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EU strengthens cooperation with Ukraine in electronic communications as national regulator joins European body

The EU on 7 June authorised the national regulatory authority of Ukraine responsible for electronic communications to participate in the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the BEREC Office, the agency that supports BEREC. The European…

EU4Digital partner EDIN launches E-SUPPLY project to develop business interaction between Ukraine and Europe

EU4Digital partner EDIN, one of the biggest electronic data interchange (EDI) service providers in Ukraine, has designed an initiative to establish efficient e-communications between European suppliers/producers and Ukrainian retailers. The E-SUPPLY project helps to provide for the Ukraini…

EU4Digital – extended eSignature pilot completed

The EU4Digital Facility has completed the 2nd release of the eSignature piloting with the participation of Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia, and testing with Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia in March 2022. The pilot solutions are comprised of electronic signing and validation components which enable techni…

Largest European network of ICT SMEs welcomes new members from Eastern Partnership region

With the support and facilitation of the EU4Digital Facility, the associations uniting digital SMEs of the Eastern partner countries successfully joined the European DIGITAL SME Alliance (DIGITAL SME) for a one-year sponsored membership starting from March 2022. One of the EU4Digital Facil…

Digital skills: virtual study visit to Belgium organised by EU4Digital

The EU4Digital Facility organised a virtual study visit on digital skills to Belgium on 28 March.  During the study visit, participants from Eastern partner countries were able to learn from best EU practices on organising and coordinating digital skills initiatives, re-skilling and up-skilling…

EU4Digital launches guidebook for design of ICT entrepreneurial ecosystem builders

The EU4Digital Facility has developed a guidebook for the design of ICT entrepreneurial ecosystem builder organisation(s) for the development and support of local ICT innovation entrepreneurial ecosystems in the six Eastern partner countries. The guide provides information on the actions that should…

A key step to streamlining cross-border freight: discussing the results of eCustoms pilot between Moldova and Romania

The EU4Digital Facility last week held a post-pilot conference to discuss the results of the e-Customs pilot project on the automatic exchange of electronic customs information between the Republic of Moldova and Romania. The conference on 7 April brought together the Romanian Customs Authority, the…

EU4Digital Facility launches pilot for automatic exchange of customs information between Republic of Moldova and Romania

The e-Customs pilot project was launched on 24 March by the EU4Digital Facility jointly with the Customs authorities of the Republic of Moldova and Romania.  It allows the automatic exchange of information through the Systematic Electronic Exchange of Data (SEED) system between the customs…

EU4Digital message on the situation in Ukraine

Over the past three years, the EU4Digital Facility team has been working to support digital transformation in the Eastern partner countries. In Ukraine, the progress achieved through close cooperation with local actors has created tangible benefits for citizens and businesses from all parts of the c…

Tech To The Rescue launches #TechForUkraine campaign to support NGOs with digital solutions

Russian aggression on Ukraine means that humanitarian aid needs coordination. Local and international NGOs are in need of digital help to coordinate humanitarian aid and maximize their efforts. For many years, Ukrainian NGOs have been providing help to millions of people in need. Today the…

eCustoms pilot between Moldova and Romania in final stage of preparation

The customs services of Moldova and Romania are in the final stages of preparatory actions for the launch of the e-Customs pilot between the two countries, under the EU4Digital initiative. This involves the automatic exchange of information through the SEED (Systematic Electronic Data Interchange) s…

EU4DigitalUA: over ten new e-services launched at Diia Summit

On 8 February 2022, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine unveiled more than ten new state e-services available on Diia, the country’s digital platform for e-governance, during the Diia Summit, supported by the EU-funded project ‘EU4DigitalUA’. The new online services include changing re…

Georgia: CyberEast delivers training course on financial investigation, virtual currency and darknet

On 2-4 February, the CyberEast project, a joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, delivered a training course on financial investigation, virtual currency and darknet for a group of 21 Georgian investigators and prosecutors.  The event in Tsinandali, Georgia, was the last in a…

The first EU4Digital Start-ups and Innovation Forum 2022

On 27 January, the EU4Digital Facility invited government representatives, leading start-up ecosystem organisations and innovation experts to the first high-level policy forum, ‘Innovative solutions for the development of start-up ecosystems in the Eastern Partnership’. This forum provided a platfor…

The Eastern Partnership startup ecosystem platform is now live!

On 27 January, EU4Digital officially launched a startup ecosystem platform for the Eastern partner countries. This solution is designed to act as a key tool for tracking the regional startup ecosystem landscape and will provide intelligence on startups, innovations, investors and funding rounds, and…

EU4Digital launches an eTrade pilot for cross-border invoicing between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine

EU4Digital has launched an additional eDelivery pilot between the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. This programme follows, and is built on the experience gained during, two previous successful pilots (one between Poland and Ukraine, the other between Armenia and Ukraine). During the launch, selected…

EU4Digital kicks off testing of eSignature pilot extension

The EU4Digital Facility has kicked off its extended eSignature pilot activities, testing the technical interoperability of cross-border eSignature between Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and EU member state Estonia, and looking to expand testing with further countries. The pilot implementation will be bas…

Annual EU4Digital Start-ups and Innovation Forum 2022

On 27 January, the EU4Digital Facility will gather government representatives, leading start-up ecosystems organisations, and experts in the innovation field in the first high-level policy forum ‘Innovative solutions for the development of startup ecosystems in the East…

EU4Digital meeting focuses on development of eHealth strategies

On December 30, 2021, the EU4Digital eHealth stream organised a virtual event on eHealth strategy development. This was the fifth virtual event in a series of planned eHealth collaboration events for the year. The aim of the event was to bring eHealth Network members together from the six Easte…

Regional Workshop on Spectrum Sharing in 5G context

A regional workshop on ‘Spectrum Sharing in 5G context’ was held on 14-15 December 2021, in cooperation with the European Commission under the TAIEX instrument (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange), with the aim of examining the best practice of EU Member States in radio spectrum sharing a…

Model Law on Electronic Communications approved by Independence of Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group

The Independence of Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) has approved the Model Law on Electronic Communications, which was prepared by the EU4Digital Facility together with the IRB EWG of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg).  T…

EU4Digital organises meeting on development of eHealth strategies

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising a virtual eHealth event on 30 December, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members from the six Eastern partner countries to discuss upcoming activities and updates on interoperability in eHealth across the Easter…

EU and European Investment Bank invest in fast internet connection for rural Georgia

The European Investment Bank, the Bank of the European Union, will invest up to €34 million in expanding a high-speed internet network bringing fast and reliable internet services to some 500,000 people living in 1,000 rural and remote settlements in Georgia.  The inves…

Eastern Partnership Summit paves the way for digital transformation in the region

The heads of state or government of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the representatives of the European Union and the heads of state or government of its member states met in Brussels at the Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December…

TAIEX Regional Workshop on Spectrum Sharing in 5G context

On 14-15 December, the EU is organising a regional workshop on ‘Spectrum Sharing in 5G context ’ for National Regulatory Authorities and other relevant ministries from all six Eastern partner countries. The aim of the online workshop, organised by TAIEX –…

Beyond COVID-19: advancing digital business transformation in the Eastern partner countries

A new OECD report published by the EU4Business From Policies to Action Project highlights the challenges and priorities for advancing the digital business transformation in the Eastern partner countries. The report – ‘Beyond COVID-19: Advancing Digital Business Transformation in the E…

EU4Digital campaign: unlocking the potential of the digital economy

https://vimeo.com/640307941 Developments in cross-border eCommerce and electronic trust services can be a game changer for businesses in the Eastern partner countries looking to develop their trade with neighbouring countries and the EU. In recent months, EU4Digital has carried out a series of pilot…

EU4Digital kicks off testing of customs data exchange between EU and Moldova

Yesterday, 2 December, marked the kick-off of the preparatory actions to launch EU4Digital’s second eCustoms pilot, this time between the Customs Administrations of the Republic of Moldova and Romania.  The joint meeting gathered more than 20 representatives, not only from customs administratio…

Register now to attend EU4Digital presentation of new EaP startup ecosystem platform

The EU4Digital Facility will hold a soft-launch event on 9 December for its ICT Innovation EaP startup ecosystem platform. The event will showcase how the platform can be used and what benefits it brings to potential users, as well as inviting feedback for final im…

The fundamentals of an Access Point service provider – practical knowledge sharing session organised by EU4Digital Facility

As part of the consultation activities on eDelivery enablement in the Eastern partner countries, EU4Digital organised a virtual event on 30 November to present and discuss the business model of an eDelivery Access Point owner. The session was dedicated to those pilot countries which are direct parti…

EU4Digital pilots in focus at Ukrainian conference on digitalisation of transport

For the past three years, the EU4Digital Facility has been working to identify, design, and implement a series of activities and pilot projects that will have a tangible impact on business and society across the region. On 10 November, representatives from the EU4Digital Facility presented several o…

EU4Digital opens Industry 4.0 Asset Performance Management conference in Ukraine

On November 9, the Asset Performance Management (APM) conference was organised for the Eastern partner (EaP) countries by the Association of Industrial Automation of Ukraine (APPAU) to share knowledge and hear the best international practices for the industry development. The main objective of the c…

Moldova adopts legislative package to digitalise the economy

The Moldovan Parliament last week adopted the first legislative package for the digitisation of the economy. The document implements several key actions of the “Roadmap for boosting the digitisation of the national economy and the development of e-commerce”, prepared by the Economic Council to the P…

eSignature and Ukraine: leading the way towards faster and easier international business exchanges

Can Ukraine compete with Japan in the introduction of digital technologies? It turns out that this is indeed the case. The proof is the EU4Digital cross-border eSignature pilot, which tested the interoperation of cross-border eSignature between the selected Eastern partner countries of Moldova and U…

eSignature: a key step connecting Georgia with the EU

Imagine that you own a small business and spend hours every week signing documents. Wouldn’t it be easier if you knew that you could sign the documents electronically, at any time, from any part of the world, using an electronic ID that can automatically be recognised as carrying legal force by othe…

Setting the pace: Moldova among first Eastern partner countries to pilot cross-border eSignature

Electronic signature is the future, already anchored in today’s digital reality.  Accelerated by the pandemic, it is vital that citizens and businesses are able to exchange verified signed documents electronically to save time instead of sending paper copies. However, for this digital solu…

eSignature: taking a step towards the digital future

Imagine that you own a small business and spend hours every week signing documents. Wouldn’t it be easier if you knew that you could sign the documents electronically, at any time, from any part of the world, using an electronic ID that can be easily recognised as authentic by other parties?  I…

Digital Skills Forum: three days of networking, insights and learning

The EU4Digital Facility organised a major three-day event – the Digital Skills Forum – from 27-29 October. The Forum brought together representatives and experts from all six Eastern partner countries and provided a valuable platform for networking, sharing insights, initiatives and best practices,…

Digital technology is about to transform your life…

If you live in one of the six countries of the Eastern Partnership – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine – digital technologies are about to transform your life, with the help of the European Union’s EU4Digital initiative. For the past three years, the EU4Digita…

Building on the success of eDelivery solution pilots: new Moldova – Ukraine pilot to be launched

Electronic document exchange continues to be a very hot topic both in EU and Eastern partner countries. Countries are exploring opportunities on how to ensure fast & reliable, but at the same time secure & interoperable exchange of data. One of the alternatives – eDelivery solution, has alre…

Roaming expert working group agrees final text of Regional Roaming Agreement

The Roaming expert working group (REWG) finalised the text of the Regional Roaming Agreement (RRA) and discussed the progress of the EaP-EU Roaming Study preparation during the 11th regular meeting of the REWG in Dubrovnik on 30 September – 1 October. The meeting brought together 40 experts fro…

Digital Skills Forum – register to take part now

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a large-scale event on digital skills from 27-29 October. The ‘Digital Skills Forum’ aims to bring together representatives from all six Eastern partner countries, and will provide valuable international best practices important in the field of digital skills, w…

Selling Armenian socks to Germany: EU4Digital bringing EU markets closer through eCommerce support

The Armenian “Zeal Socks” brand has launched itself on the German eBay online marketplace in a simple and fast way – an opportunity provided to the company by an eCommerce pilot launched by the EU4Digital initiative, funded by the European Union. What has the pilot achieved, and what does its expans…

Just one click for the European market – how the EU supports eCommerce in Georgia

It all began with three young mums. Established in autumn 2016, children’s clothing company RKO started out as a small enterprise, but its founders had big plans for its development, and soon after it was established, the brand took its first steps in the international market.  “Every year…

Click for trade: EU4Digital helping Azerbaijan to set up for eCommerce

eCommerce allows both manufacturers and consumers to save time and cut costs, facilitating the cross-border exchange of goods, increasing the range of available products, and ensuring faster delivery thanks to simplified transport procedures.  The European Union has defined eCommerce rules and…

Cutting through the paper chain: EU opens the digital path to trade in Ukraine

Endless paperwork, delays and the risk of data loss – these are common challenges faced by Ukrainian businesses involved in international trade.  The paper chain not only uses up human resources, but ensuing delays can result in late payments and lost revenues, while insecure data can put an en…

EaP regulators meet EU counterparts to discuss issues of common interest

In the framework of the BEREC-EaPeReg-EMERG-Regulatel Summit in Dubrovnik on 29 September, representatives of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) met with their counterparts from the Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC). During t…

Eastern Partnership and Euro-Mediterranean regulators meet

Representatives of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network(EaPeReg) met with their counterparts from the European Mediterranean Regulators Group (EMERG) in the framework of the BEREC-EaPeReg-EMERG-Regulatel Summit in Dubrovnik on 29 September, at which the side…

eHealth: Focus on innovation for active and healthy ageing

On September 22, the EU4Digital eHealth stream organised a virtual event on eHealth innovation for active and healthy ageing – Good practices and international collaboration. This is the fourth virtual event in a series of planned eHealth collaboration events for this year. The aim of this even…

Largest network of ICT SMEs in Europe invites EaP digital business associations to collaborate

On 11 October, the EU4Digital Initiative organised an event to support stakeholders of the Eastern partner countries in joining the European DIGITAL SME Alliance (DIGITAL SME) and initiate collaboration opportunities among participating EaP ICT associations and the DIGITAL SME network. This session…

Building a start-up ecosystem: EU4Digital hosts virtual study visit to Lithuania and Spain

On 5 October, EU4Digital ICT Innovation hosted a virtual study visit to Lithuania and Spain where participants from the Eastern partner countries met EU start-up ecosystem builders. The event discussed the importance of coordinating the organisation for ecosystem development.  The event attract…

EU4Digital ICT Innovation invites: joining the European DIGITAL SME Alliance community to foster international cooperation of digital SMEs on digital markets development

On 11 October, the EU4Digital Initiative will organise a virtual excursion to support stakeholders of the Eastern partner countries in joining the EU network – European DIGITAL SME Alliance.  The session will invite participants to a practical conversation with the European DIGITAL SME All…

Armenian youngsters working on innovative tech ideas with Upshift Gyumri

Teenagers and young people with disabilities from the Shirak region in Armenia have taken part in a four-day bootcamp organised by the ‘Upshift Gyumri: Teen Involvement in Technology’ programme, funded by the European Union. The Upshift Gyumri programme provides inclusive tech courses for…

Establishing an EU4Digital Smart Industry Community Space to foster digitalisation of manufacturing SMEs

On 30 September 2021, the EU4Digital Initiative organised a virtual excursion to support stakeholders of the Eastern partner countries in joining the ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs (I4MS) initiative.  The session offered a practical conversation with I4MS, a European initi…

EaPConnect launches new ‘spectrum’ link connecting Moldovan and Ukrainian research and education communities with pan-European network

A new ‘spectrum’ high-capacity Internet link that is future-proofed to enable the digital future of Moldovan and Ukrainian research and education (R&E) communities was launched on 28 September 2021.  This link achieves strategic goals for the EU4Digital EaPConnect project, st…

Partnering together for the digital transformation: digital achievements and priorities in focus for the Eastern Partnership

“What is key is to partner together” in the digital transformation, between the regional and bilateral approach, and between international and government partners, as well as the private sector. This was the message from Hoa-Binh Adjemian, Head of Sector, Economic Development and Digital for th…

Virtual meeting with start-up ecosystem builders from Spain and Lithuania

On 5 October, EU4Digital Facility will invite EaP stakeholders to a virtual session to hear ‘Journeys of EU organisations in building and developing start-up ecosystems’. The meeting will be held remotely in the form of a virtual session with representatives of organisations from Spain and Lithuania…

EU4Digital ICT Innovation: practical session on joining I4MS to support the digitalisation of manufacturing SMEs

The EU4Digital Initiative is organising a virtual excursion to support stakeholders from the Eastern partner countries in joining the EU network on ‘ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs’ (I4MS). The event will be held back-to-back with the annual Steering Committee Meeting on 30 September 2021…

Harnessing digital opportunities to build back better: Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership tackles key challenges for the coming decade

More than 450 people attended the first ever Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership, held virtually on 27 September, including national and EU officials, and other public and private sector stakeholders involved in the digital transformation in the Eastern partner countries. Participant…

Eastern partners commit to finalising roaming and spectrum agreements by December

Representatives from the six Eastern partner countries have expressed their commitment to take all necessary steps at national level to have both the Regional Roaming Agreement and the Regional Spectrum Agreement ready for signature in December 2021.  The commitment was made at the st…

EU enhances Ukraine’s capacity to respond to cyberattacks

A second wave of cybersecurity exercises funded by the European Union took place in Kyiv on 20-22 September for the main Ukrainian public stakeholders in cybersecurity.  Over 50 officials of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP), Security Service (SBU)…

New digital health project launched in Georgia

The European Union, together with four UN organisations (WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS) and the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia have launched a new initiative on digital health: ‘Minimising the impact of the COVID-19 o…

Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership

Key stakeholders from across the Eastern Partnership will gather on 27 September for the ‘Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership’, addressing issues ranging from high speed internet to digital business and online trade. The conference will start at 10am on Monday 27 September, and…

EU4Digital Steering Committee

The EU4Digital Initiative is holding its third annual Steering Committee Meeting from 27 September to 1 October, with a series of virtual sessions reviewing the digital policy agenda and results achieved, as well as upcoming priorities. The week-long event will start on 27 September w…

EU4Digital Steering Committee: focus on key priorities in digital

The EU4Digital Initiative is holding its third annual Steering Committee Meeting from 27 September to 1 October, with a series of virtual sessions reviewing the digital policy agenda and results achieved, as well as upcoming priorities. The week-long event will start on 27 September w…

Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership

Key stakeholders from across the Eastern Partnership will gather on 27 September for the ‘Digital Conference for the Eastern Partnership’, addressing issues ranging from high speed internet to digital business and online trade. The Conference is being held virtually as part of the EU4Digitial annual…

Digitalize Your Business: EU offers rural entrepreneurs in Georgia a digital business incubation opportunity

The European Union and UNDP are inviting rural entrepreneurs from the Dedoplistskaro, Kazbegi, Lagodekhi and Tetritskaro municipalities of Georgia to take part in the third round of the ‘Digitalize Your Business’ project. Eight entrepreneurs, selected through a competitive process, will ha…

Good practices and international collaboration, especially active and healthy ageing

The EU4Digital eHealth team will host a virtual eHealth event on 22 September, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members from the 6 Eastern partner countries and partners from Innovation Networks for Active and Healthy Ageing (IN-4-AHA). The initiative continues to promote the European In…

Ukraine: eCourt app developed with EU support

A new ‘eCourt’ mobile application has been developed in Ukraine as part of the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme funded by the European Union. The app, developed together with the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine and the Centre for Judicial Services, aim…

Taking your business online: EBRD web guide for SMEs going digital

A guide on how to take your business online is available on a new online platform from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which includes legal and business guidance to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the Eastern partner countries, to enhance t…

EU TAIEX event on digital policy now available as series of webinars

A series of webinars on the EU’s digital policy is available to public administrations in the Eastern partner countries, as part of the European Commission’s efforts to redesign its institution building instruments, TAIEX and Twinning, to share EU expertise more effecti…

Bridging the digital skills gap: EU4Digital campaign puts eSkills in the spotlight

Digital transformation is rapidly changing the economic landscape, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has streamlined the digital transformation of many organisations, SMEs and even public authorities. At the same time, the pandemic has also highlighted those areas of the digital ec…

Moldova: opportunities for digital transformation in focus in dialogue with development partners

Moldova’s interim Prime Minister, Aureliu Ciocoi, and the UNDP resident representative in Moldova, Dima Al-Khatib, have launched and co-chaired the Dialogue of Digital Transformation Development Partners in the Republic of Moldova. The discussion brought together representatives of several governmen…

EU4Digital event highlights interoperability in eHealth across the EU

On 29 June, the EU4Digital eHealth stream organised a virtual event aimed at providing an update on recent eHealth interoperability developments across the EU. This is the third virtual event in a series of planned eHealth collaboration events for this year, bringing together eHealth Network members…

Eastern Partnership: digital transition at the heart of renewed agenda for recovery, resilience and reform

Support for the digital transition is at the heart of the priorities for cooperation with the EU’s Eastern partners in the years to come, outlined in Post-2020 Eastern Partnership priorities released on 2 July. The agenda is based on the five long-term objectives, with resil…

Ready for the digital decade? Improving skills to meet the technological challenge in Ukraine

In 2019, only 57% of households in Ukraine had access to a personal computer, fewer than in every other country of the Eastern Partnership. Only two-thirds of Ukrainian homes had access to the Internet (far less than in Belarus, Georgia and Azerbaijan), and even for businesses, just 86% were connect…

Don’t get left behind: developing skills for a digital future in Azerbaijan

“People say that women are less successful in ICT than men, but I disagree!” Gunel Ismaylova works as a digital specialist at the very place where she learned her skills, the ICT Applying and Training Centre (ICT LAB) of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies….

Update on interoperability in eHealth across the Eastern Partnership

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising a virtual eHealth event on 29 June, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members from the six Eastern partner countries to discuss upcoming activities and updates on interoperability in eHealth across the Eastern Pa…

Computer code and robots: boosting digital skills in Armenia with the help of the European Union

In a classroom of School No. 200 named after Leonid Azgaldyan in Yerevan around 15 schoolchildren are glued to their computer screens. One group is working on 3D modelling, and the other on coding.  Thirteen-year-old Davit is looking over a small robot with wheels.  “We spent a month and a…

Looking to the future: developing digital skills in the Republic of Moldova, with the help of the EU

When Ion Tașke goes to his day job in Chisinau, he can see how his fields are being cultivated in Hîncești District, the level of soil irrigation and what the workers still have to do that day, all with the help of an application. Ion Tașke received his higher education in Romania, but after gr…

The twin sisters whose lives were changed by digital skills

When they were little, twin sisters Nini and Ani Merabisvbili, now 16, loved watching animation films. But unlike other children, who were swept along by the story, the twins were fascinated by another kind of magic – how these movies had been created. So, when they were 11, the sisters completed th…

Ukraine: new innovative STEAM centre opens in Kramatorsk with EU support

A new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) education centre has opened in Kramatorsk, Donetsk oblast, under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, partially funded by European Union. The centre will be a unique place for young people interested in technological innovatio…

Ukraine: EU supports new online information system for public services

As of June 2021, more than 250 Administrative Service Centres (ASCs) in Ukraine have connected to the new Vulyk online information system, with more than 200,000 applications for services already processed in the system. Vulyk, which automates the work of ASCs and makes service provision faster and…

Tackling the digital skills gap: a key priority for the EU and the Eastern Partnership

Digital transformation is rapidly changing the economic landscape. Emerging technologies heavily influence the labour market and the need for education to suit a more digital work and lifestyle. The COVID-19 pandemic has streamlined the digital transformation of many organisations, SMEs and even pub…

eCommerce pilot showcase – EU4Digital demonstrates pilot solution for cross-border automated data exchange between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Germany

The EU4Digital Facility showcased the eCommerce pilot for the cross-border automated exchange of eCommerce data between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Germany during a virtual event held on 9 June. The virtual showcase, held back to back with the 10th eTrade Network Workshop, gathered mo…

TNC21 – Research & Education networking conference

Every year, the TNC Research & Education networking conference brings together a wide cross section of specialists from a variety of roles in the areas of networking, Trust & Identity, access management and more, from all national research and education networks (NRENs),…

A new era in communication: what is 5G and how is this technology changing Europe?

Last year, as the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 began to spread around the globe, groups of people appeared in various parts of the world, spreading various conspiracy theories around the causes of the pandemic. Among their targets was the new generation of 5G mobile communication technology. In some p…

EU4Digital: 10th eTrade Network Workshop highlights latest developments and way forward

During 8-9 June, the 10th EU4Digital eTrade Network Workshop once again brought together participants from the six Eastern partner countries and the leading EU institutions working on electronic trade.  The participants discussed: latest updates of the eTrade Network action plan for 2021-2…

Digital competence: what skills do you need to develop during the pandemic?

By Valeriya Ionan Digital upheaval has suddenly broken into everyone’s life. Hardly a webinar or online conference takes place these days without opening remarks on COVID-19, its impact on people’s lives and business, and ways to adapt to the new reality. According to McKinsey, during the eight week…

Webinar highlights eduGAIN – Ukraine’s key to digital research and education services

Ukraine’s Research and Education (R&E) sector has gained access to vital services and resources through the eduGAIN service, which has been recently been provided in Ukraine by URAN, the Ukrainian Research and Academic Network Association, with support from EU4Digital through the EU-funded EaPCo…

What will electronic commerce look like in 2021 and beyond? EU4Digital eCommerce awareness event highlights upcoming changes

The eCommerce Awareness event on ‘eCommerce changes in 2021 and beyond: what to expect and how to prepare the Eastern partner countries’, organised by the EU4Digital Facility as part of its networking activities, took place on 21 May 2021.  Over 70 different participants including min…

Cyberspace: EU and Ukraine launch dialogue on cyber security

The European Union and Ukraine have held their first cyber dialogue, in a meeting on 3 June. The EU and Ukraine reaffirmed their commitment to a global, open, stable and secure cyberspace, where the rule of law is fully respected, where the same rights that individuals have offli…

EU4Digital launches eCommerce pilot for automated exchange of eCommerce data through virtual warehouse

EU4Digital has launched its eCommerce pilot, establishing national virtual warehouses in the pilot countries to support retailers, marketplaces, delivery operators and customs to place the products for sale abroad and facilitate cross-border delivery.  In Azerbaijan, a seller of handcrafted woo…

Networking on ICT innovation ecosystems development: empowering start-ups and SMEs through associations and formal communities

On 18 May, the EU4Digital networking event on ICT innovation ecosystem development brought together participants from the six Eastern partner countries and the leading EU organisations supporting ecosystem building for innovative start-ups and SMEs. The event discussed the role and importance of exp…

EU helps Ukraine strengthen its cybersecurity

A cybersecurity simulation exercise took place on 17-19 May in Kyiv, with state cybersecurity officials, organised by the EU4DigitalUA project. Over 30 officials from the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Cyber Poli…

eCommerce market changes in 2021 and beyond – EU4Digital eCommerce Awareness event to support digital success of businesses in the Eastern partner countries

On 21 May, EU4Digital is holding a virtual eCommerce Awareness event on ‘eCommerce changes in 2021 and beyond: what to expect and how to prepare the Eastern partner countries?’.   The main goal of the session is to provide better knowledge on the changes and new rules for distance sales th…

eHealth network event focuses on COVID-19 response measures

The EU4Digital eHealth team has organised a virtual event on COVID-19 response measures with the Eastern partner countries, the second virtual meeting in a series of planned eHealth collaboration events for this year.  The aim of the event on 6 May was to bring eHealth Network members together…

Ready to roam: EU4Digital campaign looks ahead to Eastern Partnership roaming agreement

Roaming prices between the Eastern partner countries are forecast to fall by almost 90% in the next five years under a Regional Roaming Agreement supported by the EU4Digital Initiative, expected to be signed later this year and to come into force in 2022. The planned agreement is built on the Europe…

EU4Digital guide for building and boosting growth of ICT entrepreneurial ecosystems in Eastern partner countries

EU4Digital has developed a framework to build and enhance the growth of the ICT entrepreneurial ecosystems in the six Eastern partner countries, by delivering a guide that provides a maturity assessment of each country, as well as country-level recommendations for developing the ecosystem. Unde…

Virtual networking event on ICT Innovation ecosystems development

The EU4Digital Facility will hold an ICT Innovation networking event on 18 May. The topic of the virtual session is ‘ICT Innovation ecosystems for start-ups and scale-ups: Facilitate the development of expert communities and increase their involvement into policy design and implementation’.  Th…

Pilot for export dataset exchange goes live between Belarus and Lithuania

An EU4Digital pilot action to exchange export declaration data between Belarus and Lithuania was launched on 10 May 2021. The piloting of cross-border exchange of limited and full declaration dataset from export declarations is being carried out between the Kamienny Loh (Belarus) and Medininkai (Lit…

Independent regulation: a key factor for cheap roaming services in Armenia

Mobile roaming costs for Armenians travelling to other Eastern partner countries look set to fall dramatically in the next five years, once the planned Regional Roaming Agreement, supported by the EU4Digital Initiative, comes into force. However, the signing of this agreement – expected in the autum…

Trust and Security in focus at EU4Digital network event

The EU4Digital Facility organised a Trust and Security Network event on April 28, 2021, at which participants from the six Eastern Partner countries were brought together to discuss the progress and further plans of Trust and Security activities. The event began with a presentation on the EU4Digital…

Developing Digital Innovation Hubs in the Eastern partner countries: specialisation as a component of success in developing and pursuing international collaboration

On 22 April, a networking event organised by the EU4Digital’s ICT Innovation team introduced the services and networks of leading EU projects and initiatives in support of the development and networking of digital innovation hubs (DIHs). The event also discussed approaches in creating specialised se…

EU4Digital eHealth virtual event on COVID-19 response measures

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising a virtual eHealth event on 6 May, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members from the six Eastern partner countries to discuss upcoming activities and best practices in COVID-19 management. The European Commission…

Achieving gigabit connectivity in the Eastern partner countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the need for digital connectivity and access to digital services clear.  Research conducted by the World Bank found that about half of surveyed firms responded to the pandemic crisis by using digital technologies and digital solutions. Similarly, people have…

Moldova to develop customs data exchange system with EU support

A customs data exchange system is to be developed in Moldova, with the support of the European Union, for the mutual recognition of authorised economic operators in Moldova and the EU. A working meeting to mark the start of activities was held on 26 April, attended by senior officials from the Custo…

Digitalization of industrial SMEs

Ukrainian cluster week on 26-28 April is an online conference of industrial and high-tech clusters of EaP countries andEastern Europe that aims to establish strong partnership relations between clusters and cluster members.  The programme includes present…

EU4Digital Trust and Security Network event

The EU4Digital Trust and Security Network event will take place virtually on April 28, 2021, from 9:00-11:50 CET. The key topics of the event will focus on the following: EU4Digital eSignature piloting results and lessons learned;European Commission update on guidelines towards mutual…

New prospects for Azerbaijan: how a regional roaming agreement will be a game changer for families and business

The number of opportunities provided by digital technologies is growing day by day, a trend dramatically accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic, which has forced much of our lives online. Increasingly, we need affordable connectivity from anywhere in the world. This is achieved through mobile roami…

IT Professionalism Conference 2021

To address current and new challenges in IT skills, IT Professionalism Europe, eSkills Malta Foundation and the Irish Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition will hold the ‘IT Professionalism Conference 2021’, taking place during three half-day online sessions on 20-22 April….

Regional Roaming Agreement: how roaming prices can fall in Eastern partner countries by almost 90%

Roaming prices in the Eastern partner countries are expected to fall by almost 90% by 2026, under a Regional Roaming Agreement currently being finalised with the support of EU4Digital. In February 2019, during the Third Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, the six Eastern…

Independent regulation: the key to unlock cheap and easy roaming

Over the coming years, Ukrainians travelling to other Eastern partner countries can look forward to a gradual fall in roaming costs within the framework of the Regional Roaming Agreement, supported by the EU4Digital Initiative. However, the signing of this agreement – expected in the autum…

Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group meeting with EaP stakeholders

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) stakeholders online meeting on 21 April aims at presenting the progress and outcomes of the work performed on the objectives of setting up independent National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) in the Eastern partner countries and harmonising digital environments, such as b…

Georgia: EU expert mission on frequency management – fixed and mobile monitoring stations

Experts from Latvia will share their knowledge and experience on Spectrum monitoring issues and other relevant mechanisms and tools aiming at facilitating Radio Frequency monitoring in Georgia, during a Video Tele Conference with representatives of the Georgian National Communications Commission on …

Georgia: EU expert mission on Neutral Public Internet Exchange Point – ensuring and facilitating access to high-bandwidth and low-latency Internet

Experts from Croatia will explain the challenges in organising and implementing Internet Exchange Points (IXP) and lesson learned from Croatia, during a Video Tele Conference with their Georgian counterparts on 19-20 April 2021, organised under the Technical Assist…

Belarus: independent regulation essential to deliver full benefits of roaming agreement

The signing of a Regional Roaming Agreement – expected in the autumn – will lead to a gradual fall in roaming costs for Belarusians travelling to other Eastern partner countries. However, the signing of this agreement, supported by the EU4Digital Initiative, is just the…

EU4Digital publishes recommendations for eCommerce harmonisation between Eastern partner countries and the EU

The EU4Digital Facility has published its recommendations for the harmonisation of eCommerce between the Eastern partner countries and the EU. The list of recommendations has been drawn up as part of the eCommerce activity under the EU4Digital Facility’s eTrade thematic area.  The overall objective…

DigitALL Public conference

The three-day online DigitALL Public conference on 20-22 April is the closing event of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital and the Interoperability solutions for public administrations, businesses and citizens (ISA²) programmes.  Together with the Member States, the…

Glossary

General termsAction Plan – a detailed plan outlining the actions and timeline needed to implement specific goals. Benchmarking – a systematic process for identifying and implementing best or better practices.  Best practices – established practices shown to produce demonstrably superior results, whi…

Networking with EU Digital Innovation Hubs – invitation to discover ways of enabling the digital transformation of SMEs

The EU4Digital Facility will hold its ICT Innovation networking event on 22 April on the topic of ‘Networking with EU Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) to enable the development of competence centres, platforms, tools and services supporting digital transformation of SMEs in the EaP region’.  The n…

DIHs over the borders

On 20 April, an online event takes place to present the opportunities of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to support companies in their digital transformation. SMEs, start-ups, research and technology organisations, DIHs, and policymakers from all around Europe and beyond are invited to…

EU and UNDP open IT Solution Centres for communities in eastern Ukraine

The EU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine have opened two pilot IT Solutions Centres in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, and Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast. The centres were opened under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, with the financial support of…

EU4Digital supporting deployment of online learning platform in Ukraine

The URAN Association, the national research and education network (NREN) of Ukraine, presented its remote communications services to researchers and educators in a webinar on 25 March, including eduMEET, which was deployed with EU4Digital support through the EU-funded EaPConnect proje…

Turn on the Internet: Regional Roaming Agreement will significantly reduce the cost of roaming services for travelling Ukrainians

If you go to any European country today and try to use the usual services of your mobile Internet, especially data-heavy content such as watching Netflix or streaming YouTube videos, you’ll get a nasty surprise when your bill comes through on your return. Costs vary from country to country, but trav…

Cheap roaming – how a new agreement will bring prices down between the Eastern partner countries

If you have been abroad even once, you are probably familiar with this situation: you are standing in the airport after the flight, feeling lost without the internet, while thinking: where can I buy a SIM card? How can I find a hotel? Where is the exit? Mobile operators advise us to use roaming to c…

EU4Digital delivers guidelines to set up women mentorship programmes in tech

The EU4Digital Facility has concluded its work on supporting the six Eastern partner countries in the set-up of women’s mentorship programmes in tech, with a guidebook on ‘Setting up mentorship programmes to bridge the gender gap in ICT’, based on a case study of the Women Go TechTM (WGT)…

EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul – EU support for development of Cahul region

The ‘EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul’ project launch event took place online on March 24. This €6.8 million project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC). The aim of the project is to strengthen the potential of the digital economy, increa…

Making a musical connection between Armenia and France

The magic of music and the miracle of digital connection combined in an online event using LoLa (low latency) data transmission technology, provided through the EU-funded EU4Digital EaPConnect project. The Armenian and French national research and education networks (NRENs) ASNET…

EU4Digital supports open science platform in Armenia

A National Open Access Desk (NOAD) has been established in Armenia to provide training and run national helpdesks that advise on open science, open access, and research data management.  The IIAP NAS RA (Institute of Informatics and Automation Problems of the National Academy of Science of the…

CyberSecurity and CyberEast projects host workshop on cybercrime and cybersecurity policies with Moldovan authorities

A workshop took place in Moldova on 19 March 2021, jointly organised by the EU-funded EU4Digital CyberSecurity East and CyberEast projects, to facilitate discussion with national counterparts on their progress and further plans on cybersecurity…

Moldova: TAIEX Expert Mission on transposition of the European Electronic Communications Code

Experts from Finland and Italy will share their experience with colleagues from the Republic of Moldova, on the practical issues faced during the implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), during a Video Tele Conference on 29-30 March 2021,…

The Armenian Data Cube: a successful collaboration for environmental sustainability

The productivity of pasture land, the presence of pollutants, and the impacts of natural phenomena such as erosion or droughts can all be measured remotely using airborne or satellite-based sensors. But dealing with the huge amount of resulting data requires innovative solutions and technical suppor…

EU4Digital eHealth event highlights advanced analytics usage in medical images

EU4Digital last week held a virtual event on advanced analytics usage in medical images, the first in a series of planned eHealth collaboration events this year, bringing together eHealth Network members from all six Eastern partner countries. The meeting on 5 March began with an update from the EU4…

Europe’s Digital Decade: setting the course towards a digitally empowered Europe by 2030

The European Commission has unveiled its vision and targets for a successful digital transformation of Europe by 2030, seen as critical to achieve the transition towards a climate neutral, circular and resilient economy.  The EU’s ambition is to be digitally sovereign in an…

ICT Innovation networking event highlights intellectual property management and opportunities to strengthen capacity of ecosystem actors

More than 100 participants from all six Eastern partner countries took part in an EU4Digital networking event on 2 March to discuss challenges related to the management, protection and exploitation of Intellectual Property (IP), as well as opportunities linked to IP supervision in the region. The vi…

EaP workshop on universal service rules for basic communication

Nowadays, when connectivity has proved to be of upmost importance for distance learning, working from home, continuity of business and maintaining social relations, universal service rules ensuring that every user can access basic communications services at a reasonable quality and an affordable pri…

Successful conclusion of eDelivery pilot in Eastern partner countries: reflections and next steps

On 24 February 2021, the EU4Digital Facility held a closing discussion on its eDelivery pilot activity to conclude the pilot results, and present the prepared recommendations and suggested way forward for the Eastern partner countries. The virtual event gathered more than 40 participants, including…

EU4Digital Network Event agrees outline of digital skills promotion campaign

The EU4Digital Facility organised a Digital Skills Network Event on 26 February 2021, at which the main principles for the EU4Digital Digital Skills Promotion campaign were presented and agreed upon with the Eastern partner country representatives.  There was also a short discussion on future t…

Critical infrastructure and the 5G toolbox in focus at regional meeting for Eastern partners

More than 70 participants came together at a TAIEX Regional event for the Eastern partner countries on 25-26 February to address issues related to critical digital infrastructure, as well as measures for the security of 5G networks.  Members of the EU4Digital Trust and Security and Telecom…

Ukraine: U-LEAD with Europe Programme presents recommendations on digital transformation of administrative services

The EU-funded U-LEAD with Europe Programme in Ukraine has presented its recommendations on the digital transformation of administrative services provision and Administrative Service Centres, developed by Ukrainian and Swedish experts. The recommendations were prese…

EU launches new website showcasing EU projects in Azerbaijan

The European Union has launched a new website, which provides detailed information on the 131 EU-funded projects currently active in Azerbaijan. “The EU4AZERBAIJAN.EU website opens the world of partnership. It presents in pictures, numbers and words the plenitude of implemented a…

EU4Skills to introduce digital technologies and tools into vocational education in Ukraine

The EU-funded EU4Skills programme, together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Microsoft Ukraine, has presented a plan to introduce digital technologies and tools into vocational education and training (VET). The programme will support the provision of…

Ukraine and EU to cooperate for mutual recognition of electronic trust services

Ukraine is working to ensure that the key components of the country’s system of electronic trust services are compatible with the relevant components of the EU system, the country’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation has said. In 2019, the Ministry of Digital Transformation sent a request to…

Georgian High Energy Physics Institute to use Cloud infrastructure set up with EU support

The Georgian High Energy Physics Institute of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University will use Cloud infrastructure that was established with EU support, according to a new Memorandum of Cooperation.  The cooperation between GRENA, the Georgian Research and Educational…

EU4Digital Facility Digital Skills Network event

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a Digital Skills Network Event on 26 February 2021. During the event, concrete elements of the Digital Skills promotion campaign will be discussed and agreed upon with Eastern partner country representatives. Trainings, conferences and study visits and their pro…

EU4Digital eHealth virtual event on advanced analytics usage in medical images

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising a virtual eHealth event on 5 March, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members from the six Eastern partner countries to discuss upcoming activities and hear from several selected speakers in the field of intelligent automation of medical images an…

Regional workshop on Critical Infrastructure and the 5G Tool Box

On 25-26 February, the EU is organising a regional workshop on ‘Critical Infrastructure and the 5G Tool Box’ for stakeholders from all six Eastern partner countries. The aim of the online workshop, organised by TAIEX – the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument…

Joint eDelivery working group discussion on the successful conclusion of eDelivery pilot

EU4Digital is organising a joint cross-border eTrade working group meeting on 24 February 2021 as part of its concluding activities on the eDelivery pilot. The virtual event marks the successful finalisation of the eDelivery pilots between Armenia and Ukraine (inter-EaP) and Ukraine and Poland (EaP-…

Ukraine: EU-funded project offers digital skills for children in Mariupol

An IT-Camp for young children and teenagers from disadvantaged groups has been set up in Mariupol with the support of the EU-funded UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme. The school was founded by the Ilvutchenko family, designer and illustrator Halyna and web studio manager Ihor. Other…

ICT Innovation networking event: strengthening the capacity of innovation ecosystem actors to provide IPR-related services for start-ups and SMEs in EaP region

The EU4Digital Facility will hold ICT an Innovation networking event on 2 March. The event will focus on challenges related to Intellectual Property (IP) rights in ICT innovation and target the interests of national patent offices, business support associations, technology transfer offices and suppo…

EU Code Week organisers register over 72,000 activities for the second year in a row, including hundreds from Eastern partner countries

Despite the challenges that schools around Europe and the world faced in 2020, over 3.4 million students and teachers from 84 countries, joined the EU Code Week initiative and took part in more than 72,000 coding activities, the organisers of the event reported this week. Teams from all six Eastern…

EU4DigitalUA

The EU4DigitalUA project supports Ukraine’s digital transformation and harmonisation with the EU Digital Single Market, including digital transformation, enhanced cyber security and data protection, implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, and broadband development. The EU4DigitalUA p…

eCommerce pilot between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Germany: how EU4Digital activity seeks to increase volumes of eCommerce

Businesses and customers are moving online to buy and sell goods and services, a trend accelerated and increasingly critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. When businesses move online, they face two major challenges: the additional investments required to introduce goods online and lack of kn…

Georgian environmental agency to use cloud infrastructure established with EU support

The Georgian agency for weather forecast and climate change studies will use Cloud infrastructure established with EU support, according to a new Memorandum of Cooperation.  The cooperation between GRENA, the Georgian Research and Educational Networking Association, and the country’s Natio…

Adapt-an-App Eastern Partnership Sprint

The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Facility today launches its Adapt-an-App Eastern Partnership Sprint – a four-week intense online development sprint where six teams of civil society representatives and IT experts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine will wo…

More eHealth collaboration please! EaPConnect workshop reviews successes, challenges and needs

Differences in vocabulary, changing technologies, and lack of clarity about policy make greater eHealth support by research and education networking organisations something of a moving target. But it’s a target that is well worth aiming for, and this could be achieved with greater community col…

Digital solutions delivering real benefits: EU4Digital campaign focuses on eHealth

How is eHealth changing the roll out of health care in the Eastern partner countries and what is the European Union doing to help? EU4Digital has carried out a campaign highlighting the project’s support for eHealth solutions in the partner countries, highlighting the vital importance…

Investing in broadband: EU loan helps Ukrainian ISP to expand customer base by 15%

IT-INVEST, a Ukrainian ISP, has expanded its business by taking advantage of EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line to purchase much-needed equipment and develop infrastructure for uninterrupted Internet service throughout the city and beyond. As a result, the company subscriber`s bas…

Celebrating women in Ukrainian cleantech

greencubator will gather the most successful women leaders in clean, climate-friendly, and sustainable technology projects for an online conference on “Celebrating women in Ukrainian cleantech” on 5 February. The conference, which takes place online from 10am to 2pm, aims to break stereotypes a…

Ukrainian President signs Law on Electronic Communications

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has signed the Law on Electronic Communications that defines the rules of work in e-communications. The document provides for the protection of subscribers’ rights, and simplifies licensing procedures for companies. Subscribers will ha…

CyberEast project concludes series of workshops on online fraud

The EU-funded CyberEast project has concluded a series of workshops on online fraud for authorities in the six Eastern partner countries. These two-day workshops brought together cybercrime investigators, financial investigators, financial intelligence officers, financial regulators, as we…

EU4Digital support in connecting research and education communities: five years of benefits across the Eastern Partnership

Across the Eastern partner countries, five years of EU support in connecting research and education communities has brought ‘big picture’ benefits in terms of reduced costs for increased network connectivity to Europe for the research and education communities. But what have the impacts been on a co…

Digital technology: successful testing of 5G in Belarus

The Belarusian national telecommunications company Beltelecom says it has successfully completed testing of the 5G network in Belarus.  The new technology was tested in two experimental zones: the Veliky Kamen Industrial Park and the Kopyl district, where Belteleco…

EU4Digital launches eTrade pilot for cross-border invoicing between Armenia and Ukraine

From today, selected companies from Armenia and Ukraine are starting to exchange standardised invoice data via the eDelivery channel as part of a pilot project implemented by the EU4Digital Facility. This pilot is a stepping stone to ensuring the secure, reliable, affordable and effective…

Accelerating digital innovation in schools: Georgia set for Regional Innovation Hub under new Horizon 2020 project

The Shota Rustaveli State University in Georgia is part of an international team implementing a new EU-funded project to accelerate digital innovation in schools. Tallinn University in Estonia is coordinating the iHub4Schools project, with a team of nine beneficiaries from Norway…

New Portuguese Presidency of the EU sets focus on Digital Europe

The new Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union has set a “digital recovery” as one of the main priorities of its six-month Presidency. With the motto ‘Time to deliver: a fair, green and digital recovery’, the Portuguese Presidency aims to strengthen Europe’s r…

EU4Digital and eDelivery: what do they mean for digitalisation in Ukraine?

The EU4Digital initiative is working to spread the benefits of the digital single market between the EU and Eastern Europe through a series of initiatives aimed at developing the digital economy, creating new jobs in the community, helping businesses and promoting economic growth. One of those activ…

Webinar on Ukraine-Poland eDelivery pilot – what is it and what are the benefits to extend it across the EaP region?

The EU4Digital eDelivery pilot between Ukraine and Poland, launched in October, was successfully concluded at the end of November 2020. The completion of the pilot means that the cross-border trade partners from Ukraine and Poland have successfully exchanged standardised invoice data in th…

EU4Digital eHealth event: presenting the Common EaP eHealth Harmonisation and Interoperability Guidelines

On December 22, 2020 the EU4Digital eHealth team organised an event bringing together members of the eHealth Network from the six Eastern partner countries, in order to present the eHealth Interoperability guidelines and discuss their further use. Interoperability is the abi…

Pilot of advanced customs data exchange between Belarus and Lithuania goes live

The eCustoms pilot implemented by EU4Digital as part of its electronic trade facilitation activities was successfully launched on 22 December. The data exchange on empty trucks will be performed between the Kamienny Loh (Belarus) and Medininkai (Lithuania) border crossing points.  The main purp…

Digital Skills Partnership platform established in Azerbaijan

A Digital Skills Partnership platform for Azerbaijan was launched on 15 December at a video conference organised by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies and the EU4Digital Facility, as part of ‘InnoWeek – Innovation Week 2020’. The platform is designed …

ICT Innovation networking event defines practical steps towards internationalisation and visibility of ICT clusters in Eastern partner countries

On 14 December, an EU4Digital networking event discussed ways to organise and manage innovative clusters and cluster-like business networks in the area of ICT Innovation, focusing on establishing better visibility and connection of clusters in the EaP region. The virtual networking event was targete…

Better care, better administration: Moldovan hospitals reap the benefits of automated information system

Since 2017, the provision of care at a number of hospitals in the Republic of Moldova has been transformed by the introduction of an automated information system enabling hospitals to manage in real time the information on the flow of funds, supply of medicines, sanitary materials and even data on t…

EU4Digital publishes assessment of Trust and eID services in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital Facility has recently published a ‘Legal and technical maturity assessment of Trust and eID services in Eastern Partner countries’, which identifies the compatibility of the regulatory framework of Eastern partner countries’ Digital Trust and electronic identification services (eID) w…

EU4Digital eHealth consultative event: focus on Common EaP eHealth Harmonisation and Interoperability Guidelines

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising an eHealth consultative event on 22 December, which aims to bring together eHealth Network members, EU Delegations and other stakeholders from the six Eastern partner countries to present eHealth interoperability guidelines and discuss their further use. In…

EU4Digital eTrade Network: workshop highlights progress on pilot projects and future targets

More than 60 participants were given a broad overview across the full range of eTrade activities and targets until 2025, at the 9th EU4Digital eTrade Network workshop, which was held on 9-10 December. The participants at the workshop included:  The Eastern partner country  repres…

EaPConnect eHealth ‘baseline’ meeting

Even before COVID-19, the shift to online activity was occurring in ever wider sectors of society, including health and medicine. Several national research and education networks (NRENs) have been supporting eHealth projects or offer eHealth-related services to their customers. To explore which topi…

EU4Digital workshop to develop action plan for implementation of women mentorship in tech programme

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a workshop dedicated to the activity of women mentorship programmes in tech on 18 December. This is the final session, which aims to develop a practical action plan to guide the implementation of the mentorship programmes in the Eastern Partnership region. Since…

‘Cybersecurity guidelines for the Eastern Partner countries’ – EU4Digital publishes assessment on strengthening cybersecurity resilience in Eastern partner countries

Countries of the Eastern Partnership, like many other states around the world, have been the target of cyberattacks and other security incidents in recent years. EU4Digital’s recently published ‘Cybersecurity guidelines for the Eastern Partner countries’ explore the main obstacles and gaps to addres…

Building digital trust with the eSignature pilot initiative

The sudden transition to a remote working environment has caused many of us to rethink the way in which we interact with the world around us, highlighting the importance of digital trust services as a key enabler for trusted and secure interaction in the…

eBaby: nine services in one to bypass bureaucracy at birth

In order to get all the documents for a newborn baby, parents usually have to visit about 11 different institutions and spend at least ten days on the entire process, a bureaucratic ordeal that is in no way unique to Ukraine, and one that affects the provision of public services in general. Through…

eDelivery pilot showcase – event highlights process of the eInvoice exchange between Ukraine and Poland

The EU4Digital Facility showcased its eDelivery pilot for the cross-border exchange of invoice data between Ukraine and Poland during a virtual event held on 9 December. The virtual showcase, held back to back with the 9th eTrade Network Workshop, gathered more than 50 participants fr…

Modern digital platforms for a better pandemic response: the key role of data in tackling COVID-19 in Moldova

Despite the warnings of epidemiologists, the coronavirus pandemic has taken the entire planet by surprise.  Societies have been divided into doctors and patients, and often even doctors have ended up in hospital. In this race against the clock for life, the authorities have had to deal wit…

New EU4DigitalUA project supports digital transformation in Ukraine

The European Union has launched a €25 million project to support Ukraine’s digital transformation and harmonisation with the EU Digital Single Market. The EU4DigitalUA project, which kicked off in November, is the largest bilateral EU e-governance and digital programme in any partner country. The pr…

EU4Digital to support high-tech start-ups through design of EaP DISC Capital Venture Fund and Guidebook for ICT Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Capacity Building

The EU4Digital Facility is working on the design of the EaP DISC (Digital Innovation and Scale-up Initiative) Capital Venture Fund to support high-tech start-ups in the Eastern partner countries. The EaP DISC Capital design and action plan have been initiated, based on the results of…

Bright future of possibilities for eHealth technology while some challenges remain

The use of digital technologies presents new innovative prospects for the future of healthcare across the EU and Eastern Partnership regions. New eHealth technical solutions are being developed, which have the power to revolutionise traditional medicine through patient-centric and data driven health…

The transformative power of eHealth technologies in the EU and the EaP

Using digital technology in healthcare has transformed the way we use health data and health information. Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare has become more data driven, while health practitioners are able to use data and technologies to speed up and increase the efficiency of…

Digital Skills Network approves guidelines for Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses

The Digital Skills Network has approved the guidelines on using the Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses in the Eastern partner countries, at an online event organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 1 December. The aim of the event was to validate the final version of the guidelines and…

Stay home, we will deliver medicines – digital initiative helps pensioners survive tough times

All of us have had our lives changed by coronavirus. Even if we have been lucky enough to avoid the disease, we have all had to restrict our social contacts, or reshape them; however, the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic have disproportionately impacted one group in society — th…

How the pandemic accelerated the introduction of digital services in Georgia

It’s not easy to wake up one day and discover that you are denied the most fundamental form of human interaction. However, during the last year the world has adapted to another reality, virtual reality. In these times of social distancing imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, when we do not meet friends…

The digital doctor: how electronic health records are transforming health care in Ukraine

Electronic Health Records, which store patient data into a single digital register, have been working in Ukraine for more than a year now. But what exactly does the system entail, how do you use it, and how does it benefit doctors, patients and the state?  At the beginning of 2018, Ukraine stop…

Moldova Startup Week 2020: connecting stakeholders to boost the innovation economy

More than a thousand participants took part in Moldova Startup Week 2020 on November 16-20, during the Global Entrepreneurship Week, the most important event of the year dedicated to local start-ups. The event boasted over 1,050 participants from Moldova and abroad, 64 top speakers, and 36…

Virtual showcase of eDelivery pilot

On 9 December, EU4Digital Facility will hold a virtual event, back-to-back with the 9th eTrade Network Workshop, to showcase the eDelivery solution. One of EU4Digital Facility activities under eTrade is the piloting of exchange of invoice data via the eDelivery channel between businesses (B2B)…

EU4Digital eTrade Network: online workshop to review progress of pilots and targets until 2025

The 9th eTrade Network workshop will be held on 9-10 December. Due to the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Workshop will be held remotely. A wide variety of eTrade topics will be discussed, including:  Review and update of eTrade Network action plan taking into considerati…

New technoparks opened in Georgian cities of Kaspi, Batumi and Gurjaani

Three new technoparks have been opened in the Georgian towns of Kaspi and Gurjaani, and in Batumi, the country’s fourth largest city. The technoparks have been launched by Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA) under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development,…

Digital Skills Network Event

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a network event on digital skills on December 1. The objective of the event is to validate the final version of the Guidelines for the use of the Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses in the Eastern partner countries and to define the next steps to b…

Developing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure: EU4Digital Cybersecurity East at Moldova Cyber Week 2020

The 8th edition of Moldova Cyber Week, around the theme of ‘Developing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure’, took place from 25-27 November 2020, co-organised by the EU4Digital Cybersecurity East project and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The event was attended by…

ICT Innovation third networking event: enhancing development of innovation clusters

The third EU4Digital ICT Innovation networking event will be held on 14 December. The topic of the virtual session is ‘Networking of the ICT innovation clusters in the EU and EaP countries to support cluster organisations’ development and regional cooperation’. The event aims to foster better visibi…

Applications open for Start-up Matching Grants Programme in Georgia

Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), a special public entity established to facilitate innovation ecosystem, has announced a Call for Proposals for its Start-up Matching Grants Programme. The deadline for submission of proposals is 28 December 2020. The objective of the programme is to…

Silicon Valley accelerator launches rapid growth programme for Georgian start-up women

The US Market Access Center (USMAC), Silicon Valley’s largest accelerator, in partnership with the USAID Economic Security Programme, is launching the first rapid growth programme for women-led startups in Georgia. “As we’ve observed the growth of Georgia’s tech ecosystem, we are excited to introduc…

Georgia: new innovation programme to train 3,000 in digital skills – apply before 30 November

Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), with support from the World Bank, is starting a new programme which aims to increase the innovative activities of entities and individuals and their participation in the digital economy of Georgia. The Government of Georgia has secured support from…

Digital health technologies addressing the pandemic

The European Union is funding 13 projects, which have digital tools and Artificial Intelligence at the heart of their innovative approaches, to deliver new solutions to protect healthcare workers, quickly detect and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and improve intensive care – all…

CyberEast: webinar on cyberviolence against women

A new online event in the series of C-PROC webinars on cyberviolence, organised as part of the EU-funded CyberEast project, took place on 12 November, with a focus on cyberviolence against women. This webinar included presentations and discussions to raise awarenes…

EU4Digital publishes recommendations on measurement and forecasting of digital skills gaps in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital Facility has published the ‘Methodology for Measuring and Forecasting Digital Skills Gaps in Eastern partner countries’. The Methodology contains a summary of current Eastern partner country digital skills gaps measurement and forecasting practices, and recommendations for the introdu…

Ukraine: International Renaissance Foundation announces results of EU4USociety call on ‘Digital integration to EU’

The EU4USociety project in Ukraine has announced the results of its call for projects on ‘Digital integration to EU’, aimed at strengthening the role, voice and capacity of civil society in the implementation of European norms, approaches and practices of digital development…

2020 Thought Leader Symposium: making the digital shift towards health and resilience

The European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) is holding a virtual two-day 2020 Thought Leader Symposium on 2-3 December to explore the contribution of digital health services towards healthy and resilient communities. The Symposium will explore in six sessions the…

‘More timely than ever’: EU4Digital holds training on Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions for Ukraine

The EU4Digital Facility organised a training for Ukraine on the management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions on 27 October – an initiative described as “more timely than ever” by Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Education and Science for digital transformation. The objective…

Regional workshop on Broadband Mapping for Eastern partner countries

More than 50 officials from Eastern partner countries took part in a three-day online workshop on tools and applications for broadband mapping, which took place from 4-6 November, organised under the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument of the European Commission (TAIEX). The aim…

CyberEast – Action on Cybercrime for Cyber Resilience in the Eastern Partnership region

The joint European Union/Council of Europe project aims at adopting legislative and policy frameworks compliant to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime and related instruments, reinforcing the capacities of judicial and law enforcement authorities and interagency cooperation, and increasing efficie…

EU4Digital eHealth Network Meeting: focus on interoperability guidelines, cross-border eHealth Collaboration platform and EU initiatives roadmap

On November 5, 2020 the EU4Digital eHealth team organised a meeting of the eHealth Network, with the aim of bringing together network members from the six Eastern partner countries to share key deliverables from activities in the eHealth stream. In the first part of the event, the EU4Digital eHealth…

Connecting skills with demand: EU4Digital hosts training on Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition in Moldova

The EU4Digital Facility organised a training for Moldova on the establishment and management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions on October 16, 2020. The aim of the training was to introduce national experts from Moldova to in-depth principles of establishing and managing National Coaliti…

Moldova Cyber Week 2020

The 2020 edition of Moldova Cyber Week – ‘Building a strong cybersecurity infrastructure in the New Normal’ – takes place on 25-27 November in Chisinau, co-organised by the EU4Digital Cybersecurity East project. Moldova Cyber Week – which has been held annually since 2012 – is organised by the Infor…

Training on the management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions in Ukraine

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a training for Ukraine on the management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions on 27 October. The objective of the training is to introduce national experts from Ukraine to in-depth principles of managing national coalitions, and to discuss recommendati…

European Online Week of Active and Healthy Ageing

The Active Assisted Living (AAL) Programme, the EIP on AHA (European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing) and the Joint Programming Initiative More Years, Better Lives (JPI MYBL) invite you to the European Week of Active & Healthy Ageing (EWAHA) on 2-6 November, 2020.  All three…

ICT Innovation second networking event: new prospects for cooperation between alternative finance actors in Eastern partner countries and EU networks

An EU4Digital networking event on 8 October discussed ways to integrate alternative finance providers from Eastern partner countries into European networks and platforms, and how to build up their capacity to increase digital SMEs’ access to finance in the region. The virtual networking event, held…

Driving forward priorities on eHealth: EU4Digital workshop surveys progress, best practices and goals

The achievements and future goals of the EU4Digital Facility’s eHealth stream were presented during a high-level meeting held on 8 October 2020, as part of the second annual Steering Committee Meeting of the EU4Digital Initiative, running from 5-9 October. More than 60 participants including represe…

ICT innovation and start-up ecosystems in the Eastern Partnership: progress and prospects in focus at EU4Digital meeting

Progress and future plans in the area of ICT innovation and start-up ecosystems were presented at a thematic session organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 8 October 2020, as part of the annual Steering Committee Meeting, which took place virtually between 5 and 9 October. Over 30 pa…

Telecom Rules: achievements and goals presented at EU4Digital event

The achievements ant future goals in the area of Telecom Rules were presented during a virtual meeting on 7 October 2020, as a part of the Steering Committee Meeting of the EU4Digital initiative, running from 5-9 October. Over 50 participants were welcomed by Mr. Arturas Piliponis, EU…

From eID to cybersecurity: thematic event highlights EU4Digital Trust and Security activities

Over 50 digital domain experts, policy makers, EU Delegation representatives and national representatives from Eastern partner countries were updated on the progress of EU4Digital Trust and Security activities, ranging from eSignatures to cybersecurity, at a virtual event held on 9 October. The sess…

eTrade in focus as EU4Digital event highlights achievements and prospects

Progress and future plans in the area of eTrade were presented at a thematic session organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 9 October 2020, as part of the annual Steering Committee Meeting, which took place virtually between 5 and 9 October.  The eTrade session was attended by m…

eDelivery in practice: EU4Digital virtual study visit highlights solutions and opportunities

The EU4Digital Facility on 9 October held a virtual study visit on eDelivery. The goal of the event was for participants to get acquainted with eDelivery, to understand its goals, value and benefits, as well as to get a better understanding of how it works in practice.  The event – held in the…

EU4Digital presents initial results of regulatory independence assessment

A discussion on the independence of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) took place during a virtual meeting organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 7 October 2020, highlighting the initial results of the gap assessment carried out by EU4Digital in each partner country, as well as the way forward…

EU4Digital meeting highlights achievements and goals in the area of Digital Skills

The achievements and future goals of the EU4Digital Facility’s Digital Skills stream were presented during a high-level meeting held on 8 October 2020, as part of the second annual Steering Committee Meeting of the EU4Digital Initiative, running from 5-9 October. More than 60 participants including…

EU4Digital launches feasibility study on international roaming area between Eastern partner countries and the EU

The EU4Digital Facility has launched a feasibility study on establishing a common international roaming space between the Eastern partner countries and the EU Member States, to build on the expected signing of the Regional Roaming Agreement (RRA) among Eastern partner countries, which is also being…

Training on establishment and management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions for Moldova

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a training for Moldova on the establishment and management of National Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions on October 16 The objective of the training is to introduce national experts from Moldova to in-depth principles of managing national coalitions and to disc…

Electromagnetic field protection and 5G implementation discussed at EU4Digital event

A discussion on how to accelerate the launch of 5G in the Eastern Partnership region took place during a virtual meeting organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 6 October 2020. More than 60 high-level stakeholders took part in the meeting, which discussed future plans for the implementation of 5G in…

Introducing a new way of interoperable, secure and trusted electronic data exchange via eDelivery solution

What does information exchange without a digital delivery solution look like? Currently, when a company wants to send an invoice to an overseas partner, the invoice is issued in paper form due to the lack of standardisation. It means that the document is physically printed, signed and sent. In some…

eDelivery pilot goes live

Piloting of invoice data exchange via the eDelivery channel between selected companies from Ukraine and Poland was launched on 9 October 2020. The eDelivery pilot – implemented by EU4Digital as part of its activities in support of eTrade – is an important stepping stone towards ensuring the secure,…

What will Eastern Partnership priorities on Digital look like beyond 2020? EU and EaP stakeholders discuss areas for action during virtual EU4Digital Steering Committee Meeting

The second day of the EU4Digital Steering Committee Meeting week on 6 October focused on the future – what are the key digital priorities in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) beyond 2020? Virtually gathering over 100 participants, including representatives from the European Commission, high-level EaP st…

EU4Digital Initiative Steering Committee Week: bridging distances through digital connections

The EU4Digital Steering Committee week kicked off on 5 October 2020, for a first day of online meetings that highlighted the EU’s digital policy agenda, and how it might be extended to the Eastern Partnership (EaP). Senior European Commission officials stressed the EU’s support for digital transform…

CyberEast: table-top exercise for Georgian policy makers on preparation and coordination for election security

An online table-top exercise was organised for the Georgian authorities by the EU-funded CyberEast project on 15 September, aiming to bring together all relevant national stakeholders and focus on the specific scenario of attack on election security, developing the skil…

EU Code Week 2020 kicks off to promote skills for the digital future

The 8th edition of the European Code Week, a grass-roots initiative supported by the European Commission, which aims to make everyone familiar with coding and digital technologies in an entertaining and engaging way, opens on Thursday 8 October with an online event. From 10 to 25 October Code W…

Ukraine adopts law on electronic communications, in line with European Code

On September 30, 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament – the Verkhovna Rada – adopted European Integration Law No.3014 “On Electronic Communications”, which  regulates the provision of telephone and Internet access services. The law will protect the rights of subscribers and i…

EaPConnect kicks off second phase at EU4Digital Steering Committee

Past achievements and future goals of the EU-funded ‘EU4Digital: Connecting Research and Education Communities’ project, known as EaPConnect, were presented at a high-level meeting organised by the EU4Digital Facility on 5 October 2020, officially kicking off the second five-year phase of the projec…

EU4Digital: individual eHealth workshops with EaP countries

Between June and September 2020, the EU4Digital eHealth stream has organised six individual virtual events for the six Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), with the purpose to introduce results and recommendations specific to each country.  Dur…

#ThinkB4UClick: October is European Cybersecurity month

October is European Cybersecurity Month (ECSM). The 2020 campaign focuses on different themes addressing the need for behavioural change and identifying opportunities to help users recognise the risks of new technologies. Each year, for the entire month of October, hundreds of activities take p…

EU4Digital holds workshop on development of Digital Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses

The EU4Digital Facility organised a regional workshop on 25 September on the development of a Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses. The aim of the virtual workshop was to obtain inputs from Eastern partner representatives on the alignment of four specific job role profiles to the actual…

Grants for 20 innovative start-ups in Georgia

Twenty innovative start-ups in Georgia have received up to 100,000 GEL in funding as winners of the Start-up Matching Grants Programme, which is part of the Georgia National Innovation Ecosystem (GENIE) Project, implemented by the Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), supervised by the…

EU4Digital virtual eDelivery study visit

The EU4Digital Facility will hold a virtual eDelivery study visit on 9 October, back-to-back with the annual Steering Committee Meeting. It will be held remotely in the form of a virtual session. One of EU4Digital’s activities in support of eTrade is the piloting of exchange of invoice data via the…

EU4Digital highlights eTrade pilot projects at Eastern Partnership Trade Panel

The EU4Digital Facility took part in the Eastern Partnership Trade Panel on 22 September 2020, held virtually for the first time, highlighting the progress of pilot projects implemented by the project in the area of eTrade. The EaP trade panel covered three main areas: presenting the current status…

Launch of EaP-EU roaming study

The launch of the EaP-EU roaming study will be held as an afternoon side event in the framework of the EU4Digital Steering Committee Meeting on 7 October and will be taking place virtually.  The event will be organised by the EU4Digital Facility and with the support of the European Co…

Independence of National Regulatory Authorities

A discussion on the Independence of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) will be held as an afternoon side event in the framework of the EU4Digital Steering Committee Meeting on 7 October and will be taking place virtually.  The event will be organised by the EU4Digital Facility wit…

Regional workshop on the development of a digital competence framework for SMEs and microbusinesses

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a regional workshop on the development of a Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses on September 25, 2020. The objective of the workshop will be to obtain Eastern partner country representative inputs on the necessary alignment of four Job Role Profile…

EU4Digital campaign focuses on women in ICT

With the launch of a new activity to support women mentorship programmes in the tech sector in the Eastern partner countries, EU4Digital has carried out a campaign highlighting the project’s support for ICT Innovation, with a focus on the importance of promoting women in tech. The campaign, which wa…

EU4Digital ICT Innovation second networking event

The EU4Digital Facility will hold the second ICT Innovation networking event on 8 October back-to-back with the annual Steering Committee Meeting. It will be held remotely in the form of a virtual session.  The event will focus on the topic of Integration of business angels and venture cap…

Pilot EU accelerator: Funding, coaching and mentorship for innovative entrepreneurs in Ukraine

Ukrainian SMEs with innovative ideas looking to scale up their business have until 7 October to apply to apply to a pilot EU accelerator, offering funding, coaching and mentorship.  The successful candidates will receive funding and support needed to finalise the idea, product, service or busin…

EU grants for innovative tech start-ups in Armenia

Up to four start-ups engaged in the Armenia Startup Academy Traction Programme will be eligible to receive a grant of up to €50,000, upon completion of the programme, the European Union’s EU4Business ‘Innovative Tourism and Technology Development for Armenia’…

Cookies Policy

This is the Cookie Policy for EU4Digital. 1. What Are Cookies As is common practice with almost all professional websites this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and…

Digital growth: working towards gender equality in IT in Azerbaijan

Social stratification is a natural process, and no country has been able entirely to overcome it. Even if we consider the Internet as a means of accessing information on an equal basis for all, gaps remain in the digital space, whether gender, social or cultural. The situation in Azer…

Digital skills in the workplace: EU4Digital working on Digital Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses

The EU4Digital Facility is working on a common Digital Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses in the Eastern partner countries, based on existing EU frameworks. The Competence Framework aims to support the improvement of digital skills among employees of SMEs and microbusinesses. Dig…

European Research and Innovation Days

European Research and Innovation Days from 22-24 September is the European Commission’s annual flagship Research and Innovation event, bringing together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond. T…

Digital trust: the key role of EU4Digital in a pandemic and post-pandemic society

Pandemics have a profound effect on societies’ long-term development and on the human way of life. While the current COVID-19 pandemic is not the first in recent history, it is the first in the age of the digital economy, where most of our business models and value generation enterprises rely in som…

EU4Digital Facility training on women’s mentorship programmes in ICT and innovation

The EU4Digital Facility organised a virtual training on women’s mentorship programmes in ICT and innovation on 20 August 2020. During the training, the Director of the ‘Women Go Tech’ Programme, Diana Česonytė, shared her insights on making tech-related workplaces, events and initiatives more inclus…

Georgian SMEs master eCommerce skills to enter new markets

The EU-funded Ready to Trade project, an EU4Business initiative, implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC), has organised a webinar on ‘Assistance to Georgian Companies on eCommerce’ for the project’s beneficiaries. The objective of the virtual training w…

Connecting IoT devices and cloud servers: a new project from the EU TUMO Centre in Armenia

The Internet, or, more specifically, IoT devices, depends on secure access to networks and clear identification. This has become more and more of an issue over the years as cloud service providers do not have physical access to IoT devices. Moreover, the entire process of recognition and authorizati…

EaPConnect doubles Internet capacity for Ukraine-Europe research data flow

More research data can flow between Ukraine and other countries more cheaply, allowing Ukrainians better to participate in international research cooperations without having to leave the country, thanks to the EU-funded EaPConnect project and local partner URAN (the…

EU4Digital launches action to support women mentorship programmes in tech in the Eastern partner countries

EU4Digital has launched a new activity for women mentorship programmes in the tech sector, with the aim of tackling the gender gap and to enable the national organisations to implement such programmes in their local tech markets. The gender gap in the tech market is a global issue, which also affect…

Skilled workforce for the Moldovan IT sector: project supports digital education for young women and creation of a Cyber Security Academy

With financial support from SlovakAid, the European Migration Agency (EMA) has launched a development project in Moldova, aimed at supporting the digital education of young women, creating a Cyber Security Academy, and establishing a new IT Laboratory…

CyberEast: Long-distance Master Programme in Cybercrime Investigation and Computer Forensics starting in September 2020

Ten law enforcement/criminal justice officers from five Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) will be supported through the joint European Union-Council of Europe CyberEast project to participate in the upcoming long-distance master programme…

How to ensure rapid development in the Armenian IT sector? EU4Digital highlights women as the key to growth

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the fastest growing sectors in Armenia. In 2018, Software and Services and Internet Service Providers accounted for 7.4% of Armenia’s GDP of $12.4 billion, up from 3.6% of GDP in 2013. As one of the most effective engines of the economy, Arme…

EU4Digital Facility training on women’s mentorship programmes in ICT and innovation

The EU4Digital Facility will organise a virtual training on women’s mentorship programmes in ICT and innovation on 20 August 2020. The objective of the training is to share know-how from EU women’s mentorship organisation(s) and best practices on realising women’s mentorship programmes, as well as a…

Moldova presents roadmap for boosting digitization of national economy and development of e-commerce

A draft roadmap for boosting the process of digitization of the Moldovan economy and the development of electronic commerce, prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, was presented on 27 July. Minister Sergiu Railean said the COVID-19 p…

Moldova moves to develop digital skills in schools

A memorandum on the development of Moldova’s education system based on digital skills in response to the COVID-19 crisis was signed on 22 July by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, the National Association of Information T…

Ukrainian IT industry: looking for further growth and opening opportunities for women

The Ukrainian IT market is growing in leaps and bounds – in the past few years, this industry has been growing by 30% every year in the country. The number of specialists employed in this field is rising as well. On the other hand, the “digital boom” in Ukraine is accompanied by various challenges:…

Embracing a career in IT: how support for ICT Innovation is reversing the brain drain in Moldova and setting an example in the region

Information technology has become increasingly present in the Republic of Moldova in recent years, with IT in one form or another penetrating all areas of life. As both public and business have adopted innovations, so external partners have also contributed to the digital transformation in the count…

How women can change the field of innovation in Georgia

Natia Ninikelashvili receives us at the Farmers’ Association on Ateni Street, Tbilisi. She is not a farmer, but for the past five years her life has revolved around Guda cheese from Tusheti and traditional Kakhetian wine or churchkhelas. Because Nina…

EU4Digital holds regional training on setting up National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs

The EU4Digital Facility organised a virtual training on the establishment and management of National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs on 13 July 2020.  The objective of the training was to introduce participants to best EU practices for the establishment and management of National Co…

EU4Digital Steering Committee: focus on key priorities in digital and future of the Eastern Partnership

The second annual Steering Committee Meeting of the EU4Digital Initiative will be held remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions. It will host a series of virtual sessions spread across the week of 5-9 October, focusing on reviewing the results achieved under the Programme, as  well as discussing the up…

EU eCommerce baseline report – a milestone towards facilitating cross-border eTrade between EU and Eastern partner countries

In June 2020, the EU4Digital Facility’s eCommerce team achieved a significant milestone, developing a baseline report on cross-border eCommerce in the EU, which provides a benchmark to assess the state of play of eCommerce in the Eastern partner countries. Later, this assessment will result in recom…

EU4Digital eHealth Network Meeting: focus on interoperability guidelines, cross-border eHealth collaboration platform and EU initiatives roadmap

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising an online eHealth Network Meeting on 5 November, which aims to bring together network members from the six Eastern partner countries to share key deliverables from activities in the eHealth stream. In the first part of the event, the EU4Digital eHealth team…

EU4Digital holds online consultations with partner countries regarding investment gaps and access to finance for high-tech start-ups

In early June 2020, the EU4Digital team held six rounds of online consultations with national stakeholders from the Eastern partner countries as part of its study on ‘Market assessment for the Digital Innovation and Scale-up Initiative (DISC study) in the Eastern partner countries’. …

EU4Digital delivers country implementation action plans for key ICT innovation policy areas

The EU4Digital Facility has concluded a more than one-year-long work on supporting the six Eastern partner countries with recommendations for national policy instruments in selected priority policy areas of ICT innovation. The selected policy areas are: Intellectual property rights management for di…

EU4Digital Facility training on the establishment and management of National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs

EU4Digital Facility will organize a virtual training on the establishment and management of National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs on 13 July 2020.  The objective of the training is to Introduce participants to best EU practices for the establishment and management of national coalitio…

EU4Digital Facility launches eDelivery pilot activity between Ukraine and Poland

Following ongoing discussions and consultations with representatives from Ukraine and Poland, the first joint eDelivery working meeting with representatives from the public and private sector was held virtually on 2 July. The purpose of the meeting was to launch eDelivery pilot activity for…

Digitising industry: best practices to promote the digital transformation of SMEs in traditional sectors of the economy

One of the central activities of the EU4Digital Facility in the area of ICT Innovation is supporting the establishment of a common legislative framework on ICT innovation in the Eastern Partnership region that would favour ICT innovation, based on EU norms and best practices. Working towar…

EaPConnect enters second phase, building on past success to support research and education in the Eastern Partnership

The Eastern Partnership Connect project, EaPConnect, enters a second phase from 1 July 2020. Coordinated by the GÉANT Association, the 60-month EU-funded ‘EU4Digital: Connecting Research and Education Communities’ project (EaPConnect2) will bring together the research and education (R&E) communi…

Eastern partner stakeholders discuss finalisation of Regional Spectrum Agreement

On 23 June 2020, the Eastern partner countries stakeholders’ online workshop regarding the Regional Spectrum Agreement (RSA) took place. Due to the continuing travel restrictions, the event was organised on a virtual platform by the Spectrum Expert Working Group and with support of the European Comm…

Roaming deal one step closer as draft agreement presented to Eastern partners

A meeting to present the Regional Roaming Agreement (RRA) for the Eastern Partnership took place on 25 June 2020, with the final version of the Agreement to be presented for approval in October ahead of its formal signature, expected in December. The meeting included Harmonising Digital Market (HDM)…

eTrade: First meeting with Ukraine and Poland to prepare eDelivery pilot project

EU4Digital is organising the first joint working meeting with Ukraine and Poland on 2 July to introduce and set out the next steps for implementation of its eTrade pilot for the eDelivery solution for cross-border data exchange. At the beginning of 2020 official confirmation was received from t…

EaPConnect reviews achievements as new phase dawns

A second phase of the EU-funded EaPConnect project will start in July, bolstered by a renewed EU-Eastern Partnership (EaP) policy commitment to a strong digital presence in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood.  Key among EaPConnect’s achievements in the past five years are greater integrat…

eTrade Network: online workshop reviews progress across eTrade priorities

The eighth EU4Digital eTrade Network Workshop was held on 9-10 June with the aim of presenting and discussing with participants the progress of analysis, recommendations, pilots and concepts developed by the eTrade expert team of the EU4Digital Facility in the areas of eDelivery, eCustoms, eCommerce…

Digital Skills Network meets online to discuss measurement of skills gaps in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital Digital Skills Network met virtually on 25 June 2020 to discuss results related to the development of a Methodology for the Measurement and Forecasting of Digital Skills Gaps and Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses, supported by the EU4Digital Facility.  The Network…

Supporting digital innovation: how European ICT ecosystems can spark a new impetus in the Eastern Neighbourhood

In the past months, the EU4Digital Facility ICT Innovation team has been focusing its efforts to promote a common legislative framework in the Eastern Partnership region that would favour ICT innovation, based on EU norms and best practices. Working towards this objective, the EU4Digital F…

Meeting Materials

Key Facts

Our Mission

Connecting health systems in the EU and the 6 Eastern partner countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine The eHealth Network was officially established in February 2017. The strategic goal of the Network is to facilitate the adoption of EU eHealth guidelines and standard…

EventsE

eNews

eHealth

Digital Transformation of SMEs – Free Webinar

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Armenia, with the support and funding of the Europe Union under the EU4Business initiative, is organising an online webinar on the Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Size Ent…

Digital Skills Network Webinar

The EU4Digital Digital Skills Network plans to meet virtually on 25 June 2020 to discuss results related to the development of a Methodology for Measurement and Forecasting of Digital Skills Gaps and Competence Framework for SMEs and microbusinesses supported by the EU4Digital Facility. Th…

Belarus and Ukraine announce contest for joint science and technology projects for 2021-2022

The State Science and Technology Committee of Belarus and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine have announced a competition for joint science and technology projects for 2021-2022. Applications for the contest are open from 1 to 30 June 2020 in priority areas of bilat…

European Training Foundation highlights importance of digital investment in COVID-19 response

The head of the European Training Foundation (ETF) has highlighted the importance of digital learning in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting the findings of an ETF report on distance digital learning in the EU’s neighbourhood to the EIT Digital webinar on 11 June. The…

CyberEast: Webinar on Introduction to Cyberviolence

In the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe CyberEast project, the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) will host a new webinar, on an Introduction to Cyberviolence, on 18 June. Registration is open until 17 June 2020, at 10:00…

When could 5G technology be rolled out in Moldova? Ministry of Economy holds public consultation with operators

Moldova’s Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure last week held a public consultation session on the roll-out of 5G in the country. The videoconference was attended by representatives of Orange, Moldcell, Moldtelecom, the National Agency for Public Health, the Nati…

Armenia: EU TUMO centre working towards digitisation of healthcare

Over the past three months, TUMO Labs, the educational programme at the heart of the EU TUMO Convergence Centre for Engineering and Applied Science in Armenia, has been conducting a joint project on the digitisation of healthcare with the Healthcare Innovation Centre (HIC), a Yerevan-based organisat…

‘We want as many women and girls as possible to embrace an IT career’ – empowering women in technology in Moldova

In today’s world, digital technology is encompassing increasing swathes of everyday and especially economic life, with knowledge of programming a valuable asset in the job market. According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 90 per cent of jobs will soo…

New EU report shows the importance of digital resilience in times of crisis

The European Commission yesterday released the results of the 2020 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which monitors Europe’s overall digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries with respect to their digital competitiveness. This year’s DESI shows that there is progr…

EaP Stakeholders’ Workshop on a Regional Spectrum Agreement

The Eastern partner countries stakeholders’ online workshop on the Regional Spectrum Agreement (RSA) will take place on 23 June 2020. The event will be organised by the Spectrum Expert Working Group of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) and with…

EU4Digital: eHealth network meeting highlights COVID-19 data information responses in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital eHealth Network has discussed COVID-19 and data sharing of disease statistics, as well as country best practices in managing the pandemic. During the online meeting on 3 June, a representative of the European Commission presented ongoing activities in the area of COVID-19 data co…

Moldova urges entrepreneurs to apply to new SME Digitisation Programme

Moldova’s Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Sergiu Railean has invited entrepreneurs to apply to the SME Digitisation Programme, launched on 1 June during an online event. “Today we launch a new support programme for Small and Medium Enterprises and we make available to…

EU Code Week Icebreaker Rerun

You still have 10 days to join a community of teachers, parents and coding enthusiasts and register for the #CodeWeek Icebreaker online course in coding and computational thinking.  This introductory course has an estimated workload of five hours in total. Participants…

EU Code Week

EU Code Week from 10-25 October 2020 is a grass-roots movement that celebrates creativity, problem solving and collaboration through programming and other tech activities.  The idea is to make programming more visible, to show young, adults and elderly how you bring ideas to life with…

EBRD launches accelerator for fintech start-ups

Start-ups in the Eastern partner countries will be among those to benefit from a new partnership between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Startup Wise Guys, a leading start-up accelerator with a presence across the Baltic states. Companies from the EBRD regions active…

CyberEast webinar on election interference: attacks on critical information systems

In the framework of the joint EU-Council of Europe CyberEast project, the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) will host a new webinar, on Election interference: attacks on critical information systems. The event will take place on 4 June 2020, at 12h00 EEST (…

Focus on digital: European Training Foundation launches Innovation and Skills Award

The European Training Foundation (ETF) is launching a competition open to all vocational schools, universities, training centres and providers, seeking examples of good practice in teaching and learning for digital competence development.  The ETF Innovation and Skills…

Moldova launches roadmap for e-Economy in response to coronavirus crisis

Spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, Moldova’s Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure has developed a roadmap fordigitising the economy.  The aim is to identify new reserves for increasing entrepreneurial activity in the country, as well as to facilitate remote interaction between…

System for remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients presented in Minsk

A remote system for analysing lung sounds to monitor the condition of patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19, has been presented in Minsk, the Belta news agency has reported A wireless digital stethoscope records noise, wheezing and other sounds and transfers them to a smartphone application via Bl…

EU4Digital working on recommendations for measurement and forecasting of digital skills in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital programme is working on a methodology for measuring and forecasting digital skills for the Eastern partner countries, including recommendations to introduce common measurement practices in line with EU practices. Digital skills are not only essential for ICT specialists or companies u…

EaPeReg contributes to ITU Regional Development Forum for Europe

The Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) took part in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Development Forum for Europe on 26 May, contributing to the 2020-21 implementation plan for the ITU Regional Initiatives for Europe. The even…

EU4Digital eHealth Network Meeting: focus on efforts in eHealth regarding common guidelines, COVID-19 and country best practices

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising an eHealth Network Meeting on 3 June, which aims to bring together network members from the six Eastern partner countries to share insights from activities in the area of eHealth and to facilitate information sharing about country best practices.  In th…

Innovative practice in eHealth – EU4Digital looks at best practices and priorities in Eastern partner countries

As part of its effort to facilitate the involvement of Eastern partner countries in relevant EU projects, programmes and initiatives, EU4Digital’s eHealth team has performed an analysis on the best practices available in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP…

EU4Digital publishes guidelines for National Digital Skills Coalitions in the Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital Facility has developed a set of guidelines on National Digital Skills Coalitions, as part of its support for the establishment of national coalitions for digital skills and jobs in the Eastern partner countries. The European Commission first launched ‘The Digital Skills and Jobs…

Managing intellectual property rights for digital innovation: meeting a key challenge for innovative SMEs

Ever since the late 19th century, the world has recognised people’s right to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create, a principle so significant that intellectual property rights (IPR) are outlined as a fundamental right in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration o…

UNOPS Global Innovation Challenge

The UNOPS Global Innovation Challenge on 31 July brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, programmers and developers to help advance resilient infrastructure with technology in the face of climate change. Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. From the stability of our ecosy…

EU-funded projects provide innovative learning tools revolutionising digital education

Teachers, parents and students are finding it difficult to keep in contact with one another. Finding reliable, easy to use digital education tools has also proven difficult during the first few weeks of the lockdown due to Coronavirus pandemic. Two EU projects are providing free online services to h…

Coronavirus response: €56 million for solutions using medical technologies, digital tools and artificial intelligence

A new Horizon 2020 Call on Medical technologies, Digital tools and Artificial Intelligence analytics, with a budget of €56 million, was launched on 19 May to quickly deploy new solutions using medical technologies, digital tools and artificial intelligence to increase response capabilities to the co…

Webinar: COVID-19 and its impact on a new European vision on cybersecurity

On Friday, 29 May from 11.30 (CET), a webinar on ‘COVID-19 and its impact on a new European vision on cybersecurity’ is organised by the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), part of a series of webinars highlighting the added value of Eu…

ITU and EaPeReg join forces to strengthen impact of ICT on sustainable development

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a high-level framework of cooperation in the area of information and communications techn…

Telecom Rules: EU4Digital on track with priorities as virtual communication replaces face-to-face meetings

During the last couple of years, virtual communication has become more and more popular in the business environment, helping to avoid the additional time and expenses that result from travelling to a physical meeting location. But a preference for face-to-face meetings still prevailed in some occasi…

Azerbaijan’s #TekkieHeroes Hackathon attracts over 600 applicants from 40+ countries to come up with solutions to cope with COVID-19 pandemic

Azerbaijan’s first global virtual hackathon was held last weekend, organised by the country’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies together with UNDP and SUP.VC, bringing together over 600 applicants from over 40 countries across the wor…

#hackthecrisis Global Matchathon: hackers meet investors, partners and policy leaders

After an incredible burst of hackathons around the world to support new ideas and innovation against the coronavirus pandemic, the Global Hack & #hackthecrisis, partnering with the European Commission, is organising a worldwide online MATCHATHON on 14-15 May, where…

Moldovan start-up develops telemedicine solution in European innovation hackathon

A telemedicine project, developed by a Moldovan couple, took part in the recent #EUvsVirus hackathon organised by the European Innovation Council. The event brought together more than 20,000 participants from the EU and beyond and aimed to identify future solutions to h…

List of digital skills resources to tackle challenges of coronavirus crisis

The EU’s Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition has compiled a list of digital skills resources and best practices for addressing the challenges of the coronavirus crisis. Throughout the current crisis precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic, the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitio…

eHealth solutions to tackle COVID-19: virtual workshop highlights global and Eastern Partner responses

The EU4Digital eHealth team last month held an online workshop with representatives of the Eastern Partnership eHealth Network to address responses to the COVID-19 outbreak. The eHealth team shared their insights into how the crisis has been managed globally from a digital health perspective, and th…

Moldova: Minister of Economy and Infrastructure highlights government’s involvement in implementation of EU4Digital priorities

The Republic of Moldova’s Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Sergiu Railean has underlined the importance of his country’s participation in the EU4Digital initiative in comments on the occasion of Europe Day published on the Ministry’s website. A press release said developing the infor…

Moldova launches online trade portal for national and international business community

The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova last week launched a newCommercial Information Portal for the national and international business community – www.trade.gov.md – established with the support of the USAID Structural…

Digital skills in focus as vocational education adapts in the face of coronavirus

The coronavirus situation is an opportunity for everyone to develop their digital skills, but has also highlighted the digital divide, according to early conclusions of an online survey launched by the European Commission to identify the impact of the pandemic on Vocational Education and T…

Get ready for #DigiEduHack 2020

Do you want to make a difference in how we learn now and in the future? If so, your organisation can join the 2020 #DigiEduHack in November, a global movement dedicated to solving the toughest digital education challenges in the modern age. In 2…

Digital Skills Network meets virtually to discuss priorities for upcoming events and digital skills promotion activities

The EU4Digital Digital Skills Network met virtually on 29 April 2020 to discuss priorities for upcoming events (trainings, conferences, study visits), a digital skills promotion campaign and development of the Digital Skills Competence Framework for micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs)…

Distance Hackathon – Technologies in education

A hackathon for technology in school education is being organised in Georgia on 8-10 May, to create technological aids for pupils from seventh to twelfth grade to make visualizing, mastering and understanding their school material easier and more innovative. The hackathon – organised by the Kai…

Online psychological counselling during a pandemic – the winning business idea of Start-up Weekend Moldova 2020

The objective was to create a business in 54 hours, and now they are ready to deliver solutions suitable to the new reality generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Respiro project, which aims to provide free online psychological assistance to Moldovans abroad, is the winner of “S…

Moldovan regulator publishes statistical yearbook on development of electronic communications in 2019

The statistical yearbook on the development of electronic communications in 2019, published last week on the official website of the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), shows that the electronic communication…

Take part in an online accelerator and create a global start-up by staying at home – register now

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have ceased operations and many of them will not reopen. People will need solutions adapted to the new reality, and the most ingenious entrepreneurs are starting to develop them from now. In this context, the Dreamups Inn…

#EUvsVirus Hackathon identifies 117 solutions to support European and global recovery from the coronavirus outbreak

A total of 117 innovative solutions to tackle the coronavirus have been selected as winners of the European Innovation Council-led #EUvsVirus Hackathon, including a team with participants from Ukraine named as winners of the ‘remote working and education’ challenge. The top six challenge catego…

How digital technologies help people in rural areas of Belarus protect themselves from COVID-19 and continue to receive quality medical care

During seasonal viral diseases, the workload of clinics and hospitals increases significantly. The spread of coronavirus infection increased the burden on the healthcare system even further, and put vulnerable groups, especially older people, at risk. Georgy Khlebovich works as a Chief Physician in…

Coronavirus: EU online learning resources

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the national measures taken to tackle the spread of the virus have caused significant disruption to the provision of education, training and mobility opportunities for learners, teachers and educators across Europe.  To help learners, teachers and educators continue…

Armenia marks sharp increase in use of e-governance tools introduced with EU support

The number of people using Armenia’s e-governance tools for public services, introduced with the support of the European Union, has risen significantly during the state of emergency declared to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.  The number of the applications sent by citizens in Ma…

Over 1,000 ideas from 98 countries in Global Hack against coronavirus

More than 12,000 participants from 98 countries presented over 1,000 ideas in the Global Hack against the coronavirus backed by the European Union and the EU4Digital initiative. They included 8 submissions from Georgia, 4 from Ukraine, 4 from Belarus, and 3 each from Armenia, Azerbaijan an…

Increased demand for electronic signatures in Moldova

The number of people in Moldova requesting and being issued with electronic signatures by the Centre for Information Technology in Finance (CTIF) rose by 6.5% in the first quarter of 2020 to reach almost 29,000 individuals and legal entities with electronic signatures by 31 March. The CTIF says the…

E-Economy and E-commerce – new programmes for the business environment in Moldova

Moldova’s Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure is preparing a comprehensive e-economy programme for digitizing all economic processes, Minister Sergiu Railean announced on 21 April. This programme will include measures on interaction and distance trading. Informa…

Tech Touch – online conference for Georgian business and technology professionals

Tech Touch – an online tech conference for Georgian business and technology professionals will take place on 29-31 May 2020. The three-day event will gather business owners, developers, and marketers to discuss current issues and find potential solutions to save business and overcome the crisis. IT…

Council of Europe launches cybercrime webinars

The Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) has set up a programme of webinars to reach out to its community and continue working on strengthening capacities of criminal justice authorities worldwide. The first in the series of webinars will be focused on the…

Global State of Cybercrime Legislation webinar

The Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) has set up a programme of webinars to reach out to its community and continue working on strengthening capacities of criminal justice authorities worldwide. The first in the series of webinars will be focused on the…

EU4Digital carrying out market assessment for Digital Innovation and Scale-up Initiative in Eastern partner countries

The European Union is supporting the extension of the Digital Innovation and Scale-up Initiative (DISC) to the Eastern partner countries, in line with the Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020, assisting digital start-ups and SMEs to improve their access to finance, better reach into…

Only four EU countries lead the US in digitalisation – EIB launches new report on digitalisation in the EU and US

In the fight against the Coronavirus, digital technology is playing an unprecedented role in the maintenance of daily life and economic and social activities, as well as in the recovery of industry and business. The Coronavirus pandemic is becoming a tipping point for digitalisation – the dawn of a…

Startup Weekend Moldova back with online edition

Startup Weekend Moldova returns with a new online edition on 24-26 April. Moldova is one of 70 countries to hold the event as part of the ‘Techstars Global Online Startup Weekend’. This year’s edition will take place in a context where more and more…

Chisinau introduces online health monitoring for people in self-isolation or quarantine

The authorities in Moldova will monitor the health of people in self-isolation, quarantine or treatment at home due to coronavirus through a new online system. The initiative aims to centralise information on the health status of people during the state of eme…

Special COVID-19 support under COSME Loan Guarantee Facility

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Commission are launching specific COVID-19 support under the COSME Loan Guarantee Facility (COSME LGF), which is also open to financial intermediaries supporting SMEs in Armenia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Un…

EaPConnect partners support research and education during the COVID-19 pandemic

With researchers racing to understand COVID-19, and with people working and studying from home in many countries, national research and education network (NREN) organisations are providing tools and services to support these activities. Partners in the EU-funded EaPConnect project are no exception,…

EUvsVirus Hackathon to develop innovative solutions and overcome coronavirus-related challenges

To complement hackathons taking place at global and member state level, the European Commission – in close collaboration with EU member states as well as Norway, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom – will host a pan-European hackathon to connect civil society, innov…

E-account for everyone in Belarus

The National Centre for Electronic Services is creating a personal electronic account for Belarusian citizens. The project is being implemented in accordance with the “State programme for the development of the digital economy and the information society for 2016-2020”. The E-account will be a…

Construction begins on National Children’s Technopark in Minsk

Construction has begun on a National Children’s Technopark in Minsk. The launch of the Technopark is scheduled for January 2021.  The idea of the Technopark is based on combining the following elements in a single complex: convenient environment for studying, working and acquiring technical and digi…

Digital skills provide lifeline for pensioners in Belarus

Older people in rural Belarus are staying connected during the COVID-19 outbreak, thanks to the digital skills they have learnt from an EU-supported course. Over two years, more than 80 senior citizens in the Homieĺ region have received training in digital literacy through the Computer from scratch …

More than 1.5 million 4G mobile Internet users in Moldova

The total number of 4G mobile Internet users in Moldova increased by 51.6% in 2019, rising to just over 1.5 million, according to data from the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI). Of these, about 1.45 million accessed the Intern…

Interested in deep-tech innovation? Join the EU’s STARTUP3 Accelerator – deadline 20 April

Are you an innovator, a start-up or an SME? Are you interested in the application of deep-tech innovation such as IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Virtual Reality, etc. in any sector of the European economy and industry? Does your business or project alrea…

Innovation ecosystems for start-ups: highlighting the key ingredients for success

What makes a good digital innovation ecosystem for start-ups? What are the key ingredients and how can they be brought together to optimise ICT innovation among businesses? These are the key questions that EU4Digital has been addressing in its review of EU best practices in ‘ICT innovation ecos…

Eastern partner countries approve methodology on regulatory independence assessment

The 9th Meeting of the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) took place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 3-4 March 2020. The meeting gathered representatives from all six Eastern partner countries…

Connect teachers: national campaign to support distance learning in Moldova

Moldova’s Ministry of Education, with the support of Orange Moldova and in collaboration with the University Information Centre has launched ‘Connect teachers’ – a national campaign aimed at ensuring the continuity of the distance education process. Orange Moldova will…

Moldova: mobile voice traffic tops 6 billion minutes in 2019

The volume of voice traffic on mobile networks in Moldova rose to more than 6 billion minutes in 2019, according to data on the evolution of the mobile voice market, reported by the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications andInformation Technology (ANRCET…

EU supports Global Hack against the coronavirus: three days to go – sign up now!

There are three days to go until the Global Hack – an online hackathon designed to share and rapidly develop ideas for urgently needed solutions in the current coronavirus pandemic – backed by the European Union and the EU4Digital initiative. The European Commissio…

Ukrainian research network fast tracks new tool to support home research and education with help of EapConnect

As the world adapts to working and studying from home in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, in Ukraine researchers, students and teachers have a new tool to help them: eduMEET. This online meeting tool was rapidly deployed by the Ukrainian Research and Academic Network UR…

Fight for our future – join the world’s biggest online hackathon against coronavirus!

Tech activists in the Eastern partner countries and across the world are invited to take part in a global hackathon to find solutions in the face of the coronavirus crisis, taking place from 9-12 April, globally and online, across all timezones, organised by Estonia and supported by t…

HACK COVID-19: sign up now for global hackathon

Tech activists across the world are invited to take part in ‘HACK COVID-19’, a Global Virtual Hackathon to be held on April 10-12. The hackathon is organised with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the United Nations Developm…

Cybercrime and coronavirus: warning from CyberEast project

The EU-funded CyberEast project has issued a warning about cyber threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when we all rely more than ever on computer systems, mobile devices and the Internet to work, communicate, shop, share and receive information and otherwise mitigate the im…

EU4Digital virtual workshop on eHealth: focus on best practices to address coronavirus

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the EU4Digital eHealth team is organising an extra online event on 2 April, bringing together stakeholders from the six Eastern partner countries to discuss issues around the coronavirus. The event will be an opportunity to share experience of how countries are…

Broadband access up in Moldova as users opt for higher speeds

Access to fixed broadband internet services in Moldova rose by 7.6% in 2019 to reach 670,500, according to figures released by the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI).  The number of fibre optic connections (FTTx) …

Georgia: free online training for entrepreneurs

Georgia’s Innovation and Technology agency GITA is launching free online courses for entrepreneurs from March 31, where entrepreneurs will learn how to create online platforms to support their businesses, learn about their core management functions and how to work with their audience. The online cou…

Moldova: Ministry of Education launches distance training for teachers on use of digital resources and online video tutorials for pupils

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova has launched distance training sessions for local trainers on the use of digital resources for education in response to the coronavirus quarantine, as well as uploading video tutorials for 9th an…

The future of digital: #stayhome and follow free EU CONNECT University sessions

While you #stayhome, take advantage of the EU’s CONNECT University to improve your knowledge of developments in the digital field. Check out the playlist of free CONNECT University sessions. Hear from experts on various topics like cybersecurity, disinformation, ar…

Tips for cybersecurity when working from home

The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) has shared its top tips for teleworking in times of Covid-19. One of the key preventive measures against the spread of Covid-19 is social distancing. In an increasingly connected world, many people can continue thei…

EU working for safe cyberspace in face of coronavirus outbreak

EU bodies are working together to ensure cybersecurity as millions of people switch to teleworking and distance learning in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, according to a joint statement issued by the European Commission, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the Computer Emergency Response…

Moldova: measures to keep public services online

Moldova’s Information Technology and Cyber ​​Security Service (STISC) has said it is taking the necessary measures in the face of the coronavirus epidemic to ensure that public services can continue to operate smoothly, including through remote working. The STISC said it would ensure the uninterrupt…

eTrade in focus: cutting down border waiting times through customs information exchange

In an increasingly globalised world with fast-growing traffic and cross-border activities, cooperation and information exchange among the Customs Administrations that perform controls on both sides of the border plays a crucial role in facilitating legal trade. Effective cooperation and automation o…

Hack the Virus (Online) – hackathon against COVID-19 in Moldova

The Tekwill project and the C19.MD initiative in Moldova are today launching a two-day online hackathon against the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative aims to identify solutions for informing, preventing and improving the critical situation caused by COVID-19, using the technologies availab…

Eastern Partnership: new policy objectives for beyond 2020 – digital transformation one of the five key priorities

Support for a resilient digital transformation is one of the five policy priorities highlighted by the European Commission in its proposal for the long-term policy objectives of the Eastern Partnership beyond 2020, released on 18 March. The new policy objectives aim at increasing trade, strengt…

Digital projects among youth grant winners in Moldova

Two digital projects are among the 24 winners of the 2020 Grant Programme for Youth Organizations announced by the Republic of Moldova’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Research. The 24 projects – selected from a total of 58 – will be financed from the state budget, with about…

Access to finance for digital innovation: what are the key steps to bridge the gap with the EU?

Regulatory sandboxes and business angels, crowdfunding and venture capital – the terms may be colourful,  but the support they describe is vital to the funding ecosystem needed to kick-start and support ICT innovation among small businesses in the countries of the Eastern Neighbourhood. In…

EaPConnect: supporting academic publishing in Ukraine

The publication of scientific results has many benefits and digital publishing takes it all to a higher level, with opportunities for more open access to information and its wider reach. In Ukraine, there was little digital publishing of academic articles and journals until 2011. That year, URAN Pub…

Broadband infrastructure mapping: outcomes from the first regional workshop of EaP and the World Bank Group

On 20-21 February 2020, the first Regional Workshop of the EaP and the World Bank on broadband infrastructure mapping took place at the headquarters of the Polish Regulator – the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) in Warsaw.  The workshop organised for representatives of the Eastern part…

Georgia to offer online course on Innovation and Technology

Online courses on entrepreneurship, technology and innovation will be launched in Georgia shortly, under the initiative of the Innovation and Technology Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the University of Business and Technology. The courses will involve professors an…

IT scholarships for young people in Balti and Cahul regions

Two projects are together launching scholarships for IT training programmes in the Balti and Cahul regions of Moldova. In order to extend development opportunities in the regions and to create the premises for connecting human capital with local IT companies, the Tekwill Project (funded by USAID and…

EU4Digital launches activities to harmonise eCommerce between EU and Eastern partner countries

Activities to harmonise eCommerce between the EU and the Eastern partner countries were launched on 12 February as part of the eTrade component of the EU4Digital Facility. Electronic commerce – or eCommerce – refers to the buying and selling of goods and services from anywhere in the world through c…

Register now for 42 Yerevan – free programming school supported by the EU

Registration at 42 Yerevan is now open for a completely free programming school that will see you go from zero experience in the field to a programming guru ready to take on the job market, as part of a project funded by the European Union.  42 Yerevan is a tuition…

Cloud workshop brings together major providers with research and education networks from EU and Eastern partner countries

Cloud managers from European research and education networks and leading cloud suppliers came together for a range of training activities during a workshop organised by the EU-funded EaPConnect and GÉANT projects. Participants met on 4-5 March in Nicosia, Cyprus, hosted by CyNet. The event was arran…

Robotics sets distributed in 45 schools in Moldova

More students across the Republic of Moldova will have an opportunity to develop the skills needed for 21st century careers, after 45 schools, 26 of them in rural areas, received robotics sets from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, as part of a proje…

International roaming and regulatory independence discussed during EU4Digital country visits in Armenia and Ukraine

In February 2020, the EU4Digital team carried out country visits to Armenia and Ukraine focused on issues related to International Roaming and Regulatory Independence. The meetings were attended by the main local stakeholders, including representatives from National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs…

EU and Council of Europe bring 30 countries together in Tbilisi to discuss cybercrime

On 26-28 February, the EU and the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) organised an international meeting in Tbilisi for foreign service providers from across the world to discuss challenges and future cooperation to combat cybercrime.  Cooperat…

Georgia: innovation start-up camp for students

An Innovation Start-up Camp for Students will be held in Bakuriani, Georgia, from March 12 to March 15. The camp is organised by the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), in the framework of the World Bank’s National Innovation Ecosystem project. The main topic of the camp will be biotec…

Germany interested in investing in Belarusian start-ups

On February 5, a German parliamentary delegation visited the Belarus Hi-Tech Park in Minsk. The delegation was led by Mark Hauptmann, member of the Bundestag Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy, and head of the German-Belarusian friendship group. The German delegation was particularly…

Armenian Enterprise Incubator Foundation supporting Moldova in development of IT education strategy

The Armenian Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) has announced that it is actively working on the development of the Moldovan IT Education Strategy.  The foundation said it had carried out extensive research to understand the existing situation in Moldova and the key bottleneck…

Ukraine: new telecoms legislation to provide consumer protection, transparent rules for operators and integration with the EU

The digital divide doesn’t allow millions of Ukrainians to take advantage of high-quality digital services and modern educational opportunities as well as unlock entrepreneurial potential on a daily basis, according to the EU-supported Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), which aims to change t…

Mentorship scheme for EaP research & education networks starts with Armenia-Germany alliance

Collaboration on emergency response testing and optimisation of the eduroam wifi roaming service were the subject of two agreements recently signed between the Armenian and German national research and education networking (NREN) organisations ASNET-AM and DFN.  Representati…

CyberEast: project steering committee meets to discuss way forward

The European Commission and the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) held the first steering committee of the ‘CyberEast: Action on Cybercrime for Cyber Resilience in the Eastern Partnership Region’project on 13-14 February in Kyiv, Ukraine. The…

Moldova and Belarus hold talks on reduction of roaming charges

Moldova and Belarus have held talks on reducing roaming charges between the two countries, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure in Chisinau said in a press release on 20 February. The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure held a round of negotiations, via videoco…

eCustoms working meeting with Belarus and Lithuania for customs information exchange pilot

Following the European Commission’s confirmation of Belarus and Lithuania as pilot countries for the EU-EaP customs information exchange pilot, the first eCustoms working meeting with confirmed pilot countries will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania on 27 February. The event is organised by EU4Digital Fa…

EaP countries on study visit to Moldova to learn about experience of e-transformation of governance and modernisation of public services

Moldova’s E-Government Agency, in partnership with GIZ, on 18-19 February hosted colleagues and representatives of other countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine – for a study visit on…

New IT Hub opens in Tbilisi

The opening ceremony of IT HUB Tbilisi will take place at the TechPark in the Georgian capital on 22 February. The launch of this new educational centre is carried out jointly by StrategEast Georgia (the Georgian affiliate of the US-based StrategEast Centre) and the leading US engineering company EP…

Hash Code 2020

The Generator Hub in Chisinau hosts Google’s #HashCode team-based programming competition on 20 February. The competition for programmers, both beginner student developers and experienced professionals will traditionally take place in several stages, with the first online qualification…

eHealth workshop highlights key areas for development in Eastern partner countries

The EU4Digital eHealth team held an online video workshop on 11 February bringing together stakeholders from the six Eastern partner countries to facilitate collaboration in the area of eHealth. The workshop first focused on discussing the results of the project’s eHealth harmonization and interoper…

Creative Touch event for digital professionals in Georgia

The Creative Touch event for digital creative professionals takes place in Kazbegi in the mountains of Georgia on 27-29 February. Participants will hear industry insights from the brightest minds representing companies like DreamWorks Animation, Smashing Media, Wargaming, Scorpion Dagger, Revolver E…

Moldova: more than 32,000 have electronic signatures for government e-services

Another 18,000 Moldovans received an electronic signature from the Centre of information technologies in finance (CTIF) in 2019, with 11.8% more new users than in 2018. At the end of 2019, the total number of natural and legal persons with electronic signatures issued by the CTIF…

EU and Ukraine sign agreement for €25 million programme for e-governance and the digital economy

Ukraine and the European Union on 11 February signed an agreement for a new €25 million EU programme supporting e-governance and digital economy in Ukraine. The agreement was signed by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba and visiting EU…

Women in Data Science initiative coming to Armenia with events in Yerevan and Ashtarak

As the new partner of Stanford University’s Women in Data Science initiative (WiDS), Armenia’s Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) in partnership with Innovative Solutions and Technology Center (ISTC), will organise two conferences on the topic of Women in D…

Moldova: report identifies major gender gap in ICT professions

Women and girls occupy only 31% of jobs in the ICT sector in Moldova and only 19% of digital professions, according to a study released by the National Bureau of Statistics.  Only 4.6% of the girls studying in higher education choose STEM (Science, Technologies, Engineering and Mathem…

Ukraine: Ministry of Digital Transformation launches Digital Skills platform

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation on 21 January launched a national online platform in Digital Skills – https://osvita.diia.gov.ua/. An edutainment format has been chosen for the platform: instead of lessons, there are educational series with experts and celebrities, for…

EaP countries among cheapest in the world for broadband

The countries of the Eastern Partnership are among the cheapest in the world for broadband, with Ukraine coming in second and Belarus fifth out of 206 measured, according to research by Cable.co.uk. Ukraine is the cheapest country in the EaP with an average package price of just …

Moldova boasts dynamic growth in IT sector

Turnover in the IT industry in Moldova has grown more than two and a half times in the past three years, Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has told the ‘Digital Almaty: Digital Future of Global Economy’ forum in Kazakhstan. Ion Chicu told the opening of the forum that consolidation of the IT sector…

Belarus: Prime Minister says IT sphere is national priority

The IT sphere is a national priority for the development of Belarus, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas told the Digital Future of the Global Economy forum in Almaty on 31 January, the BelTA news agency reported. “With the ambitious goal of creating an IT country, w…

Belarus: Prime Minister says IT sphere is national priority

The IT sphere is a national priority for the development of Belarus, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas told the Digital Future of the Global Economy forum in Almaty on 31 January, the BelTA news agency reported. “With the ambitious goal of creating an IT country, w…

Belarus: Prime Minister says IT sphere is national priority

The IT sphere is a national priority for the development of Belarus, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Rumas told the Digital Future of the Global Economy forum in Almaty on 31 January, the BelTA news agency reported. “With the ambitious goal of creating an IT country, w…

From start-up ecosystems to innovation funding: EU4Digital begins ICT legislation gap analysis across priority areas

The EU4Digital Facility has begun the EU-Eastern Partnership (EaP) legislation gap analysis in the priority ICT policy areas that have been selected by the EaP partner countries. The completed gap analysis will be the starting point for the development of recommendations favouring ICT innovation in…

Roundtable on digital skills and jobs in Minsk

A roundtable on digital skills and jobs took place on 19 December 2019 in Minsk, underlining the economic potential that digital skills transformation could unlock in Belarus. The event was organised by the ‘Infopark’ Association within the framework of the project “Promoting the formation of an age…

eSkills Network Workshop in Tbilisi highlights developments in digital skills

The 7th eSkills Network Workshop took place in Tbilisi, Georgia on 17-18 December 2019, highlighting latest developments in the field of digital skills and discussing the current baseline for the measurement of digital skills indicators in the Eastern Partner countries. The EU4Digital Digi…

EU4Digital eHealth information and collaboration online workshop

The EU4Digital eHealth team is organising an online workshop on 11 February to bring together stakeholders from the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries to facilitate collaboration in the area of eHealth. The aim of the information and communication online workshop will be to address coinciding c…

EaP Connect Cybersecurity Workshop

Building on the success of the first EaPConnect Cybersecurity workshop, which took place in Berlin on 27-28 June 2018, this second event, rescheduled for 2-3 September 2020 (TBC) in Tbilisi will go into more technical areas of cybersecurity. Local host GRENA will present an overview o…

1st EaP Regional Workshop on Broadband Development

The workshop is organised under the EU4Digital Initiative by the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg), in cooperation with the World Bank Group and the Office for Electronic Communication…

Meeting of the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group

The 9th meeting of the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg) will be held on 3-4 March 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia. The event will be organised by the IRB EWG and financed by the Europea…

Implementation of LTE-900 high-speed mobile Internet on track with joint statement by largest operators in Ukraine

The three largest operators in Ukraine, Kyivstar, lifecell and Vodafone Ukraine have submitted a joint statement on redistribution of the 900 MHz band and separate applications for licence renewal to the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and…

Moldovan telecoms regulator examined 182 petitions in 2019

Moldova’s National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) registered and examined 182 petitions, received from users of electronic communications and postal services in 2019, a decrease of 32% compared to 2018. Of the total number…

Moldova: looking for innovative ideas for ICT education and training

The National Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) in Moldova is launching the second edition of its ‘Uteach’ programme, as part of the ‘Tekwill Ambassador Programme’. The initiative provides development opportunities and resources for education in the fiel…

Five more technology parks to be opened in Belarus

Five new technology parks are to be created in Belarus, in Baranovichi, Borisov, Bobruisk, Orsha and Molodechno, the Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology, Alexander Shumilin, has announced. There are currently 16 technology parks and nine technology transfer centres in Bela…

EU provides Georgia with cybercrime investigation software

On 21 January, the EU, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), donated new ID verification technology and cybercrime investigation software to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia. The equipment will help the MIA to conduct in-depth checks o…

Cybercrime training for Ukrainian judges

The EU-funded CyberEast project held a four-day judicial training on cybercrime for Ukrainian judges in Lviv, from 21-24 January. The training was organised by the National School of Judges of Ukraine within the framework and with support of ‘CyberEast: Action on Cybercrime for C…

Moldovan government approves changes to procedures for electronic customs clearance of goods

The Moldovan government has approved changes to the procedures for the electronic customs clearance of goodsin a decision taken by the Cabinet on 15 January. The changes include:  – the extension of the electronic declaration procedure for the “re-export” customs destin…

Moldova set to increase validity of electronic signature

Moldova looks set to increase the validity of electronic signatures from one to two years, with no additional cost, in a move aimed to meet business demands. Finance Minister Sergiu Puşcuţa told a Cabinet meeting last week that he had discussed the issue with the Inform…

Music and technology connect traditions in Baku-Tallinn concert premiere

A world premiere of new compositions for traditional instruments was at the heart of ‘Connecting Traditions’, a ‘distributed’ concert that brought together performers located in Baku, Azerbaijan and Tallinn, Estonia on 20 December 2019.  The concert was organised in Baku by …

EuCNC 2020 “The Connectivity Revolution” – Save the date and open calls

EuCNC 2020, held from 15-18 June, is the 29th edition of a successful series of technical conferences in the field of Telecommunications, sponsored by IEEE ComSoc and EURASIP, and financially supported by the European Commission.  This year’s motto is “The Connectivity Revolution”. Calls for papers,…

International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) 2020

One of the leading European events on cybersecurity and digital trust, the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) will be held on 28, 29 and 30 January 2020 in Lille, France.  It is not only a forum which fosters reflection and exchanges among the European cybersecurity ecosystem but also a tr…

Georgia approves broadband development strategy 2020-2025

As part of Georgia’s programme on Broadband Infrastructure Development, the strategy for the development of broadband networks 2020-2025 was approved by the government on 9 January. According to Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava, the strategy aims not only at creating inf…

Tekwill Academy Open Doors Day

The Tekwill Academy in Chisinau is holding an open day on 18 January for anyone who wants to know more about the latest courses and trends in the field of IT. The open day provides an opportunity to explore career opportunities in Software Development, Security, Quality Assurance, Pro…

Cost of registering ‘.md’ domain name cut by 33%

The cost for registration services of the ‘.md’ domain name has been reduced by 33%, the Information Technology and Cyber ​​Security Service of the Republic of Moldova (STISC) announced on 2 January.  The new year also sees the STISC absorbing…

Moldovan e-government project in the spotlight

Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Chicu has held a meeting to examine the progress of the implementation of the e-government project, Unimedia reported on 4 January.  “The digitalization and massive implementation of Information Technologies is a priority of the Government,” …

Roaming charges between Belarus and Russia to be abolished by September 2020

The Belarusian and Russian communications ministries have signed a roadmap on abolishing roaming charges between the two countries.  Under the roadmap on the abolition of roaming charges, the relevant legislative framework is expected to be ready by March 2020, and charges should be cancelled n…

Do you enjoy programming? Try your powers at Game of Codes

Young programming enthusiasts are invited to participate in the ‘Game of Codes’ (GOC), a programming contest organised by Tekwill Academy Kids in Chisinau on 24 December. The competition is aimed at teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18, whether they are beginners or already have advanced knowledg…

Innovation start-up grants in Georgia: apply before 27 December

Small enterprises in Georgia have until 27 December to apply start-up grants financed by Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA). The objective of the programme is to stimulate innovation and the creation of innovative enterprises in the Georgian economy throu…

Belarus: regional innovation centre to be created in Molodechno as part of EU-funded project

A regional innovation centre is being created In Molodechno, Belarus, as part of an EU-funded project implemented by the UNDP. The Technopark is planned to open its doors by the end of 2020. The EnCata-Mol Techpark project was announced on 10 December as the winner of a competition of initiatives ai…

Competition on mobile robotic systems and the Internet of Things in Chisinau

An international competition on mobile robotic systems and the Internet of Things (IoT) is taking place on 12-13 December at the Faculty of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics in Chisinau. The ‘EARTH ROVER: Connecting Things – 2019’ competition this year also features…

Market value of fixed broadband Internet access services in Moldova exceeded 1 billion lei in first nine months of 2019

Between January and September 2019, the market for fixed broadband Internet access services in Moldova registered a significant increase, with the volume of sales rising by 6.1% year-on-year to reach 1.16 billion lei. The number of subscribers also i…

EaP Connect training boosts AzScienceNet network service capabilities for research

Staff at the Azeri research network AzScienceNet have received training under the EU-funded EaPConnect project, boosting their ability to integrate the local scientific community with their peers in Europe. Since the series of trainings in October, which focused on the operation and config…

Renaissance music techniques meet cutting edge technology to connect Armenia and Italy

When 17th century composers created music to be performed in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, little did they realise that their ground-breaking musical techniques would allow a 21st century performance across a record-breaking 5,000 kilometres. Or that this would create a musical connection…

EU-backed e-procurement tool MTender saves Moldova €25 million

MTender, an electronic public procurement system supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union, has helped Moldova save €25 million since it was launched in late 2018. The savings represent the difference between the budgeted value of procuremen…

Georgia: meeting on eSignatures and electronic service portal

The Data Exchange Agency of Georgia’s Ministry of Justice of Georgia has held a meeting for staff of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia regarding the use of the Unified Portal of Electronic Services (My.gov.ge) and electronic signatures.  The aim of the meeting was to raise the…

CyberEast: pilot judicial training in Ukraine

As part of CyberEast, a joint project of the European Union and the Council of Europe, a group of around 30 judges from across Ukraine, together with National School of Justice staff and trainers, last month received training through an introductory course on Cybercrime, Ele…

Increasing demand for 4G mobile Internet in Moldova

The number of users accessing data through 4G mobile Internet in Moldova is up 55% to almost 1.6 million people, according to data released by the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) for the first nine months of 2019. The total number of m…

Moldova: volume of voice traffic in mobile networks tops 4.6 billion minutes in first nine months of 2019

Statistical data on the evolution of the market in mobile telephony services, aggregated by the National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI), shows an increase in voice traffic in the first nine months of this year….

Belarusian banks to be tested for cyber resilience

The head of the central banking supervision department of the National Bank of Belarus, Mashnina Yelena, has announced that nine Belarusian banks will undergo an IT audit to test their cyber resilience.  The IT audit will be composed of the following stages: analysis of the current state of inf…

Belarus to develop 5G strategy

Belarus is to set up a working group to develop a strategy for creating fifth generation (5G) cellular mobile telecommunication network in the country, following an order of the Prime Minister, dated 20 November. The working group is entrusted with the duties of:  Elaboration of the strategy on…

NerUzh 2.0 Diaspora Startup Programme launch

The NerUzh 2.0 Diaspora Startup Programme is organized with the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry with the aim of supporting diaspora entrepreneurs to launch start-ups in Armenia. The target sectors of the programme include Fintech, Social T…

Realising Armenia’s Technology Potential

EU4Digital’s Armenia HDM (Harmonisation of Digital Markets) coordinator will participate in a panel discussion during a workshop on “Realizing Armenia’s Technology Potential” hosted by the World Bank Group in Armenia on 11 December. The workshop brings together various institutions of the Government…

Stimulating the growth of blockchain: ICT Innovation event brings together EaP experts for three days of networking

The EU4Digital Facility brought together 20 experts from the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries for a three-day ICT Innovation networking event around the issue of blockchain, which took place in Malaga, Spain on 11-13 November. The networking event was aimed at EaP startups and scaleups, busin…

New EU Twinning project to help Ukraine improve electronic communications regulatory framework

A new EU-funded Twinning project to improve quality of service and market access in telecommunications in Ukraine was launched on November 29, involving a Consortium of Lithuanian and Latvian regulatory authorities in cooperation with the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communic…

Ukraine: Ministry launches website for measuring speed of broadband Internet connection

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has launched a website (www.broadband.gov.ua) measuring consumers’ broadband Internet connection speed and allowing them to share feedback on the connection quality.  The aim is to draw a map of the Internet coverage of Ukraine. According to the…

Digital Ukraine: round-up of developments from the Ministry of Digital Transformation in November

Electronic driving licences, cryptocurrency legislation and developments in eHealth are among the digital developments overseen by the Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine in the past month, according to a round-up by the Rubryka.com online media. E-Driving Licences and Technical…

Digital Transport Corridor workshops take place in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania

Digital Transport Corridor working meetings were organised by the EU4Digital Facility in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania on 25, 26 and 28 November. The aim of the meetings was to present and discuss the concept of a Digital Transport Corridor between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, the situation in…

Georgia: recommendations for national roaming and mobile virtual network operator access

Georgia’s National Communications Commission has published a set of ‘Recommendations for Conditions of National Roaming and Mobile Virtual Network Operator Access’, developed under an agreement between the Commission and PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory LLC. The purpose of the document is to est…

Meeting to discuss national cyber security strategy in Georgia

A donor coordination meeting was organised in Tbilisi by the Georgian Data Exchange Agency (DEA) and the British Embassy to discuss the 3rd National Strategy for Cyber ​​Security, the DEA reported on 27 November. The process of developing the strategy and its action plan is currently in its final st…

Digital transformation in focus at Minsk international conference

More than 200 participants learned about the EU-funded EaPConnect project and the Belarusian research and education network BASNET at an international conference in Minsk on 21 November. The RINTI 2019 conference was organised by the United Institute of Informatics Prob…

Special training provides computer security boost for Eastern Partnership research and education

The EU-funded EaPConnect project has been supporting partners in the Eastern Partnership region to build up collaboration across computer security teams in different geographic locations and disciplines, a crucial task in maintaining research and education networks supported by the pr…

Cloud platforms for research in focus at EaPConnect workshop

Knowledge sharing on the uses of cloud platforms in research and education was the purpose of a two-day workshop organised by the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project and the Italian national research and education network (NREN) GARR in Rome on 21-22 Novemb…

Broadband access is ‘key to digital transformation of Ukraine’

Broadband access is an essential driver for the development of the Ukrainian economy and society, the head of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) told the “Digital Transformation 2019” Forum in Kyiv on 26 November. The forum was organised by Huawei Ukraine in partne…

Minsk named one of the best tech start-up hubs in Europe

Minsk has been named as one of the three best cities in Europe for the development of IT start-ups in the annual State of European Tech 2019 report by the Atomico Investment Fund. The other two cities are Cluj-Napoca in Romania and Delft in the Netherlands. Minsk is also among the top 20 c…

Focus on Georgian community Internet access at European Community Networks Summit in Tbilisi

The European Community Networks Summit was held in Tbilisi on November 14-15, with a special focus on the successful implementation of projects on community Internet access in mountainous regions of Georgia.  The Summit was organised by the global nonprofit organisation the Internet Society (IS…

Development of digital economy is top priority, Deputy Minister tells Internet Governance Forum in Georgia

The development of Georgia’s digital economy is one of the government’s top priorities, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development has told the fifth Georgian Internet Governance Forum (GeoIGF), held on 12-13 November, and co-organised by the Ministry. The Forum – held annually in Ge…

Eastern Partnership countries agree principles of Regional Roaming Agreement

The basic principles of a Regional Roaming Agreement for the Eastern Partnership countries have been agreed at the Roaming Stakeholder Meeting of the Network of Eastern Partnership Regulators for Electronic Communications (EaPeReg) held in Vilnius, Lithuania on 12 November. The agreement is exp…

Future priorities in focus at eTrade Network workshop

Future pilot actions and priorities were discussed at the 7th eTrade Network Workshop, which took place in Helsinki, Finland on 9-11 October. During the first day of the workshop, participants also took part in the Digital Transport Days – an EU event dedicated to the digitalization of trade, t…

EU4Digital team conducts site visit to Lithuania-Belarus border crossing point

Members of the EU4Digital Facility team and officials from the European Commission have visited a crossing point on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border (Medininkai/Kamennyj Log) to get acquainted with local circumstances and the situation relating to cargo traffic on the external land border of the Eur…

Assessment of regulatory independence discussed at EU4Digital Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group meeting

The Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) has met to discuss assessment of the independence of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs). The meeting took place in Hera…

Cyber security specialists gather in Chisinau for Moldova Cyber Week 2019

The event brought together participants from the US, Switzerland, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania and other states, as well as several senior Moldovan government officials. Prime Minister Ion Chicu addressed the opening of the event: “One country does not have the resources a…

E-commerce Association established in Belarus

The Association of E-commerce (APOT) has been created in Belarus, with the aim of representing the interests of e-commerce entrepreneurs, developing proposals to improve conditions for online sales, and exchange experience with similar business communities in other countries. Belarusian businesses e…

Digital Skills and Jobs roundtable in Minsk

A ‘Digital Skills and Jobs’ roundtable was organised on 19 December, 2019 in Minsk, as part of the EU4Digital Initiative. The main goal of the round table was to discuss the need to consolidate the community interested in the development of digital skills and jobs in Belarus, to introduce a director…

eSkills network workshop in Tbilisi

An eSkills network workshop was organised by EU4Digital in Tbilisi on 17-18 December.  The main goal of the eSkills network workshop was to enable the Eastern Partner countries to exchange insights and latest developments in the field of digital skills and to discuss the current baseline in the part…

Austria to assist Belarus with 5G roll-out

The Austrian and Belarusian governments have signed a joint declaration agreeing to cooperate in the deployment of Belarus’ 5G network, the Belarusian state news agency Belta has reported. Speaking after a meeting between members of the two governments, Belarusian Economy Minister Dmitry Krutoi said…

Tech women ambassadors – new initiative to inspire girls and women to pursue career in IT

A new initiative has been launched in Moldova to encourage women to pursue careers in IT. The ‘Tech Women Ambassadors’ programme is led by the Tekwill project and the Tech Women Community, and is designed to enhance and facilitate the transfer of knowledge, motivation and experience between Informat…

Moldova Cyber Week 2019 – Regional Cyber Security Forum

A regional Cyber Security Forum takes place in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on November 19-20, supported by the European Union, as part of Moldova Cyber ​​Week 2019. The event takes place at the ICT Centre of Excellence in the ‘Tekwill’ area (9/11 Student str.), organised by the…

Better and cheaper Internet for research and education in the South Caucasus, thanks to EaPConnect

Students, researchers and academics in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will be able to better collaborate internationally thanks to improved Internet connectivity at more competitive market prices, achieved with the support of the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project. Prices fo…

Roaming Stakeholder Meeting

The Roaming Stakeholders Meeting will be held on 12 November 2019 in Vilnius, Lithuania to discuss options for concluding a Regional Roaming Agreement.  The event will be organised by the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT), as the Co-Chair of the Roaming Expe…

Internet switched on in Georgian mountain villages

More than a thousand people in 76 mountain villages in Georgia have been connected to the Internet as part of a government project to support the development of mountain regions. The Pshav-Khevsureti and Gudamakari Community Internet Project is being implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Sustai…

Moldova rolls out online health information and tracking system

Moldova’s National Medical Insurance Company (CNAM) is rolling out an online information system for reporting and keeping track of medical services. The CNAM told medical providers the system would start being tested by medical service providers from November. The system will all…

Azerbaijan holds its second Innovation Week

For the second year, Baku has hosted InnoWeek, an event dedicated to innovation and technology, from 18-24 October, which also included a two-day eTrade forum. The event was organised by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies and the Heydar Aliyev Centre. Among the InnoWeek…

14th EaPeReg Plenary meeting

The 14th Plenary Meeting of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) will take place in Riga, Latvia on November 27, 2019. The event will be organised by Sabiedrisko pakalpojumu regulēšanas komisija (SPRK) as a Vice – Chair of th…

Telecom workshop on roaming issues

A workshop on ‘Issues related to Roam Like at Home (RLAH) and National Roaming’ will take place in Riga, Latvia on 26 November 2019. The event will be organized by Sabiedrisko pakalpojumu regulēšanas komisija (SPRK) as a Vice-Chair of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Com…

EU supports resilience of Ukraine’s electoral system against cyber threats and disinformation campaigns

On October 31, the Estonian Centre of Eastern Partnership (ECEAP) in cooperation with CybExer Technologies (CybExer) and Ukraine Crisis Media Centre held a conference in Kyiv on ‘Disinformation and Cyber Security during Elections in Ukraine: Lessons Learned and Future Steps’. The conference conclude…

Azerbaijani officials to visit Estonia for study visit on cyber security

Three senior officials from Azerbaijan’s Cyber Security Service under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies travel to Estonia on 12-13 November for an EU-funded study visit to learn and discuss Estonia’s experience in developing and i…

Electronic digital signatures for Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange

On November 1, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) started issuing free electronic digital signatures (EDS) for participation in exchange trades. Both Belarusian and foreign companies are now eligible for receiving an EDS free of charge. This is supposed to make BUCE trading platforms…

Digital Solutions for Cross-Border Cooperation and Trade Facilitation

A conference on ‘Digital Solutions for Cross-Border Cooperation and Trade Facilitation’ is being organised In Yerevan, Armenia on 18-19 November by the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Armenia, together with UNDP, ICMPD and the European Union within the framework of the EU-funded ‘Migratio…

Belarus: new application helps doctors connect with Ministry of Health

A new application has been launched for doctors in Belarus to allow them easy access to all the clinical protocols set out by the Ministry of Health. ‘Lekar Pro’ is available on Android and iOS, and contains the full database of clinical protocols of the Ministry of Health of Belarus, according to d…

Free IT training programme for girls and women in Moldova

Girls and women from Moldova can benefit from new career opportunities by signing up forthe second edition of the National IT Training Programme. The deadline for registration is 1 November. The current edition will allow participants to opt for one of the 3 study areas: Front-End Development, Softw…

Moldova: cyber security training for ministry employees

A cyber security training was held on 23 October for more than 50 employees of the Republic of Moldova’s Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure. The ministry staff were acquainted with the challenges and risks arising from the cyber environment and provided with the minimum necessary…

Information technologies in education – Moldova signs agreement with Development Partners

The Republic of Moldova has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with development partners on the efficient implementation of information technologies in the educational system. The agreement was between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECC), the Compet…

Moldova and Poland strengthen ties between regulatory authorities in the field of electronic communications

A delegation from the Polish regulatory authorities for electronic communication carried out a working visit to Chisinau on October 22-23at the invitation of their Moldovan counterparts. The National Agency for Regulation in Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI)hosted t…

ICT Career Orientation 2019 Chisinau

On 31 October, young people interested in the opportunity of a career or growth prospects in the IT field are invited to attend ICT Career Orientation in Chisinau, Moldova’s largest professional orientation event in the field of Information and Communication Techno…

Eastern Partnership Annual Conference for Research and Innovation takes place in Chisinau

Moldova’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Research with the support of the European Union’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and the Directorate-General Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations on 21 October organised theannual Easte…

Chisinau hosts meeting of Expert Group on Radio Frequency Spectrum in the Eastern Partnership

Between 8 and 10 October, Moldova’s National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) hosted the 9th Expert Group meeting of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) on the Radio Frequency Spectrum (SEWG). The…

Second EaP eDemocracy Conference ‘Digitalisation and Transformation: Effects on Democracy’

The 2nd Eastern PartnershipeDemocracy Conference in Lviv on 22 November will assemble eDemocracy, eParticipation and open government experts, academia, representatives of civil society and business from the EaP Partner Countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) and EU Me…

TAIEX Workshop on cybersecurity professionals’ partnership and information sharing capabilities

On 28-29 October, a TAIEX Workshop on cybersecurity professionals’ partnership and information sharing capabilities takes place in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. The aim of the workshop is to consolidate the capacities of the General Police Inspectorate in order to prevent and combat cyber…

Expert Mission on Cybercrime Investigation

On 4-6 November 2019, an EU expert mission on cybercrime investigation will take place in Yerevan, Armenia. The mission will provide an overview of the different approaches to cybercrime investigation and forensic capacities, including technical measures and new methods in accordance…

TAIEX Workshop on regulatory obligations and disputes settlement in service-specific telecom markets

On 22-23 October, experts from several EU countries will visit Ukraine to participate in a workshop with the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization (NCCIR) on regulatory obligations and dispute settlement in service-specific telecom markets….

Skills are top priority for digital transformation in Belarus

Aspects of Belarus’ development in the digital environment were discussed during a report to Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 14 October. The meeting was attended by high-ranking government officials, state administration bodies, leading universities, and the IT sector. Proposals aimed at p…

Key digital issues in focus at World Congress in Information Technology in Yerevan

On October 7-9 Yerevan hosted the World Congress in Information Technology (WCIT), the signature event of the World Information Technology & Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of ICT associations from 83 countries.  The WCIT was based on four main pillars: speeches,…

StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum

The inaugural StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum to take place on 4-5 November 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The event will become a unique platform for dialogue between the governments of the countries of the Eurasian region and the leaders of the global IT industry. The StrategEast State and IT Eura…

ICT Innovation networking event

The EU4Digital Facility will host the 1st ICT Innovation networking event for EaP startups and scaleups, business associations, ICT infrastructure organisations and policy-makers related to blockchain, at Convergence – The Global Blockchain Congress 2019 on 11-13 November in Malaga, Spain….

Ukraine launches pilot project to digitize customs clearance procedure

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has approved a decision creating a number of territorial units of the State Customs Service and introducing a pilot project to digitize the process of submission of orders for carrying out customs inspections of goods and transport.  From now on, the procedure will be…

Digital opportunities for business and citizens : EU4Digital launch in Chisinau

EU support on digital harmonisation will deliver improved and cheaper online services for citizens and business, attract investments and boost trade and jobs, an event to present the new EU4Digital Facility heard in Chisinau on 2 October. The EU4Digital Facility, funded by the European Union to…

Connecting with culture at the Eastern Partnership E-infrastructures Conference

Yerevan hosted a cultural-technological ‘first’ in Armenia as choirs in Italy and Armenia performed together live thanks to data transfer technology introduced in Armenia by the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project. The performance took place at EaPEC 2019, the 4th Eastern…

Memorandum signed to support broadband development in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) has signed a memorandum on cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization (NCCIR),…

Belarus becomes first country to make IPv6 mandatory for ISPs

Belarus has become the first country in the world to legally mandate support for IPv6 – the latest version of the Internet Protocol, the glue that keeps the whole internet together. Starting January 1, 2020, all Belarusian internet service providers will have to support the IPv6 protocol on their ne…

EU4Digital Steering Committee: focus on key priorities in digital support to Eastern Partners

The EU4Digital Facility held its first Steering Committee in Brussels on 17 September 2019, reviewing progress in the first six months of the project’s implementation, as well as upcoming priorities under the EU4Digital Initiative. The purpose of the meeting was to provide key stakeholders with an o…

Workshop highlights lack of regional cooperation on cyber security in energy sector

A workshop on cyber security in the energy sector took place in Vienna on 17 September 2019, organised by the Energy Community Secretariat. The workshop, which brought together more than 40 participants from the ministries, regulatory bodies and operators of critical electricity and gas infrast…

Ukraine adopts Regulation on the Ministry of Digital Transformation

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a Resolution on the activities of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, which also regulates its powers and spheres of responsibility. The relevant decision was made at a meeting of the Government on Wednesday, 18 September. The newly establis…

Releasing the power of AI in Belarusian biomedical imaging

Dr Vassili Kovalev, at the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, knows all about the importance of collaboration. As head of the Department of Biomedical Image Analysis, he and his team found that only by looking outwards could they overcome an obst…

EU4Digital team visits Montenegro to learn about customs data exchange system in Western Balkans

A team of EU4Digital eCustoms experts, together with customs officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova, travelled to Podgorica in July for a fact-finding visit to the Montenegrin Customs Administration to learn about the benefits of the SEED electronic data exchange system and see how…

eTrade Network 7th Workshop

The 7th eTrade Workshop will take place on 10-11 October 2019 in Helsinki, with the aim of presenting and discussing with the Network Working Groups the common vision and scope of the pilots and preparatory actions developed by the expert team of the EU4Digital Project for the respective eTrade, eCu…

World Congress in Information Technology: WCIT 2019 in Yerevan

The World Congress in Information Technology (WCIT) is to be held in Armenia from 6-9 October, including sessions on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and virtual reality, to smart cities and cyber security, climate change, and more. The event will be an opportunity to attract in…

Security Espresso Moldova conference

The Information Technology and Cyber ​​Security Servicein partnership with the Technical University of Moldova is organising the first edition of the Security Espresso Moldova conference, a one-day security and hacking event on information security control.The event takes place i…

Supporting the digital economy and society: spotlight on EU4Digital in Minsk

Key Belarusian stakeholders came together in Minsk on 5 September 2019 to hear about the work of EU4Digital in Belarus, in a launch event highlighting the impact of the EU-funded initiative on citizens and businesses. The aim of the event – organised with the support of the Delegation of the Europea…

EU support for telecommunications infrastructure at Belarus-Lithuania border

An EU-funded project for the development of telecommunications infrastructure at the Belarus-Lithuania border (BOMBEL-4), was officially launched in Minsk on 6 September.  The €3.7 million project is a follow-up to the BOMBEL-3 project (2009-2011), which enabled the Belarus Border Service to cr…

Supporting Excellence in National Research and Education: conference in Moldova

On 3 October, the Republic of Moldova will host a conference on research and education. Entitled ‘RENAM E-infrastructure – Supporting Excellence in National Research and Education’. The event is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Research and Educational Networking Association of Moldova (RENA…

Eastern Partnership E-Infrastructure Conference

Registration is now open for the 2019 Eastern Partnership E-infrastructures Conference, which will take place in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on 25–26 September. The conference’s theme this year will be “Connecting with Culture”. Policy makers, research managers and experts on networking, cultura…

Digital networks for the environment: EaP Connect supporting Moldovan science

Moldova regularly faces natural hazards in the form of droughts, floods and pollution. But funding for mitigation efforts is only received if and when these hazards occur. One Moldovan scientist is using the support of RENAM – the Research and Educational Networking Association of Moldova – and the…

Other Projects

Useful links

European Commission Digital Single Market  European Commission Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) Telecom rules European Commission Improving connectivity and access EaPeReg (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) EU Regula…

Officials discuss elimination of roaming charges between Moldova and Romania

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Nicu Popescu on 20 August held a video conference with Romanian government officials to discuss the elimination of roaming charges with Romania. “We have discussed with the representatives of the Government of Bucha…

EU project launched to assess telecoms legislation in Ukraine

An EU-funded project on telecommunication services was launched in Ukraine on 15 August 2019 aimed at assessing the compliance of telecoms legislation with EU laws. The project, ‘On-Site assessment of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement commitments on telecommunications services’, will take stock o…

The EU4Digital Initiative

The harmonisation of digital markets is one of the EU’s key policy deliverables for providing tangible results to citizens in the Eastern Partnership. EU support in this area is channelled through the EU4Digital Initiative, which brings together priority actions and programmes in the field. EU4Digit…

EU4Digital Facility

The EU4Digital Facility aims to extend the benefits of the European Union’s Digital Single Market to the Eastern Partner states, supporting them in reducing roaming tariffs, developing high-speed broadband to boost economies and expand e-services, harmonising digital frameworks across society in are…

Policy areas

In the framework of the EU4Digital Initiative, the European Union supports the digital economy and society in the Eastern Partner countries, fostering the harmonisation of digital markets in the region, in order to deliver integrated online services for citizens, public administrations and businesse…

EU4Digital: Connecting Research and Education Communities (EaPConnect)

EaPConnect (2020-2025 – €10 million) aims to bring together research and education communities from EU and Eastern partner countries and to reduce the digital divide. The project will extend network infrastructure to scale up scientific exchange across borders, offer new services to enhance internat…

Eastern Partnership

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova​ and Ukraine. The EU’s relations with its neighbo…

EU Digital Single Market

At a time when the internet and digital technologies are transforming our world, a Europe fit for the digital age  is one of the European Commission’s 6 political priorities, aiming to empower people with a new generation of technologies. Making the European Union’s single market fit for the digital…

EU4Digital: Cybersecurity East

The project focuses on further developing the approximation of all Eastern partner countries to the EU basic pillars on cybersecurity, taking into account the different level of advancement between the partner countries. Objectives The objective of the project is to develop technical and cooperation…

EU4Digital: Broadband Strategies in the EaP region

The project, implemented by the World Bank (WB), supports the Eastern Partner countries in their development and early implementation of national broadband strategies, in line with relevant EU best practices and strategies, through the provision of technical assistance and capacity building support….

Ukrainian operators reach agreement on 900MHz redistribution

Ukraine’s National Commission for State Regulation of Communications & Informatization has reported on its website that the country’s GSM 900MHz operators – Kyivstar, VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine) and Lifecell – have reached a “basic agreement on the redistribution of radio frequency resources”…

EU4Armenia: e-Gov Actions

The three-year project EU4Armenia: e-Gov Actions (2017-2020 – €5.65 million) aims to establish a governmental interoperability platform, enabling a simplified and standardised secure connectivity between all organisations of the public administration of Armenia, and to introduce a One-Stop-Shop solu…

Support to e-agriculture in Azerbaijan

The three-year project (2017-2020 – €1.2 million) seeks to enable fair and transparent distribution of agricultural subsidies, provide reliable data for use in policy making and the assessment of policy impacts, and ultimately help to improve the quality of life in rural areas.

Integrated Border Management on the Belarus-Ukraine Frontier

The project for the ‘Introduction of an automated intelligent video-control system at the Novaya Huta-Novi Yarilovychi road border crossing point on the Belarus-Ukraine frontier’ (2017-2019 – €0.8 million) aims to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of customs services working at t…

Strengthening the capacity of the Belarusian National Cadastral Agency

This EU-funded Twinning project for ‘Strengthening the capacity for geospatial data management and interoperability of the National Cadastral Agency’ (2019-2021- €1.2 million) aims to increase capacity for sharing spatial data, to enhance the e-services and IT capacity of the NCA, and strengthen cap…

Supporting the Georgian National Communications Commission

The purpose of this EU Twinning project ‘Supporting the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) in development of its electronic communications regulatory framework and operational capacities in line with EU regulatory framework’ (2017-2019 – €1.7 million) was to assist Georgia in the dev…

Support to the modernisation of the Customs Service of Moldova

The project for ‘Support to the modernisation of the Customs Service of Moldova in line with Association Agreement (AA) requirements’ (2017-2019 – €1 million) assists in the preparation for implementing the Single Window concept on goods imported into, exported from and in transit through Moldova, a…

EU4MOLDOVA: start-up city Cahul

The €7 million project (2020-2023) will support inclusive economic development by increasing the potential of the digital economy and enhancing regional competitiveness and its business and investment environment through: support to the creation of a Regional Innovation and Technology Centre; suppor…

Assessment of Ukraine’s e-governance policy framework

This two-year project for ‘Assessment of Ukraine’s e-governance policy framework in the light of the Public Administration Reform Strategy and cybersecurity challenges’ (2017-2019 – €300,000) aims to reinforce EU support to Ukraine’s policy framework and capacity development for e-governance. The ma…

Strengthening Ukraine’s National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization

This EU-funded Twinning project for ‘Strengthening the Regulatory Capacity of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization in the Areas of Market Access and Quality of Service Monitoring System’ (2019-2021 – €1.3 million) aims to improve performance in the a…

EGOV4Ukraine

Efficient provision of public services in Administrative Service Centres (ASCs) and the development of e-services are important for both citizens of large cities and hromadas. This process is supported by the EGOV4UKRAINE project, which is part of the EU-funded ‘U-LEAD with Europe’ Programme. Among…

7th Meeting of Roaming Expert Working Group (REWG)

The 7th meeting of the Roaming Expert Working Group (REWG) of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) will be held on 15-16 October 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic. The event will be organised by the Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) as the host party…

8th meeting of the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG)

The 8th meeting of the Independent Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) of the EaPeReg Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) will be held on 3-4 October 2019 in Heraklion, Greece. The event will be organised the IRB EWG and funded by the Europe…

9th Meeting of Spectrum Expert Working Group (SEWG)

The 9th Meeting of the Spectrum Expert Working Group (SEWG) of the EaPeReg  Network (Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network) will be held on 8-10 October 2019 in Chisinau, Moldova. The event will be organised by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communicati…

Competence Framework methodology: activity kick-off event and workshop

The kick-off event for the EU4Digital activity to ‘Define a common competence framework for SMEs and microbusinesses in the EaP region, based on similar EU efforts’ (Activity 6.2.) was held in Riga, Latvia on 1-2 October, together with the accompanying competence framework methodology workshop. The…

Telecom Rules

In support of these goals, the EU4Digital Facility will: Develop and implement a common approach to roaming pricing in the EaP region Strengthen the organisational and financial independence of National Regulatory Authorities  (NRA) for electronic communications Support a coordinated appro…

Trust and Security

EU4Digital supports the development of trust services in the digital economy, and cyber-security for improved resilience of critical infrastructure, as essential building blocks for interoperable cross-border eServices in the Eastern Partnership region.

eTrade

In support of these goals, the EU4Digital Facility will: Pilot cross-border eTrade components among EaP partner countries and with EU member states Promote networking between eTrade stakeholders in the region Pilot cross-border eCommerce enablers among EaP partner countries and with the EU Pilo…

ICT innovation

In support of these goals, the EU4Digital Facility will: Support the establishment of a common legislative framework on ICT innovation in the EaP Develop a common training package aimed at policy makers, ICT organisations and businesses Promote networking of innovation ecosystem players Extend…

eHealth

In support of these goals, the EU4Digital Facility will: Develop eHealth harmonisation guidelines and standards for the EaP region Establish a cross-border eHealth platform in the EaP region Involve the region in relevant EU projects, programmes and initiatives The Facility supports the actions…

eSkills

In support of these goals, the EU4Digital Facility will: Define a methodology for measuring and forecasting national digital skills gaps Define a common competence framework for SMEs and microbusinesses Create national coalitions for skills and jobs Carry out training seminars and workshops…

Armenia

EU4Digital builds on a long history of EU cooperation with Armenia in the field of e-government and digitisation, further strengthening EU-Armenia cooperation, with a focus on Telecom Rules, Trust and Security, e-Trade, ICT Innovation, e-Health, and e-Skills. The outcomes of the initiative will resu…

Azerbaijan

EU4Digital will improve the work of government institutions, boost economic diversification by promoting growth and jobs, and improve the life of Azerbaijani citizens. The harmonisation of digital markets will result in improved online services at better prices and with greater choice for all people…

Belarus

The harmonisation of digital markets in Belarus will result in increased competition, meaning improved online services at better prices and with greater choice. It will attract investments and boost trade and employment, contributing to the social and economic development of the country. Through the…

Georgia

The Initiative aims to extend the benefits of the EU’s Digital Single Market to Georgia and other Eastern Partnership countries, channelling EU support to develop the potential of the digital economy and society, in order to bring economic growth, generate more jobs, improve people’s lives and help…

Republic of Moldova

The harmonisation of digital markets in Moldova will result in increased competition, meaning improved online services at better prices and with greater choice. It will attract investments and boost trade and employment, contributing to the social and economic development of the country. Through the…

Ukraine

The harmonisation of digital markets in Ukraine will result in increased competition, meaning improved online services at better prices and with greater choice. It will attract investments and boost trade and employment, contributing to the social and economic development of the country. Among the t…

Success Stories

Events

News

‘One click and no bribes’: Zelensky signs decree on e-services

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on 30 July signed a decree ‘On some measures to improve the access of individuals and legal entities to electronic services’, aimed at streamlining and ensuring the transparency of state registries, developing modern e-identification tools, and implementation…

Strengthening cyber-security expertise in Georgia

Security of digital information is a major societal challenge. Georgia is keeping up with the global trend of developing cyber-security and interest in this field is noticeably increasing. GRENA, the Georgian Research and Educational Networking Association, is working with CERT.GOV.GE – the Georgian…

EU4DIGITAL INITIATIVE

Digital solutions for addressing community needs nominated for EU award at Hackathon in Georgia

Digital solutions for cleaner environment, better health and accessibility for all were the three ideas nominated for the EU Digitalisation for Civil Society Award by participants and mentors at the 2019 EaP Civil Society Hackathon, which took place on 14-16 Junein the Georgian capita…

Digital Ukraine: ambitious plan presented by the president’s digital advisor

The manager of Volodymyr Zelensky’s digital campaign during the Presidential elections and now adviser to the president, Mikhail Fedorov and his team have proposed an ambitious plan for the development of the country’s digital economy. Fedorov presented an overview of the plan in a meeting…

Supporting the development of Georgian telecoms regulation: EU Twinning project wraps up activities

On 5 July 2019, the closing conference of the EU-funded Twinning project on ‘Supporting the Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC) in developing of its electronic communications regulatory framework and operational capacities in line with EU regulatory framework’ was held in Tbi…

Privacy Policy

1. INTRODUCTION EU4Digital Facility is a programme funded by the European Union to promote key areas of the digital economy and society, in line with EU norms and practices. The programme is implemented by a consortium led by Ernst & Young Baltic UAB. The European Commission’s Directorate-Genera…

900 MHz band use would expand 4G coverage throughout Ukraine within year and a half

The use of low-frequency ranges (800-900 MHz) would allow Ukraine to increase the availability of 3G and 4G to 95% of the population within a year and a half and would facilitate the further introduction of 5G, according to an analysis of Frequency Spectrum Management conducted by the Bett…

Trust and Security Network workshop focuses on challenges and common priorities

The EU4Digital facility organised an EU4Digital Trust and Security Network workshop on 12-13 June In Chisinau, Moldova.  The main goal of the workshop was to get an update on countries’ priorities and challenges in the Trust & Security domain, and to identify common priorities regardin…

EU helps Shirak region become IT centre of Armenia

Information technologies (IT) are growing rapidly in Armenia. The country’s government announced IT as one of their priorities and recently decided to establish a Ministry of High Technologies. The Armenian government has also adopted laws according to which newly created IT startups will be granted…

Armenia: over 10 e-governance platforms introduced with EU support

On 10 June, the EU Delegation to Armenia and the country’s government presented new electronic instruments to promote transparency and openness of public governance in the country at an event in Yerevan. The event was held in the framework of the public awareness campaign for a new one-window s…

Georgian ICT companies meet Baltic counterparts at Forum in Tbilisi

A visit by leading Estonian and Latvian ICT companies to Georgia provided local ICT industry players with an opportunity to connect and explore possibilities for potential partnerships.  The delegation from the two Baltic states participated in an International ICT B2B Exchange event on 5 June,…

ICT Innovation in focus at network workshop in Baku

On 29-30 May, the EU4Digital Facility organised a workshop of the EU4Digital ICT Innovation Network in Baku, Azerbaijan to discuss the status of ICT innovation in the six partner countries, and priorities moving forward.  The main goal of the event was to present the specific work to…

Supporting the digital economy and society: EU4Digital programme launch in Baku

EU4Digital, a new programme funded by the European Union to support the digital economy and society, held its launch event in Baku on 31 May 2019, with the support of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan. The aim of the eve…

EU launches new EU4Digital programme in Ukraine targeting better online services

On 22 May, 2019, the European Union launched a new programme ‘EU4Digital: supporting digital economy and society in the Eastern Partnership’ in Ukraine. EU4Digital aims to extend the benefits of the European Union’s Digital Single Market to Ukraine and the other Eastern Partner states, in order to b…

Azerbaijan develops strategy for cyber security

Azerbaijan has developed a strategy on cyber security, which will cover the years 2019-2022, the Head of the Department of Innovative Development of Information Society and Electronic Governance told an event in Baku on 17 May, the Trend news agency reported. Rashad Azizov was speaking to the “FINTE…

Supporting the digital economy and society: presenting EU4Digital in Yerevan

EU4Digital, a new initiative funded by the European Union to support the digital economy and society, held an event to present the programme in Yerevan on 15 May 2019, with the support of the Delegation of European Union to Armenia and the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technol…

EU launches new project supporting digital economy and society in Georgia

On 13 May, the European Union held a launch event in Georgia for EU4Digital, a new regional programme supporting the digital economy and society in Georgia and the other countries of the Eastern Partnership. The project is funded by the EU and will work in Georgia with the Ministry of Economy and Su…

Training young people for a digital future in Armenia’s regions

Sustainable regional development in Armenia depends on overcomingthe gap between the capital Yerevan and the marzes (regions) by providing young people with the skills they need to fuel local economic growth. The Digital Pomegranate, an IT company based in Gyumri, the country’s second largest c…

Belarus President approves information security concept

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has signed the country’s Security Council’s resolution ‘On the concept of information security of the Republic of Belarus’. The concept takes into account proposals made during a Security Council meeting to consider the draft concept on 12 March.  In parti…

EU Commissioner visits Armenia to launch EU4Digital initiative

On 7 March the official launch of the EU-funded EU4Digital regional initiative took place in Yerevan in the presence of the Vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, the EU Ambassador, Piotr Świtalski, and the Armenian Minister of Tr…

Cybercrime – A Georgian prosecutor on challenges and EU support

Cyber blackmail, internet scams, dissemination of private videos, hacking of private bank accounts and theft – these are just some of the cases on which Mariam Gogoreliani, supervising prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, has been working since 2015. Fighting cybercrime within a single…

Eastern Partnership: promoting stronger digital economies for the EU’s six Eastern Partners

On 28 February, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, together with the European Commission, hosted the 3rd Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy in Bucharest.  The event brought together EU ministers responsible for the digital economy and their…

Karyna Litvinova: promoting the idea of electronic democracy for every community in Ukraine

Karyna Litvinova is a fellow of the EU-funded Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellowship Programme. She is a member of the E-Democracy Support Group the ‘Reanimation Package of Reforms’ and a co-author of an online course on digital social activism. Karyna is also the editor-in-chief of the digita…

Georgia introduces mandatory electronic signatures for online public transactions

From 1 January, 2019, it is mandatory for companies conducting business with administrative bodies of Georgia using electronic communication to sign documents using an eligible electronic signature or electronic stamp. Using a qualified electronic stamp and a qualified electronic…