What does EU4Digital do in the area of ICT innovation?

EU4Digital follows five lines of action in the area of ICT Innovation:

1. Promoting development of a favourable legislative framework in the Eastern Neighbourhood region that advances ICT innovations, taking into account EU approaches and best practices. In Phase I this was done in five policy areas prioritised by the Eastern partner countries and included country-specific policy recommendations and action plans for country stakeholders to implement. In Phase II we are developing policy recommendations to enable the use of specific emerging technologies (e.g., European AI legal framework) in the region in alignment with the EU policies.
2. Promoting networking between innovation ecosystem players within the region and with the key EU networks and organisations. This happens through targeted events, study visits and Startup and Innovation Forums, in synergy with other ICT Innovation thematic area activities.
3. Promoting the EaP Startups ecosystem platform to facilitate its increased use by Eastern partner countries’ stakeholders as well as EU investors.
4. Implementing promotion campaigns in the Eastern partner countries to raise awareness of the importance of ICT innovation and to increase the participation of women in the ICT innovation field.
5. In Phase I, EU4Digital conducted a ‘Market assessment for Digital Innovation and Scale-up Initiative (DISC) in Eastern partner countries’. EU4Digital also developed a guide for ICT entrepreneurial ecosystem development, including maturity assessments and country-specific recommendations. The gaps identified in Phase I led to continued, in-depth research in Phase II, to identify in detail the gaps hindering ecosystem performance. Following the development of detailed recommendations for empowering high-performance incubation, EU4Digital Facility is supporting the launch of a specific regional programme aimed at eliminating the gaps in incubation support.  EU4Digital will also develop a common framework and provide recommendations for the development of innovation clusters in the Eastern partner countries.