The objectives of Digital Agenda progresses but still, there is much to do

The Scoreboard has been published by the European Commission showing the performance of the EU and Member States in delivering on the agreed targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe after the first year of its existence. Overall progress of the Digital Agenda has been good, especially on the use of Internet (65% of EU population). But progress in some areas is disappointing, in particular roll-out of new super fast Broadband networks.

This Scoreboard incorporates data and analysis previously found in the Commission's annual Progress Report on the Single European Electronic Communications and it covers the period May 2010 to May 2011. It is also accompanied by a series of online reports on specific aspects of the Digital Agenda, such as eGovernment or online trust and security.

Overall, progress on implementing the 101 Digital Agenda actions has been quite good. Almost 10% of the actions have been completed and 80% are on track. However, the remaining 10% are delayed.

On the 13 key performance targets, there have been progress in the following areas:

  • Good progress on regular Internet use, online shopping, eGovernment and low energy lighting
  • Mixed progress in broadband availability and take up
  • Insufficient progress in cross-border eCommerce, online presence of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), roaming prices and public research.

With regard to the insufficient progress, there is still much work to do in:

  • Cross-border eCommerce
  • Online presence of Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  • Roaming prices
  • Public investment in ICT R&D

The Digital Agenda committed the EU to carry out 101 specific actions (78 for the Commission, of which 31 are legal proposals, and 23 for Member States) which will together boost investment in, and use of, digital technologies. Overall, 11 DAE actions have been completed, 6 actions due in 2010 are delayed and the remaining actions are largely on track.

The implications of the scoreboard will be discussed in Brussels on June 16-17 at the Digital Agenda Assembly among other topics, such as open data and re-use of public sector information.