.

The Cybersecurity Competence Centre Regulation allows all sorts of procurement, not only joint procurement: by the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre as a Union body; by others with the help of a Union grant; or by several parties.


ANNEX III

SYNERGIES WITH OTHER UNION PROGRAMMES

1.   

Synergies with Horizon Europe shall ensure that:
(a)although several thematic areas addressed by the Programme and Horizon Europe converge, the type of actions to be supported, their expected outputs and their intervention logic are different and complementary;

(b)Horizon Europe will provide extensive support for research, technological development, demonstration, piloting, proof-of-concept, testing and innovation including pre-commercial deployment of innovative digital technologies, in particular through:

(i)a dedicated budget in the pillar ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’ for the cluster ‘Digital, Industry and Space’ to develop enabling technologies (AI and robotics, Next Generation internet, HPC and Big Data, key digital technologies, combining digital with other technologies);

(ii)support to research infrastructures under the pillar ‘Excellent Science’;

(iii)the integration of digital across all the Global Challenges (health, security, energy and mobility, climate, etc.); and

(iv)support for scale-up breakthrough innovations under the pillar ‘Innovative Europe’ (many of which will combine digital and physical technologies);

(c)the Programme will invest in:

(i)digital capacity building in HPC, AI, distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain), cybersecurity and advanced digital skills; and

(ii)national, regional and local deployment within an Union framework of digital capacities and the latest digital technologies in areas of public interest (such as health, public administration, justice and education) or market failure (such as the digitisation of businesses, in particular SMEs);

(d)the capacities and infrastructures of the Programme are made available to the research and innovation community, including for actions supported through Horizon Europe, such as testing, experimentation and demonstrations across all sectors and disciplines;

(e)as the development of novel digital technologies matures through Horizon Europe, those technologies will progressively be taken up and deployed by the Programme;

(f)Horizon Europe initiatives for the development of skills and competencies curricula, including those delivered at the co-location centres of the EIT’s KICs, are complemented by capacity-building in advanced digital skills supported by the Programme;

(g)strong coordination mechanisms for programming and implementation are put in place, aligning all procedures for both programmes to the extent possible. Their governance structures will involve all Commission concerned services.

2.   

Synergies with Union programmes under shared management, including the ERDF, ESF+, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Acquaculture Fund, shall ensure that:
(a)arrangements for complementary funding from Union programmes under shared management and the Programme are used to support actions providing a bridge between smart specialisations and support to the digital transformation of the European economy and society;

(b)the ERDF contributes to the development and strengthening of regional and local innovation ecosystems, industrial transformation, as well as the digital transformation of society and of public administrations, thereby also stimulating the implementation of the Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment. This includes support for the digital transformation of industry and the take-up of results, as well as the rolling out of novel technologies and innovative solutions. The Programme will complement and support the trans-national networking and mapping of digital capacities to make them accessible to SMEs and to make interoperable IT solutions accessible in all Union regions.

3.   

Synergies with the Connecting Europe Facility shall ensure that:
(a)the Programme focuses on large-scale digital capacity and infrastructure building in the areas of HPC, AI, cybersecurity and advanced digital skills, aiming at the wide uptake and deployment across Europe of critical existing or tested innovative digital solutions within a Union framework in areas of public interest or market failure. The Programme is mainly to be implemented through coordinated and strategic investments with Member States, in particular through joint public procurement, in digital capacities to be shared across Europe and in Union-wide actions that support interoperability and standardisation as part of developing the Digital Single Market;

(b)the capacities and infrastructures of the Programme are to be made available to the deployment of innovative new technologies and solutions in the field of mobility and transport. The Connecting Europe Facility is to support the roll-out and deployment of innovative new technologies and solutions in the field of mobility and transport;

(c)coordination mechanisms are to be established, in particular through appropriate governance structures.

4.   

Synergies with InvestEU Programme shall ensure that:
(a)support through market-based financing, including pursuing policy objectives under the Programme is provided under Regulation (EU) 2021/523; such market-based financing might be combined with the grant support;

(b)access to financial instruments by businesses is facilitated by the support provided by European Digital Innovation Hubs.

5.   

Synergies with Erasmus+ shall ensure that:
(a)the Programme supports the development and acquisition of the advanced digital skills needed for the deployment of cutting-edge technologies such as AI or HPC, in cooperation with relevant industries;

(b)the advanced skills part of Erasmus+ complements the interventions of the Programme, addressing the acquisition of skills in all domains and at all levels through mobility experiences.

6.   

Synergies with Creative Europe established by a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council shall ensure that:
(a)the MEDIA strand of Creative Europe supports initiatives that can generate real impact for cultural and creative sectors across Europe, helping them adapt to the digital transformation;

(b)the Programme, inter alia, provides creators, creative industry and cultural sector in Europe with access to latest digital technologies from AI to advanced computing.

7.   

Synergies with other Union programmes and initiatives on competencies and skills shall be ensured.