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Focus Group ICT Sustainability
Small and medium enterprises and startups in the ICT sector are driving Europe’s transition to a green and digital economy. The new Focus Group ICT Sustainability will give them strong representation on the EU level and unleash their facilitating work for sustainability-related initiatives.
European Green Digital Coalition
The European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) is an initiative of companies, supported by the European Commission and the European Parliament, based on the request of the EU Council, which aims to harness the enabling emission-reducing potential of digital solutions to all other sectors.
Get Digital: Go Green & Be Resilient
In the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the European Commission’s Department for Internal Market (DG GROW) alongside DIGITAL SME and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) will launch two workshops focused on accelerating the uptake of innovative solutions that help industry become increasingly energy independent and supply chain resilient.
Sustainable digitalisation refers to the process of digitalising the economy in a long-lasting, green, and organic way by building on its key strength: innovative SMEs and their business ecosystems. At DIGITAL SME, as outlined in our position paper, we propose to define a sustainable digital transformation along three interconnected dimensions.
Sustainable B2B Digitalisation
A long-term oriented digital transformation that builds on B2B relationships to create a sustainable innovation ecosystem, rather than investing in closed, “off-the-shelf” solutions, which can lead to dependency. Sustainable B2B Digitalisation creates digital skills, fosters innovation "made-in-Europe" and leads to strong digital sovereignty in the future.
Articles about sustainable B2B digitalisation:
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Green(er) Technologies
A digital sector that saves resources, increases efficiency, and allows the repairability and re-use of products. A sustainable, circular, and digital economy will greatly extend the life-cycle of many consumer and industrial products by either completely rethinking manufacturing and production chains or offering maintenance and repair services.
Articles about green(er) technologies:
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Innovation-enabling policy & regulation
A holistic approach to rule-making that supports innovation by emphasising software & hardware openness. Open-source software, for instance, allows tech-savvy players to innovate and improve technology. Open hardware does the same for physical products; if devices are unlocked for third-party software, businesses can compete and develop better applications to run on them. European regulators should support openness in software and hardware alike.
Articles about smart policy & regulation:
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More sustainable digitalisation news:
What is digital sovereignty? European Commission President Von de Leyen refers to “mastery and ownership of key technologies in Europe” in a speech at the European Parliament. In a 2019 paper, we define “digital sovereignty” as the level of autonomy in ICT-related technologies that is required to allow Europe to independently pursue its own interests. Together with their partners, our German member BITMi has gone beyond this definition in their campaign:
Digital sovereignty is the capability to actively shape the digital transition of the state, the economy and society. A European digital economy, which provides hardware, software and digital services for all essential tasks and areas of digitalisation, is a prerequisite for digital sovereignty. By strengthening the supply side, digital sovereignty allows for freedom of choice in a global competition and therefore helps to prevent protectionism.
DigitalSovereignty
DIGITAL SME’S new White Paper on Digital Sovereignty lays out a comprehensive definition of digital sovereignty along the whole technology stack: (1) hardware, (2) software, (3) services. Further, it attempts to define “horizontal requirements” that are needed to reach digital sovereignty. This White Paper provided food for thought and for participants to discuss on the topic at our General Assembly 2021.
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Sustainable digitalisation refers to the process of digitalising the economy in a long-lasting, green, and organic way. It aims to support and enable Europe’s twin transitions to a green and digital economy by building on its key strength: innovative SMEs and their business ecosystems.
In the long term, the goal of sustainable digitalisation is strengthening European digital sovereignty.
We believe that sustainable digitalisation fundamentally rests on three pillars:
- Sustainable B2B digitalisation
- Green(er) technologies and a circular economy
- An innovation-enabling policy- and regulatory framework
NEW: European Green Digital Coalition
The European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) is a brand-new initiative by the European Parliament, implemented by the European Commission’s DG CNECT. Its goal is to gather Europe’s top digital and green innovators and start a movement to inspire other companies to follow the path of sustainable digitalisation.
Click here to view the first SME and startup supporter of the Coalition!
