Digital and new technologies are the focus of the EU, of European programs in this seven-year period and of important initiatives in our territories.<\/p>\n
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Digital and the potential of new technologies related to digital are at the center of the strategic interests of the European Union, represent one of the main areas of confrontation between world powers, and open up immense opportunities and potential for the development of territories.<\/span><\/p>\n Technical progress and applications in the digital sphere go through a process of continuous and dizzying evolution: it is therefore difficult to determine their nature and scope exhaustively. For the purpose of clarification, without claiming to be exhaustive and glossing over technical details, we can attempt to define some of the cutting-edge areas in which they intervene, and some of the terms that recur most frequently in digital-related strategies, programs and projects.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Blockchain<\/b>\n<\/a>: open and distributed digital ledger, in which the authenticity of the “blocks” of data as they are recorded is automatically and structurally certified, secure and permanent.<\/span><\/p>\n The above terms and technologies are closely related to each other. For example: Artificial Intelligence is powered (also) through Big Data; Big Data use, in the gigantic masses of data they handle, information derived from geo-referencing (also important in many blockchains); the Internet of Things is one of the applications of Edge computing; Data centers enable Cloud computing to work and use Big Data; Digital Twins have affinities with the Internet of Things and augmented reality; all these applications require rapid and massive data transmission guaranteed (currently) by 5G.<\/span><\/p>\n Likewise, all of these technologies have a potentially disruptive impact on most European thematic areas, policies and projects. Many of them are now part of our daily experience: think of voice assistants (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things) or cloud-based storage systems. But let’s take a few more examples, even more pertinent to those involved in europlanning. <\/span><\/p>\n L’<\/span>Artificial Intelligence<\/b> is virtually adaptable to any purpose and area where a form of learning, analysis, choice, prediction or problem solving needs to be applied. A properly developed and “trained” Artificial Intelligence will be able, for example, to write a European project: scanning the network for available data (already funded projects, best practices, call characteristics, local organisations, potential partners, etc.), analyzing their logical correlations and producing a structured and coherent project document. For the avoidance of doubt, fortunately or unfortunately, there are not yet any artificial intelligences suitable for the purpose, but certainly there are already many capable of performing a similar process on other types of text. Artificial Intelligence can also be used as “Augmented Intelligence,” since it can (and often does) operate in support of analyses and operations performed by human intelligences: for example, to identify trends or correlations that are not easily discernible, or why not, prospectively, to inform and support project writing.<\/span><\/p>\n Technology <\/span>Blockchain<\/b> (which is part of a larger “family” of technologies, that of the <\/span>\n Distributed Ledger Technologies<\/span>\n<\/a>) can have equally broad uses: in financial (cryptocurrencies and financial security), legal and administrative (digital identity, certifications, contracting), artistic (authenticity of works, regulated enjoyment of digital works) and production (tracking and certification of products). The same technology also has very interesting uses in philanthropy and transparent project management, as it allows a donation (or more generally a resource) to be monitored and tracked over time to verify its proper use by the beneficiary organization, minimizing the cost and time required for active monitoring. The same principle of traceability can apply to resources that are not strictly financial, typical of the “sharing economy” and social economy.<\/span><\/p>\n Other examples are even more immediate and blatant: virtual reality and Digital Twins have endless fields of application in the medical, surgical, scientific, and engineering fields, as well as in education (training through virtual reality) and local organisations management (digital or “augmented” tourism experiences, digital modelling for safeguarding local organisations, etc.); Big Data and geo-referencing have endless applications in social and local organisations analysis and allow for more precise and timely measures.<\/span><\/p>\n These are just examples-the local organisations of digital is as vast as it is still unexplored, both in terms of technology and the application of technology. Think of the infinite fields of action of “classic” digital technologies (the Internet, social media, video communications) and how we might answer today to those who had asked 20 or 30 years ago: what is the Internet for?<\/span><\/p>\n “Classic” digital technologies themselves have not yet exhausted their potential and remain a particularly promising source of application and innovation within European projects, in all areas.<\/span><\/p>\n \n As we already know<\/span>\n<\/a>, and for reasons evident after this brief review, “<\/span>\n A Europe ready for the digital age<\/span>\n<\/a>” is one of the current priorities of the European Commission. The EU aims to make this decade the <\/span>“european digital decade”<\/span><\/a>, strengthening digital sovereignty and security, standards, competitiveness on data, technology and infrastructure, and digital skills for the public and private sectors. The planned actions invest many areas, strategies and specific measures, aiming at the maximum development and best application of many of the technologies mentioned above. <\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>\n European Digital Strategy<\/span>\n<\/a> is in fact declined in the following specific areas and sectors of intervention, ranging from cutting-edge technologies to the operational application of more “classic” (but no less important) digital technologies:<\/span><\/p>\n Reading the pages offered in these links provides a simple and effective overview of the “state of the art” and European priorities in this area.<\/span><\/p>\n How is this very important and cross-cutting issue being addressed in major European programs and funds? We continue our analysis with a brief review.<\/span><\/p>\n Digital Europe<\/b> is the leading European program in the field of digital technologies. To this program we devoted a <\/span>\n specific tab<\/span>\n<\/a> and a <\/span>\n in-depth study<\/span>\n<\/a> which analyzes its characteristics and work plan 2021-2022. The program incorporates the goals of the <\/span>\n European digital strategy<\/span>\n<\/a> and the <\/span>\n “European digital decade”<\/span>\n<\/a> – as well as much of the concepts and technologies presented in the previous sections.<\/span><\/p>\n Horizon Europe<\/b> is the European flagship program for all areas related to research and innovation, and is the program from which the Digital Europe program emerged with the current programming period. In addition to incorporating digital technologies as a cross-cutting aspect, structurally linked to research and innovation, Horizon Europe places digital as one of the “global challenges” to which it aims to respond (Pillar II) and among the key issues for the implementation of European partnerships. It therefore represents a key source of funding in this area. We dedicated a <\/span>\n specific tab<\/span>\n<\/a> and various insights: on the <\/span>\n work program and info days<\/span>\n<\/a>, on the <\/span>\n in-depth webinars<\/span>\n<\/a> and on <\/span>\n guides and videos dedicated to Italian stakeholders<\/span>\n<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Creative Europe<\/b> is the program dedicated to art, culture, and media, but it devotes much attention to both the various forms of digital art and expression (film, video games, digital media) and the use of new technologies on aspects related to its main areas of focus: for example, it promotes the use of digital technologies for the visibility and enjoyment of artistic and cultural works, for the development of artistic and cultural business, and for media monitoring. We dedicated to this program a <\/span>\n specific tab<\/span>\n<\/a>, a <\/span>\n in-depth study<\/span>\n<\/a> on its main features and work plan, and <\/span>\n an article<\/span>\n<\/a> on the many relationships that exist between the program and other sectors, including digital.<\/span><\/p>\n InvestEU<\/b> is the EU program dedicated to investment: it aims to make a larger and more diversified volume of investment available to different categories of actors, for strategic projects capable of significant impact. Digitization is a key component of this, as it is identified as one of the main criteria defining the strategic aspect and impact of an investment; digitization is also, at the same time, one of the four specific areas in which investments will be promoted. We dedicated a <\/span>\n specific tab<\/span>\n<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>Connecting Europe Mechanism<\/b> is another key program for the digital sector, although its focus is predominantly on infrastructure: it is therefore in this sense, a complementary program to Digital Europe. Dedicates a specific component to network coverage through 5G systems, improvement of digital networks, and deployment and access to ultra-high-capacity networks. We dedicated a <\/span>\n specific tab<\/span>\n<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Many other programs, while not specifically related to digital, place great emphasis on using digital technologies to achieve their goals as part of their actions and components, as in the case of <\/span>EU4Health<\/span><\/a> (Objective 7: Strengthen the availability of health data, digital tools and services, and the digital transformation of health care) and <\/span>Erasmus+<\/span><\/a> (which promotes opportunities and actions for digital learning and makes extensive use of support networks and online platforms). In other programs, the role of digital is more implicit, as in the case of <\/span>\n LIFE<\/span>\n<\/a> (digital technologies can offer great support for environmental technologies and environmental monitoring) and the <\/span>\n Single Market Program<\/span>\n<\/a> (support and actions for enterprises and actors in the digital sector).<\/span><\/p>\n Digital is also a key theme within the programming of the Structural Funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Cutting-edge digital technologies: what are they for?<\/b><\/h2>\n
The “European digital decade”: a crucial issue in Europe<\/b><\/h2>\n
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The most important community programs on digital and new technologies<\/b><\/h2>\n
European programs under national and regional management<\/b><\/h2>\n