Digital Day 2019: EU countries commits to three digital cooperation initiatives

Today is the EU Digital Day and the EU Member States signed three Declarations to pool efforts and resources for accelerating digital developments in key areas that are expected to bring tangible benefits to states economies and societies.

Digital Day is a unique event intended to enable the EU and interested Member States to pool efforts and resources with a view to accelerating digital developments in key areas that can bring tangible benefits to our economies and our societies.  #DigitalDay2019

The digital day "brings Member States and EU institutions together with partners from industry, academia and civil society, and take digital cooperation forward for digitising cultural heritage, smart and sustainable agriculture, as well as for encouraging women's participation in digital" (Press release)

In particular the Member States signed new Declarations of cooperation on

• Empowering women's participation in digital : Women account for 52% of the European population, yet hold only 15% of ICT-related jobs. Member States will commit to closer cooperation to increase women's visibility and empowerment in the digital economy. The Declaration builds on the Council of the EU Presidency's conclusions on gender equality, youth and digitalisation and on the Declaration on gender equality.
• Building a smart and sustainable digital future for European agriculture and rural areas : Enhanced cooperation on leveraging digital technologies can help tackle important economic, social, climate and environmental challenges in agriculture and rural areas. Smart farming will not only help to increase efficiency of farms, but can also help to create sustainable jobs and growth and benefit the quality of life in rural areas.
• Digitising cultural heritage :State of the artdigital technologies can help to preserve Europe's rich cultural heritage and to mitigate the risks it faces. Building on the momentum of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, the Declaration aims to advance digitisation of heritage artefacts, monuments and sites, as well as foster citizen engagement and cross-border cooperation. 

More information on this day here

The information used to create this summary was gleaned from links provided to the right and shared for information purposes