Digitalisation in the EU and Slovakia

• August 15, 2023
• Andrew

The digital transformation should bring benefits to all, put people at the centre and create new opportunities for businesses. At the same time, digital solutions are key in the fight against climate change and the green transition. The European Commission is working on a digital transformation that benefits everyone. At the same time, the digital economy must be fair and competitive. The aim is to build an open, democratic and sustainable society. Digital solutions that put people first will

• open up new opportunities for businesses;
• encourage the development of trustworthy technologies;
• promote an open and democratic society;
• strengthen a dynamic and sustainable economy;
• they will help tackle climate change and achieve the green transition.

According to the European Commission, Slovakia ranked 22nd among the 28 EU Member States in the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index ( DESI) in 2020. Based on data prior to the pandemic, Slovakia’s scores slightly increased thanks to the performance in connectivity, the use of internet services and digital public services. However, the majority of indicators have not improved sufficiently to keep up the pace with the EU average. As a result Slovakia dropped in the ranking in the dimension of human capital and in the use of internet services to the 20th position and in digital public services to the 26th position. The share of Slovaks with more than basic digital skills is 27 %, which represents the best score in the Visegrad region. Fast and ultra-fast broadband coverage continues to improve in Slovakia and the number of Slovaks who never used the internet (12 %), still above the EU average of 9 %, has decreased. Overall, 82 % of Slovaks and online banking use the internet (66 %). Slovakia has also made significant progress in video calls, with 66 % of people now using this service – a 15 p.p. increase compared to the previous year.

On 9 March 2021, the Commission presented a vision and ways to achieve Europe’s digital transformation by 2030. This vision for the EU’s Digital Decade is centred around theEN Digital Compass. The digital transformation must ensure that citizens’ rights and freedoms are protected.

The 2030 Digital Decade targets include: 

• At least 80 % of all adults should have basic digital skills and 20 million ICT specialists should be employed in the EU, with more women taking up these positions.
• All households in the EU should have Gigabit connectivity and all populated areas should be included in 5G.
• Three out of four companies should use cloud computing services, big data and artificial intelligence, and more than 90 % of SMEs should have at least a basic level of digital intensity.
• All key public services should be available online and all citizens should have access to their electronic medical records.
• In order to achieve the objectives set out in the Digital Compass, the European Commission will accelerate the launch of multi-country projects that will develop pan-European technologies and digital infrastructure.
• These will be financed by a combination of investments from the EU budget, Member States and industry. Member States have committed to dedicate at least 20 % of their recovery and resilience plans to the digital priority.

The EU’s digital strategy also aims to increase women’s interest in technology and increase the number of female entrepreneurs in technology. According to the European Commission’s Women in Digital i (WID) Scoreboardby 2020, only 18 % of IT specialists were women. In Slovakia, the proportion of women employed in this area is 13.3 % and the country ranks 22nd in the WID Scoreboard. Moreover, only almost 10 % of all science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates are women (EU average 14.3 %).

More information on digitalisation in Slovakia and the European Union can be found here: Digitalisation in the EU and Slovakia