Digital technology has become such an integral part of everyday life that it is hard to imagine a world without the internet, smartphones, or GPS navigation.
It has transformed how we live, work, and learn, making it easier to connect with people, boosting productivity, and granting access to vast academic and research resources.
New digital technologies are also improving healthcare, while breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) promise to aid in the global fights against climate change, poverty, and hunger. As the digital world evolves, faster and more reliable networks present exciting possibilities, but vulnerabilities and misuse have also emerged.
Dangerous threats such as fake news on social media, unethical hacking, online harassment, e-banking scams, and data theft must be curtailed, and children must be protected from inappropriate content.
Misinformation and disinformation have distorted facts around elections, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Meanwhile, experts are warning about the rapid growth of AI and its associated risks if left unchecked.
Society is still adapting to this new digital era, and the European Commission’s digital decade policy programme aims to create a safe, sustainable, and successful digital future for all businesses and citizens by 2030.
Digital Decade
The Digital Decade sets clear, ambitious targets for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030. These goals are built on four cardinal points and for Ireland, home to the European headquarters of many leading technology companies, they are particularly relevant.
Digital Decade targets for 2030 include:
- Skills: At least 80% of adults should have basic digital skills. The target also includes employing 20 million ICT specialists, with a focus on increasing the number of women in these roles.
- Infrastructure: Gigabit internet in every EU household, and 5G coverage in every populated area.
- Business: Cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence should be used by at least three out of four companies. Over 90% of SMEs should achieve a basic level of digital intensity.
- Public Services: Every citizen should have secure online access to their e-medical records, and all key public services should be available online.
When it comes to digital and clean tech, we have to be faster, smarter and more European.
President Ursula von der Leyen, State of the Union address 2025
To help achieve these objectives, EU Member States are committed to dedicating at least 20% of funds from their national Recovery and Resilience Plans to digital priorities.
Ireland's Path to the Digital Decade
As an EU digital frontrunner, Ireland is not just a participant but a leader in this agenda, and chaired the D9+ group of digitally-ambitious smaller Member States in the first half of 2024.
Ireland’s national strategy, Harnessing Digital, provides the roadmap for achieving Digital Decade targets through key initiatives including:
- The National Broadband Plan, aiming to connect all households with gigabit access by 2028 and provide 5G nationwide by 2030.
- The €85 million Digital Transition Fund, supporting SMEs with grants and advisory services.
- The Digital Transformation Scheme, launched in September 2025 with €3 million in funding, to help media organisations develop sustainable digital business models.
- A new National Digital and AI Strategy announced in May 2025 that will set more ambitious goals and accelerate the adoption of AI.
For Irish households and businesses, these initiatives will mean faster connections, easier access to services, and stronger tools to compete globally.
International Digital Strategy
Digital Decade Progress
The 2025 State of the Digital Decade report calls for urgent action to accelerate progress towards achieving targets.
Some Member States are advancing well, but the report highlights a significant digital skills gap in the EU, with only 55.6% of adults having at least basic digital skills in 2023, well short of the 80% target for 2030
The report also urges faster adoption of key technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and big data, especially among SMEs, and faster roll-out of fibre-optic and 5G networks.
The 2025 report found that Ireland continues to perform strongly in digital infrastructure and the digitalisation of public services. However, there are still challenges that need to be addressed. The Commission’s key recommendations for Ireland include:
- Developing a more coherent approach to the digital and green transitions, especially when it comes to making data centres more energy-efficient.
- Encouraging wider adoption of AI cloud computing, and big data.
- Expanding investment in cybersecurity, where Ireland is positioning itself as a European leader.
- Continuing to expand digital skills training and addresses the gender gap among ICT specialists.
- Improving the accessibility and functionality of e-health services such as online access to medical records.
- Implementing a national electronic ID (e-ID) to give citizens a single, secure way to access online services.
State of the Digital Decade Report 2025
Digital markets and services
To create safer and more competitive digital spaces, the EU introduced two landmark pieces of legislation: the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The DMA regulates large online platforms (‘gatekeepers’) to ensure fair competition. In practice, this means tech giants can no longer unfairly prioritise their own services or lock consumers into their ecosystems.
The Commission has so far designated seven gatekeepers and is actively investigating for non-compliance, with penalties including fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
In a landmark move in April 2025, the Commission imposed its first major fines, including a €500 million fine on Apple and a €200 million fine on Meta for breaching the new rules.
The DSA aims to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. The act regulates services like social media and marketplaces, requiring them to remove illegal or harmful content quickly, protect minors, and be transparent in how they moderate content.
Benefits of the DMA and DSA
- More competitive digital markets leading to better prices and a wider variety of choices for consumers.
- Improved user control over personal data and greater protection against unwanted tracking and profiling for advertising.
- Stronger safeguards for minors, including clear restrictions on targeted advertising to children.
- More effective and user-friendly systems for reporting illegal or harmful content online.
- Improved market access and reduced unfair restrictions for SMEs and start-ups, fostering innovation and online expansion.
- Overall reduction in unfair practices, leading to a level playing field and more trust in digital services.
The EU Data Act, effective from September 2025, provides additional protection for consumers and businesses in the digital realm. It empowers users to control data generated by their connected devices, including cars, smart TVs, and industrial machinery.
Ireland’s Digital Regulators
Ireland plays a crucial role in enforcing DMA and DSA rules, as many of the world's largest tech companies have their European headquarters here. A network of Irish regulators works together to oversee the digital sector:
- Coimisiún na Meán (The Media Commission): As Ireland's Digital Services Coordinator, it is the lead authority for enforcing the DSA. It is also responsible for implementing the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which governs content on traditional TV, on-demand services, and video-sharing platforms. In October 2024, the commission introduced a new Online Safety Code, putting these rules into practice to protect children online.
- The Data Protection Commission (DPC): The DPC is the lead authority for enforcing the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that the privacy rights of users are upheld by all online platforms.
- The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC): The CCPC enforces rules in areas like online marketplaces, protecting consumer rights and ensuring fair competition.
Artificial Intelligence
The EU aims to establish a global hub for trustworthy and human-centric AI. The cornerstone of this strategy is the landmark AI Act, the world's first comprehensive law on AI, which sets a global standard for its regulation.
The AI Act took effect in August 2024 and it is being implemented in phases until August, 2027. It uses a risk-based approach to ensure AI systems are safe and respect fundamental rights, so the higher the risk an AI system poses to society, the stricter the rules.
- Unacceptable Risk: AI applications that pose a clear threat to people's safety or rights (e.g., social scoring by governments) are banned.
- High-Risk: Strict requirements, including risk assessments and human oversight, apply to AI systems used in critical areas like medical devices, critical infrastructure, or recruitment.
- Limited and Minimal Risk: Systems like chatbots must be transparent, ensuring users know they are interacting with a machine.
To oversee the implementation of these rules, a new European AI Office has been established within the European Commission. In April 2025, the Commission launched the AI Continent Action Plan to boost AI adoption. Despite a thriving AI startup scene, only 13.5% of European companies currently use AI. The Plan aims to build computing infrastructure, increase data access, and develop AI skills to ensure Europe becomes a global leader in responsible AI development.
The EU is also building an ecosystem to support AI innovation and adoption. Key initiatives include:
- The AI Innovation Package provides European startups and SMEs access to EU supercomputers for model training.
- The AI Liability Directive, which modernises liability rules and makes it easier for citizens to get compensation if they are harmed by a faulty AI system.
- Significant investment in AI skills and education to ensure Europe has the talent pool to compete globally.
In Ireland, CeADAR, the national centre for applied AI, plays a key role as a European Digital Innovation Hub, helping Irish businesses adopt AI. The country’s new National Digital and AI Strategy will accelerate this effort.
Digital actions
The Commission has launched several actions that have improved the digital landscape for European citizens and businesses.
- Roam-like-at-home: Since 2017, you can use your mobile phone - calls, texts, internet - abroad in any EU country at no extra cost.
- No geoblocking: Online shopping and cross-border sales are no longer limited by your location, making EU-wide e-commerce simpler since 2018.
- Stronger data rights: Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to access your personal data, request its deletion, and enjoy consistent standards of privacy protection across Europe.
- Boosting chips supply: The European Chips Act is helping address shortages of critical tech components, aiming to double Europe’s share of the semiconductor market and support investment, keeping products like cars and electronics available and affordable.
- Mandatory cybersecurity: The upcoming Cyber Resilience Act will require digital products (from smartwatches to baby monitors) to meet EU security standards, protecting you from cyber threats throughout each product’s lifecycle.
- Universal charging: USB Type-C has become the standard charger for new electronic devices, so soon you’ll only need one cable for most products.
- EU-wide digital ID: By the end of 2026, the Digital Identity Wallet will allow secure access to public and private services throughout the EU, making tasks like banking, healthcare, and travel much easier, while protecting your personal data.
- WiFi4EU: More than 90,000 free WiFi4EU hotspots have been installed in public spaces throughout Europe. You can find hotspots via an app available on the iOS and Google Plan stores.
EU Cyber Resilience Act - Questions & Answers
News Digital Agenda
Digital Agenda news
The European Commission has presented an EU action plan aimed at bolstering the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers.
The European Commission has launched a package of measures to support European startups and SMEs in the development of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) that respects EU values and rules.
The European Commission has welcomed the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), proposed by the Commission in April 2021.
The European Commission services have signed administrative arrangements with the media regulators of France and Ireland to support its supervisory and enforcement powers under the Digital Services Act.