The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) summarises indicators of Europe’s digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries.
Since 2014, the European Commission has been closely monitoring the digital progress of its Member States through the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) reports. These annual reports not only provide country-specific profiles to help Member States identify areas requiring immediate attention but also include thematic chapters that offer a comprehensive European-level analysis across crucial digital domains, crucial for informing policy decisions.
The DESI 2022 reports primarily rely on data from 2021 to assess the digital advancements within EU Member States. While the COVID-19 pandemic has driven Member States to intensify their efforts in digitalization, certain challenges persist. These challenges include bridging gaps in digital skills, promoting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and expanding the deployment of advanced 5G networks.
To support the digital transformation, the European Union has committed substantial resources, allocating EUR 127 billion for digital-related reforms and investments in national Recovery and Resilience Plans. This represents an unprecedented opportunity to expedite digitalization, enhance the Union’s resilience, and decrease external dependencies through a combination of reforms and investments. Notably, Member States, on average, allocated 26% of their Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding to digital transformation, surpassing the mandatory 20% threshold. Among these, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Lithuania stand out for allocating more than 30% of their RRF funding to digital initiatives.