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.

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.

On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended that the Council of the European Union opens EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, and grants candidate country status to Georgia on the understanding that a number of steps are taken. The Commission also adopted the 2023 Enlargement Package, in which the progress of these countries was assessed for the first time.

Students in Ukraine will experience more seamless information technology (IT) learning thanks to the ‘Updated Informatics – IT Studios’ project. The project is implemented within the EU4DigitalUA programme, financed by the European Union. On 26 September 2023, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine presented the project’s materials. These and updated educational resources are available to Ukraine’s educational institutions, professionals and all participants of the educational process via the Diia.Education platform. This systematised approach to IT learning is highly relevant for the Digital Skills thematic network of the EU4Digital Facility.

The Cabinet of Ministers in the Republic of Moldova has approved the Digital Transformation Strategy for 2023-2030. The approval, in early September 2023, is a significant step as the strategy sets out a comprehensive vision for the country’s digital development. The strategy centres on alignment with the European integration agenda and focuses on citizens' needs.

The team that curates news, announcements, stories and other publications about EU4Digital and Eastern Partnership digital activities invites you to take stock of the growing number of ways you can access this content – in particular, a brand-new Twitter account : come and join the conversation!