25th October 2016

EU4Digital: Extending digital community to the east

At their meeting on 18 October, Ministers in charge of the Digital Economy and Society from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the Slovak Republic representing the Presidency of the Council of the EU, continued discussions on deepening their collaboration on digital issues. Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, ICT associations and civil society from the partner countries were also present.

Proposed EU4Digital regional networks should work on jointly agreed priority topics: telecom rules; ICT research, startups and innovation; digital skills; trust services and e-Identification (eIDAS); cybersecurity and eTrade, which includes eCommerce, eCustoms and eLogistics. These networks should serve as platforms for sharing best practices and experiences among eastern European partners and with the EU, promoting synergies and developing joint projects.

The proposed roadmaps, as well as preliminary achievements, should be presented in the 2nd Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy to be held in early summer 2017.

Eastern European Partners represent 72 million of consumers. More details in English and Czech.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic