The digital and modern technology industry from Central and Eastern European countries adopted the joint Warsaw Digital Declaration – a document defining the most important issues and demands regarding the digital economy of the Three Seas Initiative. The document will be presented to the governments of these countries and will be sent to officials of the European Commission.
The digital industry from the CEE have Warsaw Digital Declaration
The document is a joint initiative of digital organisations from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which are part of the Three Seas Initiative, including e.g. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. The Warsaw Digital Declaration is a document that defines the most important issues and demands regarding the digital economy of CEE.
Digital transformation during the pandemic crisis
Organisations that signed up to the Warsaw Digital Declaration point out that the importance of digital transformation has increased especially during the pandemic. „During the global public health crisis, the digital industry has played a critical role in boosting the digitisation of the administration, business, education and social life of our communities, while allowing all these areas to function despite the current limitations” – noted in the document. „This process must be sustained once the pandemic is over, so that we can built on the opportunity to enhance the digital transformation of the countries of the Three Seas Initiative. This is vital as the ICT industry and related new growing industries are expected to be the driving force of the economies of Central Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the pandemic- induced crisis” – added. According to the digital industry from the Three Seas countries, the intellectual and technological potential of our region must be developed as part of the intergovernmental cooperation of Central and Eastern European countries – because only in this way can we become a competitive market on a global scale.
Cooperation priorities
The document indicates the key issues for the development of digital economies. These include construction and implementation of 5G network, development of national cybersecurity sectors, access to the Internet and digital services as the basic right of every citizen of Central and Eastern Europe, investments in modern technologies and raising digital competences through educational programs that will allow people employed in Central and Eastern Europe to quickly adapt to the changing reality. Among the priorities are also issues related to data management and maintaining the free flow of data, both in the public and private sectors. According to the authors of the document, an extremely important issue is also the creation of a uniform and transparent law. „Legal regulations in individual countries cannot result in blocking the development of digital innovations. We should seek to create smart solutions in law and to harmonise them throughout Central and Eastern Europe. This will enable and help the companies from our countries to scale their businesses across the Central and Eastern European market and will make our region more attractive to global investors” – it was emphasized in the Warsaw Digital Declaration. The organisations that signed the declaration also called on their governments for a united voice on digitisation issues and for joint action in this area. „ We are ready to actively collaborate in order to support our governments, as well as European decision makers, in building a policy securing a rapid and safe development of digital Europe” – declared.
Beginning of CEE Digital Coalition
The document will be sent to representatives of the governments of Central and Eastern Europe and to EU officials. Together, the organisations want to organise meetings and workshops with policymakers on digital issues. The declaration is also open to other organisations from Central and Eastern Europe. Adoption of the Warsaw Digital Declaration is also the beginning of cooperation between digital industry organisations from 11 countries of Central and Eastern Europe. They have formed the industry digital coalition – CEE Digital Coalition. The coalition is to play the role of a think tank, which is to be an advisory base for our governments in creating regulations on digital issues and to strengthen the voice of our sector on the forum of the entire European Union. At the beginning of September, CEE Digital Coalition issued first position on the Digital Services Act proposed by the European Commission.