Day: July 28, 2022

Today the European Commission published the results of the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which tracks the progress made in EU Member States in digital. During the Covid pandemic, Member States have been advancing in their digitalisation efforts but still struggle to close the gaps in digital skills, the digital transformation of SMEs, and the roll-out of advanced 5G networks. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, with about €127 billion dedicated to reforms and investments in the area of digital, offers an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the digital transformation, which the EU and its Member States cannot afford to miss.

The findings show that while most of the Member States are making progress in their digital transformation, the adoption of key digital technologies by businesses, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data remains low. Efforts need to be stepped up to ensure the full deployment of connectivity infrastructure (notably 5G) that is required for highly innovative services and applications. Digital skills is another important area where Member States need to make bigger progress.

Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, said: “Digital transition is accelerating. Most Member States are progressing in building resilient digital societies and economies. Since the start of the pandemic we have made significant efforts to support Member States in the transition. Be that through the Recovery and Resilience Plans, EU Budget or, more recently also through the Structured Dialogue on Digital Education and Skills. Because we need to make the most of the investments and reforms necessary to meet the Digital Decade targets in 2030. So change must happen already now.”

Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, added: “We are making progress in the EU towards our digital targets, and we must continue our efforts to make the EU a global leader in the technology race. The DESI shows where we need to further strengthen our work, for example in spurring digitisation of our industry, including SMEs. We need to step up the efforts to make sure that every SME, business, and industry in the EU have the best digital solutions available to them and have access to a world-class digital connectivity infrastructure.”

The Commission’s proposal on the Path to the Digital Decade by the European Parliament and EU Member States, will facilitate deeper collaboration between Member States and the EU to advance in all dimensions covered by the DESI. It provides a framework for Member States to undertake joint commitments and establish multi-country projects that will reinforce their collective strength and resilience in the global context.

Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden remain the EU frontrunners. However, even they are faced with gaps in key areas: the uptake of advanced digital technologies such as AI and Big Data, remains below 30% and very far from the 2030 Digital Decade target of 75%; the widespread skill shortages, which are slowing down overall progress and lead to digital exclusion.

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There is an overall positive convergence trend: the EU continues to improve its level of digitalisation, and Member States that started from lower levels are gradually catching up, by growing at a faster rate. In particular, Italy, Poland and Greece substantially improved their DESI scores over the past five years, implementing sustained investments with a reinforced political focus on digital, also supported by European funding.

As digital tools become an integral part of everyday life and participation in society, people without appropriate digital skills risk being left behind. Only 54% of Europeans aged between 16 -74 have at least basic digital skills. The target of the Digital Decade is at least 80% by 2030. In addition, although 500.000 ICT specialists entered the labour market between 2020 and 2021, the EU’s 9 million ICT specialists fall far short of the EU target of 20 million specialists by 2030 and are not enough to bridge the skills shortages businesses currently face. During 2020, more than half of the EU enterprises (55%) reported difficulties in filling ICT specialist vacancies. These shortages represent a significant obstacle for the recovery and competitiveness of EU enterprises. Lack of specialised skills is also holding the EU back in its efforts to achieve the Green Deal targets. Massive efforts are therefore required for the reskilling and upskilling of the workforce.

Regarding the uptake of key technologies, during the Covid pandemic, businesses have pushed the use of digital solutions. The use of cloud computing, for example, reached 34%. However, AI and Big Data use by business stand only at 8% and 14% respectively (target 75% by 2030). These key technologies bring a huge potential for significant innovation and efficiency gains, particularly among SMEs. For their part, only 55% of EU SMEs have at least a basic level in digitalisation (target: at least 90% by 2030), indicating that almost half of SMEs are not availing of the opportunities created by digital. The Commission has today published a survey of enterprises on the data economy.

In 2021, Gigabit connectivity increased further in Europe. The coverage of networks connecting buildings with fibre reached 50% of households, driving overall fixed very high capacity network coverage up to 70% (100% target by 2030). 5G coverage also went up last year to 66% of populated areas in the EU. Nonetheless, spectrum assignment, an important precondition for the commercial launch of 5G, is still not complete: only 56% of the total 5G harmonized spectrum has been assigned, in the vast majority of Member States (Estonia and Poland are the exceptions). Moreover, some of the very high coverage figures rely on spectrum sharing of 4G frequencies or low band 5G spectrum, which does not yet allow for the full deployment of advanced applications. Closing these gaps is essential to unleash the potential of 5G and enable new services with a high economic and societal value, such as connected and automated mobility, advanced manufacturing, smart energy systems or eHealth.

The online provision of key public services is widespread in most of the EU Member States. Ahead of the introduction of a European Digital Identity and Wallet, 25 Member States have at least one eID scheme in place, but only 18 of them have one or more eID schemes notified under the eIDAS

The EU has put on the table significant resources to support the digital transformation. €127 billion are dedicated to digital related reforms and investments in the 25 national Recovery and Resilience Plans that have so far been approved by the Council. This an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate digitalisation, increase the Union’s resilience and reduce external dependencies with both reforms and investments. Member States dedicated on average 26% of their Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) allocation to the digital transformation, above the compulsory 20% threshold. Member States that chose to invest more than 30% of their RRF allocation to digital are Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland and Lithuania.

Identifying digital as a key priority, providing political support and putting in place a clear strategy, robust policies and investments are indispensable ingredients to accelerate the path towards the digital transformation and put the EU on track to achieve the vision set out with the Digital Decade.

Background

The annual Digital Economy and Society Index measures the progress of EU Member States towards a digital economy and society, on the basis of both Eurostat data and specialised studies and collection methods. The DESI supports EU Member States by identifying priority areas requiring targeted investment and action. The DESI is also the key tool when it comes to analysing digital aspects in the European Semester.

The Path to the Digital Decade, presented in September 2021, and expected to come into force by the end of the year, sets out a novel governance mechanism in the form of a cycle of cooperation between EU institutions and the Member States to ensure they jointly achieve the Digital Decade targets, objectives and principles. It assigns the monitoring of the Digital Decade targets to the DESI and because of this, DESI indicators are now structured around the four cardinal points of the 2030 Digital Compass

Source: Cyprus News Agency

In May 2022, the Industrial Production Index reached 136.2 units (base 2015=100), recording an increase of 5.3% compared to May 2021, according to data published by the Cyprus Statistical Service, on Thursday.

In particular, according to the official data the manufacturing sector registered an increase of 6.3% compared to May 2021. Increases were also observed in the sectors of mining and quarrying by 13.9% and water supply and materials recovery by 12.8%. The electricity supply sector recorded a decrease of 1.4% compared to May 2021.

In the manufacturing sector, the most significant positive changes compared to May 2021 were observed in the manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel and leather products, that recorded an increase of 47%, furniture and repair/installation of machinery and equipment with a 26.7% rise, rubber and plastic products with 9.2%, refined petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products and pharmaceuticals products and preparation increased by 9% and food products, beverages and tobacco products by 8.3%.

The most significant negative changes were observed in the manufacturing of electronic, optical products and electrical equipment, which decreased by 23.5% and non-metallic mineral products by 1.9%.

For the period January – May 2022, the index recorded an increase of 4.5% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The most significant positive changes were observed in the economic activities of manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparel and leather products by 56.7%, water collection, treatment and supply by 36.4%, manufacturing of furniture and repair/installation of machinery and equipment by 17.1% and electricity supply by 12.9%.

The most significant negative changes where a decrease in production was observed compared to the period January – May 2021 were those relating to the manufacturing of electronic and optical products and electrical equipment, which dropped 17.8%, materials recovery by 9.4%, the manufacturing of paper, paper products and printing decreased by 8% and the manufacturing of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture by 7.4%.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus and Greece insist on respect of international law, said President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades following his meeting on Thursday with Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias.

In a post on Twitter, President Anastasiades said “Cyprus and Greece insist on respect of international law”, adding it is an “essential pillar to ensure peace and security in the region.”

The two, he said, “examined the actions necessary to manage the Turkish revisionism in Cyprus and the Aegean”.

In a tweet, the Greek Foreign Ministry said that Dendias was received by #Cyprus President Anastasiades in the presence of Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.

It added, “Greece and Cyprus continue to work together and coordinate their efforts in tackling global & regional challenges”.

Dendias is conducting a working visit on the island and will have a tete-a-tete meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ioannis Kasoulides, while further consultations will follow with the participation of delegations from the two Ministries.

At the end of the consultations, the two Ministers will make statements to the press.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the island’s northern third.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou underlined the added value of parliamentary diplomacy, during a meeting with the Republic’s diplomatic missions’ heads on Thursday.

According to a press release about the meeting issued by the House of Representatives, issues of mutual interest concerning the cooperation between the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were discussed, in respect of the principle of the separation of powers.

Emphasis was reportedly placed on the aspects of further mutual information and coordination in order to promote the foreign policy objectives of the Republic of Cyprus, especially informing the international community about the Cyprus problem.

Demetriou underlined the added value of parliamentary diplomacy, to which, as she pointed out, she attaches particular importance and informed Cypriot diplomats about the actions and initiatives developed by the House of Representatives in this context.

This was followed by an exchange of views and suggestions on specific priorities, initiatives and actions that can be undertaken to strengthen the diplomatic activity of the Republic in various countries.

Demetriou described the meeting as extremely useful and constructive and expressed her willingness to continue and further strengthen mutual communication.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Cyprus Department of Meteorology has issued a yellow warning for extreme high temperature on Friday.

According to the department, the inland maximum temperature is expected to rise to around 40 degrees Celsius.

The yellow warning is valid from 1200 on the 29 of July until 1600 the same day.

It notes that some health risks amongst vulnerable people e.g. the elderly and very young are possible.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

A lot of work needs to be done to bring the missing persons issue back to its proper dimension, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Thursday, noting that it is a humanitarian and not political issue.

Speaking at the International Coordinating Committee – Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA), conference, in the framework of the World Conference of Overseas Cypriots that is taking place in Limassol, Photiou thanked overseas Cypriots for promoting the humanitarian problem of the missing people and urged them to continue their efforts so that Turkey finally cooperates.

The goal, he said, is to make the world and the new generation abroad as well as foreign decision making centers, aware of the problem.

“It is not possible 48 years later to still have missing persons, this is unacceptable,” he stressed.

Photiou said that the international community has double standards, since it does not react at the same manner in the case of Cyprus as it does in the case of Ukraine.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus and Greece are in constant and close coordination, especially in light of Turkish threats to create new faits accomplis both on land and at sea, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries said on Thursday, in view of the illegal drilling by the Turkish drilling rig Abdul Hamid Khan

In joint statements after their meeting in Nicosia, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said that there are six potential sites where the illegal drilling could take place and added that actions were discussed in the hope of preventing new tensions. The Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias recalled that the relevant decisions of the European Union are in force.

“We expect the drilling rig to arrive and we have also discussed some steps, in the hope that these will prevent the creation of these tensions in our Exclusive Economic Zone,” Kasoulides said.

Moreover, he said that there are more than six sites, where the illegal drilling could take place, recalling that the decision on where exactly it will take place will be taken by the Turkish President himself. He noted that the six potential areas are not limited to the Cypriot EEZ.

The Greek Foreign Minister said that they are in constant and close coordination, especially under the threat of an attempt to create new faits accomplis, both on land and at sea, despite international law and despite the law of the sea.

He recalled that the relevant EU decisions are valid and said that “we expect Turkey to comply with these decisions”.

As regards Ukraine, Dendias noted that the international community had not reacted in the case of the Turkish invasion agaist Cyprus in same manner as it did with the invasion against Ukraine. The invasion and illegal occupation of territories in Ukraine is not the only example of invasion in Europe, he noted.

Dendias said that revisionism has ceased to be an acceptable practice and it is not possible for the international community to accept it even in a passive manner.

He recalled that both Cyprus and Greece have taken a principled stand, fully implementing the European sanctions despite the cost on their societies.

Referring to the same issue, Kasoulides stressed that just like Ukraine, the Cyprus issue was and remains a matter of invasion and occupation.

“The same principles that are violated in the case of Ukraine, are also violated in the case of Cyprus for 48 consecutive years,” he underlined.

Furthermore, Kasoulides said that the continuous violations of international law and UN resolutions as well as Turkey’s ongoing hybrid tactics create a difficult environment that we must face.

He referred to a crescendo of provocative Turkish rhetoric, constant threats on behalf of Ankara and a harsh public debate on foreign policy issues.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs assured that our side will continue to follow the path of rationality, which is none other than that of international law, international treaties, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as European principles and values.

As regards the Cyprus issue, he said that despite the efforts of Cyprus President to promote Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), the Turkish Cypriot side rejected them and talked about a ‘two state’ solution.

“The goal was and continues to be the solution of the Cyprus issue, on the agreed basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council,” he stressed.

The Greek Foreign Minister expressed his support for the CBMs submitted by the Cypriot President and expressed regret for the expected rejection by the Turkish Cypriot side.

“We share your realistic approach regarding the prospects for the resumption of the negotiations, which unfortunately are not auspicious,” Dendias said.

He rejected and condemned any proposal for a ‘two state’ solution and said that the solution of the Cyprus problem in the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation on the basis of the UN resolutions and the EU acquis is the top priority of Greek foreign policy.

The only positive thing, he concluded, is that the discussion at the UNSC on the text for the renewal of the UNFICYP mandate took place in a consensual climate, despite the general polarisation which prevails.

Source: Cyprus News Agency