Introduction

Since 2016, the urgency to regulate the usage of new technologies across different industry sections finds a convergence in the text of the Digital Single Market strategy (COM(2016) 180 final) issued by the European Commission with the aim to coordinate and invest on national and regional initiatives with member states and different industries involved, i.e. manufacturing, smart energy, automated driving or e-health. Among the measures proposed in the strategy, the Commission highlights five main priority areas that need to be harmonized at the EU level. These are:

• 5G
• Cloud computing
• IoT
• Data technologies
• Cybersecurity

As part of the Digital Single Market strategy, in 2016, the Commission promoted the Digitising European Industry initiative (DEI) aiming to build transparency, trust, and confidence in the business trade through the interconnection of business registers and the direct involvement of the e-Justice Portal. The DEI Initiative is based on five main pillars:

1. European platform of national initiatives on digitising industry: Under the digitising industry motto, the Commission plans to develop its policy instruments and further investment across different national initiatives.
2. Digital innovations for all: Digital Innovation Hubs, involving SMEs and startups
3. Strengthening leadership through public and private partnerships and industrial platforms to encourage a broader dialogue across countries and industries on the best practices, challenges, and future market goals.
4. A regulatory framework fit for the digital age: including regulations and further measures on new technologies and data flow, such as 5G, GDPR, and IoT
5. Preparing Europeans for the digital future through a large set of public sources and best work practices.

Figure 1. DEI five pillars

Source: ec.europa.eu

As the major expression of the coordination effort launched by the European Commission under the DEI initiatives, in March 2017 a European Platform of national initiatives have been launched, built on the 3 action lines: “boosting innovation capacity”, “regulatory framework”, and “skill development”. As a result, there are currently 15 national initiatives in action on digitising industry across Europe (Figure 2).

Figure 2. European National developed from DEI

Source: ec.europa.eu

Following the DEI initiative’s framework, national initiatives are developed in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden.