Policies

The "fifth generation" of telecommunication systems, or 5G, will be one of the most critical building blocks of our digital economy and society in the next decade. Europe has taken significant steps to lead global developments towards this strategic technology.

Supporting research and innovation in advanced computing is key to the development of the computing systems of tomorrow, which will go beyond the limitations of today’s technology in terms of speed, reliability and efficiency.

Digital technology can help older people to stay healthy, independent and active at work or in their community for longer and it helps to improve our quality of life.

These days we can watch our favourite programmes from all over Europe not just on TV, but also via the internet or on our mobile devices. Like other goods and services, the audiovisual media are subject to the rules of the single European market.

Young people need a safe and stimulating environment while engaging with new technologies and spending time online. The Strategy for a Better internet for Children provides actions to empower them as they explore the digital world.

Data has become a key asset for the economy and our societies similar to the classic categories of human and financial resources. Whether it is geographical information, statistics, weather data, research data, transport data, energy consumption data or health data, the need to make sense of ‘big data’ is leading to innovations in technology, development of new tools and new skills.

The European Broadband Competence Offices (BCOs) Network connects national and regional authorities supporting broadband deployment across the EU. BCOs provide legal, technical and financial guidance to project promoters and policy makers to support stakeholders in their country or region in accelerating broadband roll-out.

Broadband Europe promotes the European Commission's vision and policy actions to turn Europe into a Gigabit Society by 2025.

Within the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, the key role of cloud computing is established through the European Cloud Initiative and through the initiative on Building a European Data Economy. The latter led to a legislative proposal of a free flow of non-personal data regulation, which induces self-regulatory codes of conduct to facilitate portability of data and to switch cloud service providers.