This follows the successful cooperation launched in previous editions of the event, e.g. on artificial intelligence in 2018 and on supercomputing in 2017.

Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: “As the Digital Single Market is becoming a reality step by step, we remain committed to realising Europe's full digital potential. The new commitments being made today are consolidating Member States' endeavours towards a more competitive and inclusive digital Europe.”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, said: “The Digital Day represents an important opportunity towards completing our Digital Single Market. Exchanges during the day will provide further impetus for Member States' engagement in digital and demonstrate the added value of EU's concerted action in the area.”

The participating Member States will sign new Declarations of cooperation on:

• Empowering women's participation in digital:Women account for 52% of the European population, yet hold only 15% of ICT-related jobs. Member States will commit to closer cooperation to increase women's visibility and empowerment in the digital economy. The Declaration builds on the Council of the EU Presidency's conclusions on gender equality, youth and digitalisation and on the Declaration on gender equality. More about the Declaration will be available here at around 12:30 CEST tomorrow.
• Building a smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural areas: Enhanced cooperation on leveraging digital technologies can help tackle important economic, social, climate and environmental challenges in agriculture and rural areas. Smart farming will not only help to increase efficiency of farms, but can also help to create sustainable jobs and growth and benefit the quality of life in rural areas. Further details about the Declaration will be available here at around 15:30 CEST tomorrow.
• Digitising cultural heritage:State of the artdigital technologies can help to preserve Europe's rich cultural heritage and to mitigate the risks it faces. Building on the momentum of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the Declaration aims to advance digitisation of heritage artefacts, monuments and sites, as well as foster citizen engagement and cross-border cooperation. More information will be available here at around 17:20 CEST tomorrow.

Highlights of the Digital Day 2019 also include the presentation of the guidelines for trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) by the High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (at 9:30-11:15 CEST tomorrow; see also today's Commission's Communication on AI), as well as a number of panel discussions, including on the progress of the Digital Single Market.

Ahead of the Digital Day, stakeholders from the Southern Mediterranean will be looking for new ways of working together for connectivity and data at the Digital4Med conference this afternoon. The event can be followed live starting at 14:00 CEST today.

Background

The 2019 edition marks the third anniversary of the Digital Day; 2018, the focus was on five initiatives that have progressed significantly over the last year:

• All EU Member States have joined forces on AI, which led to the coordinated plan on artificial intelligence, a three-fold European strategyfor Artificial Intelligence, and the establishment of the expert group that presented its ethics guidelines today.
• 20 Member Statesagreed to share data to improve personalised healthcare and prevention of diseases, and they are now working in specialised expert working groups to reach a cohort of at least 1 million genomes in the EU by 2022.
• 27 countries have joined a European partnership in blockchain technologies, which resulted in the identification of the first set of use-cases for cross-border digital public services at the end of 2018.
• The online tool innovation radar was founded, providing easy access to innovations supported by EU funding and the innovators behind them.
• Several Member States committed to support connected and automated mobility by signing regional agreements following the commitment to 5G cross-border testing corridors. In November 2018, the first three Horizon 2020 5G cross-border corridor projects were launched.

For more information

Livestream of Digital Day 2019

Livestream of Digital4Med

Digital Day 2018 in Brussels

Digital Day 2017 in Rome

Factsheet: A Digital Single Market for the benefit of all Europeans

Timeline: Digital Single Market – Commission actions since 2015

#DigitalYou: benefits of the Digital Single Market

#Digital4Med #DigitalDay19

@DSMeu @Ansip_EU @GabrielMariya