EU4Digital Facility has marked a significant milestone in its activities to accelerate the ability of Eastern partner countries to gather data in line with EU best practices and incorporate more accurate digital performance-related data in their national strategies. A regional event on 24 November 2023 provided an opportunity to close and reflect on the first phase of EU4Digital DESI Accelerator activities and start to prepare for the second.

A new collaboration aims to advance education in artificial intelligence (AI) in Armenia. The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, headed by Minister Robert Khachatryan, and the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on 20 November 2023. Other goals of the memorandum are to foster collaboration between sectoral companies and the educational system, and to cultivate a generation of competitive and innovative specialists.

Digital has become central to everyday life in the Eastern Partnership (EaP), so a coordinated approach to strategic planning, policy and legislation alignment and investment are now crucial. This was the key message that emerged from the 5th annual meeting of the EU4Digital Steering Committee held online on 15 November 2023.

Human-centred needs and benefits must be kept in mind as we aim for digital transformation, agreed participants in the EU4Digital Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) on 14 November 2023. The event theme, ‘Digital strategic autonomy: leveraging digital technologies to empower societies and economies’, provided scope to explore how digital connectivity and newer technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) can unlock innovation in working towards resilient government, economy and society.

Representatives of institutions that collect Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) related indicators in Eastern partner countries are invited to participate in an EU4Digital Facility event online on 24 November 2023. In the event, experts from the EU4Digital Digital Skills thematic area will present analysis of DESI implementation, discuss regional and national recommendations around the adoption of full DESI measurement, and reflect on insights and milestones from the DESI Accelerator activity.

With the growth of online provision of health, educational, financial, business and governance services, digital connectivity has become increasingly crucial to everyday life. Following a pathway to digital connectivity improvement in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region, EU4Digital Facility has been closely cooperating with the Eastern partner countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine since 2019. Together, they promote and facilitate access to high-speed, secure and sustainable digital connectivity at affordable prices for citizens and businesses. So, what has been achieved and how does this support wider policy goals for EaP digital transformation?

The Armenian national research and education network (NREN) ASNET-AM has become a 6-month ‘twin’ with its Malawian counterpart MAREN. As part of a pilot programme to exchange knowledge with and foster the development of emerging NRENs such as MAREN, the ‘EU4Digital: Connecting Research and Education Communities (EaPConnect)’ project partner ASNET-AM is providing knowledge and technical support in High Performance Computing and cyber-emergency response among other topics.

Registration is open for the 2023 Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership. EU4Digital Facility is organising this online event at 10:00-12:00 CET on 14 November to highlight and support digital transformation in the Eastern partner countries. This year, the conference’s central theme is ‘Digital strategic autonomy: leveraging digital technologies to empower societies and economies’. Anyone interested in participating will be welcome: please sign up!

The activities of the EU4Digital Facility are driven by the needs of countries in the Eastern Partnership region—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. These activities are carried out in close cooperation with bilateral activities managed by EU Delegations as part of the EU-Eastern Partnership joint agenda. To maximise results during the EU4Digital Facility’s current, second phase, EU4Digital hosted a workshop in Brussels with key EU and Eastern partner country stakeholders on 18 October 2023. The meeting provided an opportunity for participants to review the project results, give feedback and explore how to accelerate the adoption of EU4Digital activities at national level.

Concrete next steps in Eastern Partnership broadband development were agreed in a meeting of the Independence of Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) in Yerevan, Armenia on 25-26 October 2023. The main focus was wholesale broadband access market analysis and monitoring of broadband access.

This year's European Cybersecurity Month – October – will dive deep into the world of social engineering, where cybercriminals use clever tactics such as phishing and impersonation to breach our security defenses. The 2023 theme ‘Be Smarter than a Hacker’ refers to the knowledge and tools needed to protect ourselves from cybercriminals.

Twelve Armenian start-ups got the chance to showcase their products during 'DigiTec23' on 13-15 October 2023. The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia provided an exhibition pavilion where these startups displayed and met with event participants. All twelve start-ups are actively engaged in the Ministry's grant and state support initiatives.