• Thursday, 19 December 2024

Gov’t starts process of negotiations with EC for participation in Digital Europe Programme

Gov’t starts process of negotiations with EC for participation in Digital Europe Programme
Skopje, 3 August 2022 (MIA) – The Government on Wednesday adopted a report prepared by the Ministry of Information Society and Administration on North Macedonia’s accession to the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL).   “By adopting this report, the Government begins the process of negotiations with the European Commission for participation in the DIGITAL programme. This will provide opportunities to fund projects with all companies, institutions and civil society organizations that will apply with projects within the calls as part of the programme,” the Government said in a press release.   The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is a new EU funding programme focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations. Digital technology and infrastructure have a critical role in our private lives and business environments. We rely on them to communicate, work, advance science and answer current environmental problems. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted not only how much we rely on our technology to be available to us, but also how important it is for Europe not to be dependent on systems and solutions coming from other regions of the world.  The Digital Europe Programme will provide strategic funding to answer these challenges, supporting projects in five key capacity areas: in supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and ensuring a wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society, including through Digital Innovation Hubs.  It aims, adds the press release, to accelerate the economic recovery and shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, bringing benefits to everyone, but in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises.