The Commission has identified several actions to enable the EU to achieve its digital infrastructure targets by 2030. Looking at these actions, it is seen that Europe's future competitiveness depends on the innovation and resilience of such infrastructures. "Fast, secure, and widespread connectivity is essential to deploy the technologies that will take us into tomorrow's world. This concerns innovations such as telemedicine, automated driving, artificial intelligence, or smart buildings."
The proposed actions and recommendations include;
Foster a vibrant community of European innovators. This means developing more and better connections and the IT infrastructure to work together. Of course, there should also be a network to collaborate on this.
Realize the full potential of the digital single market for telecommunications. This can only be done through measures to ensure an accurate and level playing field. The application and objectives of existing rules should also be rethought.
Assess and mitigate the security risks of critical infrastructure such as submarine cables. This can be done through a 'Cable Security Toolbox'. More than 99 percent of intercontinental data traffic is carried over submarine cables. Some islands in Europe are, therefore, heavily dependent on such cables for intra-EU communications.
Against this background, the EU aims to open a debate on concrete proposals with stakeholders, Member States, and like-minded partners on how the actions will shape future EU policies. To this end, the Commission has launched a public consultation on 12 scenarios, open until June 30, 2024.
To ensure that the digital transformation is successful, the EU has therefore set some targets to be achieved by 2030. These targets are crucial for the deployment of technologies such as fast, secure and widespread connectivity, which will take the EU into tomorrow's world.