Interoperable Europe, within the NIFO Observatory on National Interoperability Frameworks, has published a report on Member States’ plans and the measures they have taken to mitigate the effects of the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report “The Digital Road to Recovery and Resilience in the European Union” presents an analysis of the European Commission’s various instruments to help Member States recover and better prepare for the digital future.

On 27 May 2020, the European Commission adopted a new European Interim Instrument for the Revitalization of NextGenerationEU, which aims to enable Member States to invest more than € 750 billion through various funding mechanisms. The most important of these mechanisms is the Resurrection and Resilience Fund (RRF), which consists of € 672.5 billion in loans and grants, which will directly finance planned Member States’ reforms and investments.

The Digital Road to Recovery and Resilience in the European Union is published, analyzing Member States’ plans in terms of the importance of digital initiatives, major investments and general reforms related to the digital transformation, and highlights major trends in the digital field.

The main findings of the report show that in order to bridge the digital divide, many Member States are investing heavily in developing and setting up high-speed networks, digitalisation public administration, simplifying internal administrative procedures and promoting interoperability and principles only once.

Investing in human capital is proving to be a priority investment for many Member States, notably through investment plans to improve and retrain its citizens by promoting digital skills and training for all, as well as transforming education systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalisation of companies is obvious. Member States are mostly focused on promoting digitalisation in smaller businesses through the introduction of advanced digital technologies and the digitalisationn of production processes. In order to increase the Union’s resilience and global competitiveness, Member States are also investing heavily in the deployment of advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber security and the blockchain.

Slovenia’s recovery and resilience plan is the result of a combination of reforms and investments that address Slovenia’s specific challenges. The reforms address the bottlenecks of sustainable and sustainable growth, while investments are aimed at accelerating the transition to a greener economy, making the most of the digital transformation and ensuring socio-economic cohesion and resilience. Digital challenges for the Slovenian economy include a lack of digital skills, low use of public digital services and the integration of digital technology into business models.