Conversation: Europe’s Twin Transition to a Sustainable & Digital Economy
Our next episode of DIGITAL SME Live is all about the transition to a sustainable and digital economy: how can European policymakers support a sustainable digital transformation, both in terms of climate neutrality and Europe’s digital sovereignty? Tune in on Wednesday, July 15, 14.30 CEST to find out!
The European Union aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. At DIGITAL SME, we believe that sustainable development goes hand in hand with digital transformation. In order to enhance sustainability, Europe must rethink policies across all areas of economy and society. In this episode of DIGITAL SME Live, we delve deep into the topic of “digital sustainability” and what it means for SMEs.
The digital sector: polluter or panacea?
Although the public debate around climate change often focusses on highly energy intensive sectors like transportation, agriculture, and fossil-fuel-sourced energy production, the digital sector’s emissions are continuously rising as well.[1]
If Europe wants to reach its climate and economic goals, the digital sector has to contribute its share and embrace sustainability in all its facets: circular economy models for hardware, climate-neutral CPU models and server centres, software advancements to reduce energy consumption, and many more.
Digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, IoT, cloud and edge computing also have the capacity to accelerate and maximise the effects of environmental policies.
Investing in Europe’s own innovative prowess in a sustainable manner is the basic requirement to support the twin transition — and SMEs are at the centre of it.
Policy measures for a greener digital Europe need to put SMEs first
How can European policymakers support this sustainable digital transformation, both in terms of climate neutrality and Europe’s digital sovereignty? The European Commission’s recognition of the importance of SMEs in the new industrial strategy is an important first step. But measures for the COVID-19 recovery could run the risk of promoting “unsustainable digitalisation” if not implemented wisely.
For this next episode of DIGITAL SME Live, we are proud to welcome leading “digital MEP” Eva Maydell from the EPP as guests in the studio. Ms Maydell is a member of the ITRE committee where she works to include geographical and gender representation as well as SME perspectives in parliamentary resolutions. “Bridging the digital divide for me means making sure that every company or organisation has access to digital solutions and can participate in the digital economy”, the young Bulgarian politician said in a recent interview.[2]
We are looking forward to an exciting conversation on 15 July at 14.30 CEST, which will be live streamed to YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook!
[1] https://www.greenit.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GREENIT_EENM_etude_EN_accessible.pdf
[2] https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/connecting-europes-forgotten-regions/
Speaker
– Eva Maydell, MEP, European People’s Party, Member of the ITRE Committee
Moderator
Sebastiano Toffaletti, Secretary-General at DIGITAL SME
Tune in on Wednesday 15 July, 14.30 CEST by clicking on the icons below!
