Strategy and action plan to improve Slovakia’s position in DESI by 2025

• August 31, 2023
• Andrew

In May 2021, the government approved a strategy and action plan to improve Slovakia’s position in the DESI index by 2025. The strategy prepared by the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation (MIRRI) of the Slovak Republic, taking into account the persistent trend of stagnation in the evaluation of SK in the DESI, in which SK has long oscillated around 20th place. SK is making progress every year, but progress is not fast enough vis-à-vis other EU Member States and is not sufficient to catch up with those more digitally advanced EU countries that are progressing and growing much faster.

The main objective of the strategy is to move Slovakia from the last third of the DESI ranking to its centre over a period of five years, reaching at least the EU average. In particular, the strategy contains five strategic objectives based on individual DESI domains. The objectives relate to the following areas:

• Connectivity dimension – the most important strategic objective is an increase in the overall fixed broadband take-up rate of between one and two percentage points per year, allowing the EU average in DESI 2025 to be reached.

• The human capital dimension is primarily aimed at promoting STEM studies at all levels of education, or promoting lifelong learning, focusing on the education of specific population groups most lacking digital skills (such as older people, low-income working-age groups most at risk of automation of their professions, etc.).

• The dimension of the use of internet services, which is closely linked to the previous two dimensions (access to internet connectivity and adequate digital skills of the population), with the aim of increasing the number of regular internet users primarily through active and efficient communication and popularising the benefits and opportunities of the internet.

• The digital integration dimension aims both at supporting the uptake of innovation at the level of SMEs (e.g. through instruments such as SME aid schemes aimed at reimbursing the costs of deploying online technologies), but also at promoting awareness of how to use digital technologies or building digital skills specifically among entrepreneurs (including through the European Digital Innovation Hubs, for example).

• The objective for digital public services is to increase the amount of digitalised services by improving the quality of the user experience of electronic services, making the re-use of data already in the possession of the state more efficient, increasing the interconnection of central registers, improving the functionalities of the open data portal, etc.).

The strategy and action plan to improve Slovakia’s position in DESI by 2025 includes concrete existing and planned measures, or proposes new ones. We have prepared a translation of this document into English to communicate these strategic objectives of Slovakia abroad.