The annual Digital Economy and Society Index measures the progress of EU Member States towards a digital economy and society, on the basis of both Eurostat data and specialised studies and collection methods. The DESI supports EU Member States by identifying priority areas requiring targeted investment and action. The DESI is also the key tool when it comes to analysing digital aspects in the European Semester.
Last July 2022, the European Commission published the results of the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which tracks the progress made in EU Member States in all things digital.
The EU continues to improve its level of digitalisation, and Member States that started from lower levels are gradually catching up. Italy, Poland and Greece substantially improved their DESI scores over the past five years, implementing investments with a reinforced political focus on digital, also supported by European funding. Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden remain the EU frontrunners. However, even they are faced with gaps in key areas: the uptake of advanced digital technologies such as AI and Big Data, remains below 30% and very far from the 2030 Digital Decade target of 75%. Widespread skill shortages are slowing down overall progress and lead to digital exclusion.
During the Covid pandemic, Member States have been advancing in their digitalisation efforts but still struggle to close the gaps in digital skills, the digital transformation of SMEs, and the roll-out of advanced 5G networks.
Source: DESI
