The European Commission has pledged a budget of 1.3 billion euros to be invested in establishing Digital Europe Programme 2025-2027 work program’s for the deployment of critical technologies. This money aims to restore the technological leadership of Europe and to quicken the digital transition in the entire continent.
Two days ago, the program was approved, and the project will concentrate on skills, the development of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital literacy.
Also, the European Commission’s initiative is concrete proof of its readiness to tackle those modern challenges mentioned in its political priorities paper, where the main priorities are, of course, technology sovereignty, democracy, and security.
The program will help the enforcement of the Chips Act, Artificial Intelligence Act, and the soon-to-be-announced Apply AI Strategy. It will also be covering the new EU Digital Identity Wallet, Cyber Solidarity Act, Cyber Resilience Act, and the Interoperable Europe Act, establishing a reliable and updated set of rules necessary for digital economy development.
In April 2025, the EU will open a new proposal after the Apply AI Strategy to be funded by the Digital Europe Programme purely targeting the Public Administrations sector, thus initiatory work to the extent of four Generative AI pilot projects is recommended at this point. An online event called “GenAI meets PA” will be held on April 14. It is meant to facilitate teamwork in public administration consortia.
The first Digital Europe calls are planned to be opened on April 15, 2025, and the deadline for submission is September 2, 2025. Those calls will concern AI, data, cloud computing, advanced digital skills, and the most effective technologies across different sectors.
Initiated also by a call that aims to strengthen the AI focus of the European Digital Innovation Hubs network, a public discussion will happen tomorrow, April 3, 2025, and will happen until May 14, 2025. The purpose of these hubs is to help both the private and the public sector efficiently use digital technology.
Now, the digital world in Europe is advancing at lightning speed, and at the same time, the startups in the region take over more and more economic activities. Statistically, in the first quarter of 2025, almost 1,600 rounds of funds attracted $15.8 billion in European startups in the fields of AI, fintech, clean energy, and biotechnology.
The European continent has turned into a home of 571 unicorns now which is a quite great number, one meanwhile it was 22 last year. If we talk about the value of these companies, 37 of them have reached a value of over $10 billion.
Some ten years ago, the entire European tech industry was only worth $43 billion, while today, it amounts to $426 billion. This year, 2025, they are projecting this sector to be worth $47 billion in global funding.
This particular amount of investment being made in digital technologies coincides with the time when private companies are also in the process of taking significant leaps in technological innovation.
Indeed, a brand-new shopping center fully automated on a 24/7 basis only, using RFID for quick check-out, computer vision for personalized customer experience, and digital monitoring systems, was just launched at SAP’s headquarters in Walldorf, Germany.
Then, the fact of public and private sectors coming together in this way forecasts a new era for European technology. By matching the Digital Europe Programme’s financial support with a clear strategic direction, Europe is entering the arena of the global market as a competitor in the essential technological sectors, not to forget that they are simultaneously ensuring that those technological advances will be of benefit to the continent’s citizens, businesses, and public services.