EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 16.6.2025

SWD(2025) 294 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Digital Decade 2025 country reports

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

State of the Digital Decade 2025: Keep building the EU's sovereignty and digital future

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Contents

Executive summary    

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership    

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies    

Connectivity infrastructure    

Semiconductors    

Edge nodes    

Quantum technologies    

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises    

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity    

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics    

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups    

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience    

Protecting and empowering EU people and society    

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs    

Equipping people with digital skills    

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all    

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy    

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening    

Annex I – National roadmap analysis    

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding    

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles    

Executive summary

Austria continues to demonstrate strong momentum in AI adoption and to make progress on connectivity deployment, although the country still lags behind in the roll-out of Very High-Capacity Networks (VHCN) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), while the start-up ecosystem remains constrained by declining venture capital and limited unicorn growth. In 2024, Austria maintained solid performance in digital public services and has strengthened its role in strategic technologies, such as semiconductors and quantum technologies.

Austria shows a high level of ambition in its contribution to the Digital Decade having set 12 national targets, 92% of which are aligned with the EU 2030 targets. The country is following its trajectories well with 75% of them being on track (on the basis of the 2024 trajectories defined for 8 KPIs out of 8 analysed). Austria addressed 59% of the 12 recommendations issued by the Commission in 2024, either by implementing significant policy changes (17%) or making some changes (42%) through new measures.

Despite high levels of digital skills, persistent gaps across age and education exist. Sustainability is reflected in selective initiatives, but a coherent green-digital strategy is still lacking in the national Digital Decade roadmap. Overall, the level of commitment to digital transformation has remained consistent over time, as demonstrated by the adjusted national strategic roadmap, which reinforces the ambition across most areas of the Digital Decade framework. AI remains a strategic focus, with Austria’s National AI Strategy representing the cornerstone of the country’s efforts, supported by the adjusted roadmap’s new initiatives.

According to the 2025 special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade, 68% of Austrian citizens consider that the digitalisation of daily public and private services is making their lives easier. On the action of the public authorities, 87% consider it important to counter and mitigate the issue of fake news and disinformation online, and on competitiveness, 82% consider it important to ensure that European companies can grow and become ‘European Champions’ capable of competing globally.

A competitive, sovereign, and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Austria demonstrates strong 5G leadership, ongoing progress in AI adoption, and growing investment in strategic technologies such as semiconductors and quantum computing. With 99.55% 5G coverage and near-complete spectrum assignment, the country ranks among the EU's top performers in mobile connectivity. AI adoption by enterprises is accelerating and reached 20.3%, surpassing the EU average and supported by clear strategic direction and targeted funding. Austria’s commitment to technological sovereignty is further reflected in its investments in strategic sectors: it continues to support quantum technologies through the Quantum Austria initiative and is advancing in semiconductors via targeted investments and participation in the Chips Joint Undertaking.

However, challenges remain in ensuring broader diffusion of advanced digital technologies. While Austria’s digital intensity among SMEs is aligned with EU levels, the integration of data-driven solutions and next-generation technologies into business operations remains uneven. This is compounded by structural bottlenecks in the scale-up and start-up ecosystem, despite notable policy support. Venture capital investment has declined for the third consecutive year, as investor caution and delayed startup exits have slowed reinvestment cycles.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Austria has a strong performance in digital skills and continues to expand targeted measures to bridge structural gaps. However, persistent disparities, particularly across gender, education, and age affect digital inclusion. Flagship initiatives such as Digital Everywhere+ and the Future Skills programme demonstrate Austria’s commitment to reaching disadvantaged groups and improving the digital capacity of its workforce. Austria also took steps to expand its ICT workforce, with new measures aimed at reskilling, increasing female participation, and strengthening STEM pathways.

Austria performs well in e-Health and digital public services, with new national targets, a dedicated strategy, and substantial funding.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Austria recognises the importance of integrating environmental sustainability into its digital transition but lacks a coherent strategy explicitly twinning the green and digital dimensions. While AI for Green and SME-DIGITAL 4.0 initiatives support climate goals, no new measures have been adopted to monitor the environmental footprint of digital technologies or improve energy efficiency in infrastructures such as data centres.

National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

Austria submitted a fully updated roadmap in January 2025, including 26 new measures and revised trajectories for key KPIs such as 5G, AI, and digital public services. While it addresses most 2024 recommendations and sets clearer targets, the roadmap still lacks new dedicated support for SMEs and a strategic framework for the green-digital nexus. The overall ambition remains high, particularly in skills, AI, and connectivity, though progress will depend on sustained investment and cross-sector coordination. A total of 85 measures are now part of Austria’s national strategic roadmap with a total budget of EUR 4.07 billion (equivalent to 0.84% of Austria’s GDP in 2024).

Funding & projects for digital

Austria allocates 36% of its total recovery and resilience plan to digital (EUR 1.3 billion) 1 . In addition, under cohesion policy, EUR 76 million, representing 7% of the country’s total cohesion policy funding, is dedicated to advancing Austria’s digital transformation 2 .

Austria is directly involved in the IPCEI on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies (IPCEI-ME/CT). Austria is a participating state of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU) and of the Chips JU.

Austria has contributed to the Best Practice Accelerator 3 by sharing one best practice in the framework of the Digital Skills cluster (Digital Competence Initiative Austria).

Digital rights and principles

According to a support study, Austria has been one of the most active Member States in implementing the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles , with over 100 initiatives overall and 21 new initiatives launched in 2024. Austria is most active in the area of digital education, training and skills. Less activity has been identified with regards to Protection and empowerment of children and young people in the digital environment, and Sustainability. Measures in the area of Sustainability appear to have most impact on the ground, in contrast to those addressing safety, security and empowerment.

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Austria’s digital competitiveness is increasingly recognised as a key driver of economic growth, with policies actively supporting the expansion of the country’s digital ecosystem. In recent years, Austria has made notable progress in fostering innovation, particularly in the start-up landscape and in artificial intelligence (AI), with targeted investments in research, development, and innovation (R&D&I). However, while the government’s commitment to digital transformation remains strong, the broader investment environment faces challenges due to declining venture capital flows and investor hesitancy.

The start-up ecosystem continues to face headwinds. As at the end of 2024, Austria had five unicorns, unchanged from 2023. This underlines the need for greater momentum to meet Austria’s 2030 target of 10 unicorns. The adjusted roadmap outlines 17 measures contributing to this goal, supported by EUR 1.234 billion in public investment and EUR 628 million in private investment – an increase compared to the previous year. Among the newly introduced tools is the AWS Spin-off Initiative an EUR 8.5 million programme supporting VC access for university spin-offs.

Despite this support, Austria’s VC environment remains strained: VC financing declined for the third consecutive year. Private investors remain cautious, with many focusing on existing portfolios, while delayed exits reduce reinvestment flows, weakening the scale-up ecosystem.

Austria’s digital infrastructure shows a mixed performance. It lags behind the EU average in fibre to the premises (FTTP) and very high-capacity networks (VHCN) coverage despite robust growth rates, especially in rural areas. Conversely, Austria performs strongly in 5G deployment, with near-complete coverage (99.55%) and significantly higher spectrum assignment (99.17%) than the EU average. The country is generally on track to meet its national connectivity targets.

Deeper integration of data-driven and advanced digital technologies remains a key challenge for Austria’s digital economy. Its cloud uptake and data analytics rates are growing but remain below the EU average, while AI adoption by companies is above average and accelerating rapidly. The digital intensity of SMEs is in line with the EU, with efforts underway to bridge structural gaps.

From a macroeconomic perspective, Austria’s ICT sector contributes less to national value added than the EU average -– 3.83% in 2022 versus the EU’s 5.46% -– indicating underutilised potential. 4 The sector accounts for 16.41% of business R&D expenditure (2021) and 18.42% of R&D personnel (2021), highlighting that while the innovation ecosystem is active, it remains relatively small in scale.

According to the Special Eurobarometer on ‘the Digital Decade’ 2025 5 , 82% of respondents in Austria consider building efficient and secure digital infrastructures, including connectivity and data processing facilities, an important priority for public authorities. This is slightly below the EU average of 86%. Meanwhile, 11% of Austrians viewed it as not important (compared to 9% at EU level).

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies

Austria’s digital infrastructure continues to advance steadily, with notable progress in 5G deployment and rural coverage expansion. While FTTP and VHCNs still lag behind EU averages, Austria’s growth rates in these areas remain among the highest in the EU. The country’s 5G roll-out is nearing full coverage, supported by effective spectrum management and regulatory incentives. Continued public and private investment will be essential to closing the remaining infrastructure gaps by 2030.

Connectivity infrastructure

Overall, Austria’s performance closely aligns with its national trajectory for FTTP and VHCN coverage, showing strong growth rates but requiring further progress to close the gap with EU-level coverage.

Austria’s total VHCN coverage for all households stood at 72.16% in 2024, still below the EU’s 82.49%. However, Austria’s growth rate of 6.7% outpaced the EU’s 4.9%. For households in sparsely populated areas, Austria’s VHCN coverage was 35.79% in 2023 and 42.17% in 2024, both lower than the EU’s 55.59% and 61.89%, respectively. Austria’s growth rate of 17.8% exceeded the EU’s 11.3%.

Austria’s total FTTP coverage stood at 44.82% in 2024, below the EU’s 69.24%. However, Austria’s growth rate of 9.4% was higher than the EU’s 8.4%. For households in sparsely populated areas, Austria’s FTTP coverage was 33.89% in 2024, lower than the EU’s 58.78%. Austria’s growth rate of 18.0% was higher than the EU’s 11.9%.

Austria boasts an overall 5G coverage of 99.55% in 2024, higher than the EU’s 94.35%, with a growth rate of 3.7% compared to the EU’s 6.0%. For households in sparsely populated areas, Austria’s 5G coverage was 82.03% in 2023 and 97.85% in 2024, both higher than the EU’s 71.1% and 79.57%, respectively. Austria’s growth rate of 19.3% was higher than the EU’s 11.9%.

Regarding high-quality 5G, Austria’s coverage in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band is better than the EU average with 83.97% achieved in 2024 (against 67.72% for the EU). However, Austria’s growth rate of 6.2% was lower than the EU’s 32.6%. For households in sparsely populated areas, Austria’s 5G coverage in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band was 41.52% in 2023 and 51.85% in 2024, both higher than the EU’s 15.86% and 26.19%, respectively. Austria’s growth rate of 24.9% was lower than the EU’s 65.1%.

Austria’s 5G pioneer bands spectrum assignment was 99.17% in both 2024 and 2025, higher than the EU’s 73.4% and 74.63%, respectively. Austria had no growth between 2024 and 2025, while the EU’s growth was 1.7%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory for 5G.

Austria should focus on improving total VHCN and FTTP coverage to match EU averages. However, the country’s strong performance in 5G coverage and spectrum assignment, along with positive growth rates in several areas, indicates a promising trajectory for digital infrastructure development.

VHCN and FTTP

Austria is at 72.16% of VHCN coverage (2030 national target 100%) after an increase of 6.7% in 2024 and stands below the EU average. In rural and sparsely populated areas, coverage remained limited, compared to the EU average. Despite this gap, Austria has shown strong momentum, with VHCN coverage growth outpacing the EU average.

Despite positive momentum, Austria still faces challenges. A slowdown in VHCN roll-out has become evident recently, mainly due to completion of upgrades from DOCSIS 3.0 and the limited existing commitments to extend coverage to new households. Under the Broadband Austria initiatives (BBA2020 and BBA2030), however, Austria plans to deploy VHCN connectivity to an additional 160 000 households, reaching a total of at least 76% household coverage. Further opportunities to expand coverage have been identified by Austrian authorities, even though specific commitments remain lacking for approximately 440 000 households currently served by xDSL technology. Additionally, the implementation of the Gigabit Infrastructure Act (GIA) into national law is currently underway and is expected to contribute to accelerating fibre deployment.

Austria also needs to accelerate the pace of fibre roll-out. Despite recording a solid growth rate of 9.4% in 2024 – above the EU average – Austria’s total FTTP coverage still lags significantly behind. The gap is even more pronounced in sparsely populated areas, where Austria’s FTTP coverage (33.89%) remains far below the EU average (58.78%).

Regarding specific measures, the adjusted roadmap for 2024 did not introduce new measures for the Broadband Austria initiative. The primary funding instrument remains the Broadband Austria 2030 initiative (BBA2030), which will channel EUR 1.4 billion into deploying fibre infrastructure in rural areas.

In conclusion, Austria’s unchanged targets for both fibre and VHCN remain realistic. However, while the country demonstrates robust growth, particularly in rural areas, further acceleration of fibre deployment is needed to close the coverage gap with the EU average. Achieving this will require sustained political commitment, continued investment, and targeted efforts in currently underserved regions.

5G

Austria is at 99.55% of 5G coverage (2030 national target 100%) after an increase of 3.7% in 2024 and stands above the EU average. Austria continues to aim for 100% 5G coverage by 2030, as established in its 2023 roadmap. Given Austria’s current performance this goal aligns well with the EU Digital Decade targets.

The absence of public funding dedicated specifically to 5G deployment means that this target depends entirely on private-sector investment. Considering the already high coverage levels, achieving 100% coverage by 2030 appears realistic, though particular attention must be given to rural areas, where gaps are more challenging to close.

In the adjusted roadmap, Austria introduced only one new measure related to 5G, dedicated to anchoring the 5G Broadcast in the digitalisation concept. This measure aims to secure terrestrial television broadcasting coverage for approximately 98% of the Austrian population by reallocating multiplex platforms (‘MUX A/B’) by 2025. While the measure underscores the importance of 5G technology in broadcasting, it does not directly address mobile connectivity or improve rural broadband access. Thus, this measure is complementary but does not explicitly address recommendations from the 2024 country report concerning 5G standalone networks.

Deployment of 5G infrastructure remains robust due to regulatory obligations linked to spectrum auctions. Operators were required to deploy frequencies in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band at 1 000 mobile stations by the end of 2022, a target that was successfully met. Moreover, the multi-band auction for 700/1500/2100 MHz introduced by Austria’s regulatory authority includes an innovative bonus system providing financial incentives for operators to extend coverage into rural areas. This has enabled 5G expansion in 1 702 cadastral communities, i.e. in approximately 80% of rural areas historically underserved by high-speed mobile connectivity.

Austria has shown exceptional progress in spectrum assignment for 5G, achieving a 99.2% assignment rate of 5G pioneer bands in 2023, positioning Austria among the EU’s top performers. The 2022-2026 Spectrum Release Plan, published jointly by the regulatory authority and the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport, offers clear timelines for future spectrum assignments. Furthermore, the assignment of the 26 GHz band is expected to significantly improve capabilities, enabling innovative use-cases and supporting the development of edge computing applications.

Semiconductors

Austria has positioned itself as an important player in the European semiconductor value chain, with a well-defined national strategy to support the sector. In the first version of the national roadmap, semiconductors received significant focus, with four key measures allocating approximately EUR 327 million, accounting for 9% of the strategic roadmap’s total budget. Austria’s approach aligns closely with the European Chips Act, which aims to enhance Europe’s semiconductor production capacity, strengthen supply chain resilience, and reduce reliance on non-European manufacturers.

Since the last report, Austria has made notable progress in semiconductor manufacturing, particularly in wafer production for automotive, industrial, and medical applications. The country is home to key industry actors, including ams Osram, Infineon Austria, and AT&S, which contribute to both design and manufacturing capabilities. Austria’s strength lies in specialised semiconductor production, particularly in power electronics, sensor technologies, and automotive applications.

The European Commission’s approval of Austria’s first Chips Act Pillar 2 project in February 2025 marked a significant milestone. The approved EUR 227 million State aid measure will support ams Osram AG in establishing a first-of-its-kind integrated wafer manufacturing facility in Premstätten. This plant will use Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors (CMOS) technology combined with Through Silicon Via (TSV) and optical filter techniques, offering Europe a high-reliability, automotive-grade semiconductor production capability.

This investment aligns with Austria’s broader strategy to enhance supply chain security, improve technological sovereignty, and contribute to the EU’s semiconductor ecosystem. The facility will be partially open to other semiconductor companies, increasing collaboration and ensuring a broader impact on the European semiconductor value chain.

Austria’s strategic focus remains strong, and its commitments under the European Chips Act are being implemented effectively. Given the high level of ongoing investment, the lack of new national measures is justified.

Austria’s semiconductor sector continues to expand, driven by strong public-private investment and a supportive regulatory framework. The ams Osram facility in Premstätten, expected to reach full operational capacity by 2030, will be the first of its kind in Europe to produce automotive-grade, highly integrated semiconductor chips. This development is key for Europe’s strategic autonomy, reducing reliance on external suppliers and enhancing domestic semiconductor capabilities.

Edge nodes

Austria hosted 33 edge nodes in 2024, up from 30 in 2023, representing a growth of three units and accounting for 1.46% of the 2 257 edge nodes deployed across the EU. This share remains slightly below Austria’s share of EU GDP, indicating underrepresentation in edge node deployment relative to its economic weight.

Progress remains slow due to insufficient attention to this aspect of digital infrastructure development. Similar to last year, Austria’s adjusted national strategic roadmap for 2025 does not provide a defined national trajectory towards the EU Digital Decade goal of deploying 10 000 climate-neutral and secure edge nodes by 2030. Austria has also not introduced new dedicated measures specifically targeting edge nodes deployment or further incentivising private-sector investment in this field.

The Austrian authorities continue to rely on private-sector investors and, in particular, communications networks operators for the deployment of edge nodes. Public-sector intervention remains indirect, concentrating on creating favourable network conditions, facilitating the allocation of necessary spectrum resources – particularly through setting up the 26 GHz band – and implementing security and technical regulatory frameworks aligned with EU requirements such as the NIS2 Directive and related European standardisation efforts.

Quantum technologies

Austria continues to strategically position itself as a key European player in quantum technologies, particularly in quantum computing, simulation, communication infrastructure, and advanced quantum applications. Building on the foundations laid out in previous years, Austria maintains strong alignment with the EU-funded ‘Quantum Austria’ initiative, which remains the central pillar of its national strategy. Supported by EUR 107 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the initiative has already funded 43 projects with EUR 78 million, reflecting Austria’s sustained commitment to advancing research infrastructures, collaborative R&D, and the commercialisation of quantum-enabled solutions. These projects cover a wide range of areas including quantum computing, simulation, metrology, and communication.

Despite this continued momentum, the adjusted 2025 roadmap reflects a cautious approach, with no new quantum-specific measures introduced. Quantum Austria remains the sole dedicated initiative in this domain, and no further expansions or strategic amendments have been made since last year. Nonetheless, Austria continues to leverage broader support frameworks for deep-tech innovation. Programmes such as the aws First Incubator for KPI unicorns and aws PreSeed – Deep Tech contribute indirectly to Austria’s quantum ecosystem by supporting start-ups and SMEs active in cutting-edge technology development.

At EU level, Austria remains actively involved in key initiatives underpinning the EU’s technological sovereignty. It participates in three of the six pilot lines under the Chips Joint Undertaking – focusing on photonics, trapped ions, and diamonds – and continues to make progress in the development of a quantum communication infrastructure (QCI) as part of the EU’s EuroQCI initiative, backed by the Digital Europe programme. These engagements underscore Austria’s broader commitment to contributing meaningfully to Europe’s quantum ambitions.

In parallel, Austria’s selection as one of six new host countries for an AI Factory under the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) further enhances its innovation landscape. Austria's participation will support high-performance computing needs that are also crucial for developing and integrating quantum computing applications, reinforcing Austria’s digital and scientific capabilities across interlinked domains.

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises

Austria’s digitalisation of enterprises has steadily progressed, with 72.22% of SMEs reaching at least a basic level of digital intensity in 2024 – closely aligned with the EU average. While this marks a positive trajectory, sustained growth will be necessary to meet the 2030 Digital Decade target of 90%, particularly given the persistent digital gaps between SMEs and large firms in areas like cloud computing, data analytics, and AI adoption. In contrast to previous years, Austria’s updated roadmap now includes a clear national target for SME digitalisation, reflecting stronger strategic alignment. However, implementation continues to rely largely on existing programmes such as SME.DIGITAL, with few new initiatives introduced. The start-up ecosystem, despite strong public support and ambitious policy targets, faces mounting investment headwinds, underscoring the need to maintain momentum and unlock scale-up potential.

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity

Austria is at 72.22% of SMEs with at least basic digital intensity (2030 national target: 90%) after a progression of +4.86 percentage points since 2022 and stands close to the EU average. In 2024, 72.22% of Austrian SMEs exhibited at least basic digital intensity, compared to the EU average of 72.91%. Looking at higher levels, 34.47% of Austrian SMEs achieved high or very high digital intensity, slightly above the EU average of 32.66%. The adjusted roadmap introduced for the first time a national target in this domain, signalling Austria’s increased commitment to the Digital Decade.

The main measure underpinning Austria’s SME digitalisation remains the SME.DIGITAL programme, now relaunched and expanded. Although the adjusted roadmap introduces no new measures explicitly targeting SMEs, Austrian authorities confirmed substantial investment and expectations for existing programmes (SME.DIGITAL and the European Digital Innovation Hubs) to significantly impact SME digital intensity. However, economic operators have indicated that the current financial allocation under SME.DIGITAL is insufficient and that increased awareness, higher investment volumes, and enhanced training efforts – particularly in the areas of AI, data analytics, and green digital skills – are urgently needed.

While the fact that Austria has set a new national trajectory is a positive development, gaps persist regarding specific initiatives for data analytics uptake, which remains relatively low among Austrian SMEs.

In 2024, Austria could rely on 11 European Digital Innovation Hubs, four of which receive support from the Digital Europe Programme. These hubs play an essential role in the digital transformation ecosystem, offering targeted local support to SMEs across various sectors. The following hubs deserve a special mention:

·AI5production: Promotes Industry 5.0 transitions, particularly through AI and cybersecurity.

·EDIH InnovATE: Accelerates digital transformation in agriculture, food, and energy sectors, focusing on rural competitiveness.

·Crowd in Motion: Supports and drives the digital transformation of organisations, with a focus on the tourism, sports and leisure industry, as well as the public sector.

·Applied CPS: Supports SMEs adopting Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) for real-time operational management.

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics

The adoption of cloud computing, data analytics, and AI technologies in Austria fell behind the EU averages, particularly in data analytics, though AI adoption exceeded the EU level. A significant disparity was observed between SMEs and large enterprises, with large enterprises showing considerably higher uptake across all technologies. Despite SMEs constituting the vast majority of enterprises with 10 or more employees and contributing a substantial share of the economy’s value added, their lower adoption rates highlight a need for targeted support to foster broader digital transformation. Addressing this gap is crucial for enhancing the digital capabilities of Austrian SMEs and strengthening their competitive position in the economy.

The latest available data shows that cloud uptake in Austria reached 35.56% in 2023, falling short of the EU average of 38.97%. However, SMEs had an adoption rate of 34.37%, while 75.39% of large enterprises utilised cloud services. This resulted in a gap of 41.02 pp. in uptake between SMEs and large enterprises in Austria, which was higher than the EU gap of 31.68 pps.

In 2023, 23.94% of enterprises in Austria adopted data analytics, which is considerably lower than the EU average of 33.25%. Among SMEs, 22.98% used data analytics, compared to 55.79% of large enterprises. This indicates a gap of 32.81 pps between SMEs and large enterprises, which is lower than the EU gap of 39.72 pps.

Austria is at 20.27% of enterprises adopting AI (2030 national target in place) after a strong progression of +9.48 percentage points in 2024 and stands well above the EU average which stands at 13.48%. This represents a sharp increase from 10.79% in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 87.86%. AI uptake among SMEs reached 19.36%, while 49.94% of large enterprises reported adoption. The gap between SMEs and large enterprises (30.58 pps) is close to the EU average, indicating balanced adoption trends. Austria is on track with its national AI trajectory.

According to the latest available data (2023), 47.03% of enterprises in Austria engaged with AI technologies, sophisticated or intermediate cloud computing services, or data analytics, trailing behind the EU average of 54.7%. More specifically, the uptake among SMEs was slightly lower at 45.9%, while large enterprises exhibited a notably higher rate of 84.77%. This indicates a percentage point difference of 38.87 in uptake between SMEs and large enterprises in Austria, which is higher than the EU gap of 32.97.

In 2022, Austrian SMEs produced 38.6% of the total value added in the economy, while large enterprises contributed 44.3%. Notably, SMEs made up about 97% of the enterprises with more than 10 employees, while large enterprises accounted for 3%.

·Cloud

Despite the growth opportunities identified, the adjusted roadmap for 2025 still does not define a specific national target or trajectory for cloud uptake by Austrian companies. Furthermore, no new measures explicitly dedicated to increasing cloud adoption have been introduced. Instead, Austria continues to rely primarily on existing initiatives, notably the establishment of the Gaia-X Hub Austria, to enhance interoperability and the dissemination, promotion and application of Gaia X concepts in specific use-cases. However, given the relatively limited scope and funding of the Gaia-X Hub, this measure alone remains insufficient to significantly accelerate cloud adoption and align with the ambitious EU target of 75% cloud uptake by 2030.

The SME.DIGITAL programme (KMU.DIGITAL) represents an indirect yet important driver of cloud adoption. While the adjusted roadmap explicitly links KMU.DIGITAL to improving SME digital intensity, the initiatives also contribute significantly to enhancing cloud uptake through advisory services, digital skills training, and investment support tailored specifically for SMEs. To achieve notable increases in cloud computing among SMEs, however, Austrian authorities would need to substantially expand this programme or introduce complementary initiatives specifically targeting cloud computing adoption.

Beyond the roadmap, Austrian authorities have not undertaken further measures contributing directly to the KPI of cloud uptake. Economic operators suggest the need for broader awareness-raising and targeted skills-building initiatives around cloud technology – this is considered critical given the significant gap between SMEs and large enterprises. Given the persistent challenges related to digital and technical skills shortages across Austria, investment in dedicated training programmes for SMEs could enhance cloud adoption rates.

Austria continues to exhibit growth potential in cloud adoption, but without additional targeted measures, clearly defined national targets, or expanded funding, achieving the EU’s ambitious cloud uptake objectives by 2030 remains challenging.

·Data Analytics

In line with the recommendations of the 2024 Digital Decade report, the adjusted Austrian roadmap sets a national trajectory and target for the uptake of data analytics uptake, which is in line with the EU target.

The new  Data Strategy for Austria , adopted in October 2024 through an extensive multi-stakeholder process, outlines a holistic vision for Austria’s data economy. This strategy aims to develop sustainable data infrastructures, promote responsible data sharing, and establish an innovative data culture through 45 actionable measures. Notably, the strategy includes improving public-sector dataset accessibility, promoting trusted data infrastructure investments, and creating a Data Stakeholder Forum to strengthen collaboration among data ecosystem actors. No dedicated funding has yet been allocated explicitly to this strategy, relying instead on existing ministerial resources and broader coordination efforts across federal ministries.

As part of the Austrian Data Strategy, the adjusted roadmap introduces a new measure dedicated to data-driven innovation aiming at promoting the national data economy and achieving sustainable development goals.

The adjusted roadmap also emphasises the initiative on ‘COMET centres and projects’, funded with approximately EUR 157 million for 2024-2026. The ‘COMET centres and projects’ initiative aims to foster collaboration between enterprises and academia to drive product, process, and service innovation across sectors, with a particular emphasis on AI and data analytics. Notable centres under this initiative, such as the Hagenberg Software Competence Center and VRVis, Austria’s leading visual computing organisation, play a vital role in fostering research and application of advanced digital technologies. Although COMET supports broad technological innovation rather than specifically targeting data analytics, its contribution to enhancing enterprise capabilities in advanced technologies, including data analytics, is substantial.

Moreover, the SME.DIGITAL programme has recently been explicitly linked to increasing data analytics uptake, providing SMEs with advisory services and support to integrate advanced data analytics solutions into their operations. However, given the persistently low adoption levels, further targeted initiatives or increased funding specifically focused on data analytics are recommended to accelerate progress.

The implementation of the Austrian Data Strategy is currently underway, focusing on enhancing public-sector data availability and promoting private-sector engagement through structured dialogue platforms. Its broad, adaptive approach positions Austria to react flexibly to market and technology developments.

Discussions with Austrian stakeholders indicate ongoing consultations with private-sector actors and the gradual ramp-up of data economy initiatives. In particular, the authorities have highlighted efforts to modernise data infrastructure within public administration, implement the Data Governance Act (DGA), and engage stakeholders through structured dialogue. Clearer prioritisation, dedicated funding, and specialised programmes focusing explicitly on enterprise-level analytics capabilities remain nonetheless necessary.

The 2024 report highlighted Austria’s low adoption levels for data analytics and recommended targeted measures to significantly improve uptake among SMEs. While the Austrian authorities have set a national trajectory within the adjusted roadmap and established a comprehensive Data Strategy, dedicated measures explicitly targeting enterprise adoption of data analytics remain limited. The COMET programme and SME.DIGITAL are valuable initiatives, yet additional targeted support and explicit investment would further reinforce the recommendations made in the previous year.

·Artificial Intelligence

The adjusted national roadmap now includes a clearly defined target and trajectory for AI uptake, fully aligned with the EU’s Digital Decade ambition. Given Austria’s current robust growth trajectory and substantial policy support, this national target appears realistic and achievable. The country is on track according to its national trajectory.

The adjusted roadmap introduces important organisational and structural innovations for measures related to AI uptake. Measures related to the promotion of digital technologies in the field of artificial intelligence and the promotion of digital technologies in the field of data-driven innovations, in particular, together account for a total budget of approximately EUR 170 million for the 2023-2026 period. This envelop also includes EUR 3.8 million of funding dedicated to the AI for Green initiative and EUR 4.8 million for AI for Tech, signalling Austria’s commitment to deploying AI in support of environmental sustainability and tech development.

The AI for Green initiative specifically targets the use of AI to support climate and environmental objectives. Launched in 2021, it has supported 40 projects to date, with a total budget of around EUR 22.5 million. A fourth call for proposals was successfully conducted in 2024.

The previously mentioned COMET programme, presented in the adjusted national roadmap, is set to significantly contribute to Austria’s AI capabilities with its budget of approximately EUR 157 million (2024-2026) by funding long-term research collaborations between businesses and academic institutions, thereby supporting innovation across sectors such as industry, health, mobility, and life sciences. Around EUR 25 million of this funding is explicitly expected to be allocated to AI and other advanced digital technologies.

Austria continues to actively promote a vibrant AI ecosystem beyond direct funding measures. The established AI Marketplace, supported by the Austrian promotional bank aws, connects AI solution providers with enterprises, encouraging collaboration and digital transformation. Initiatives like Digital Humanism further emphasise the ethical dimension of AI deployment, reflecting a comprehensive approach aligned with European values.

Additionally, Austria’s participation in European initiatives, such as the recent selection by the EuroHPC JU to host an AI Factory, further strengthens national capabilities, providing critical infrastructure and expertise for scaling AI adoption, especially among SMEs.

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups

At the end of 2024, Austria had a total of five unicorns, showing no change compared to 2023. While this stable figure reflects a consistent level of high-performing start-ups, it also underscores the need for further momentum in the scale-up of innovative companies to meet Austria’s national target of reaching 10 unicorns by 2030, as set out in the adjusted roadmap.

The adjusted roadmap mentions 17 measures contributing to this target, backed by EUR 1.234 billion in public investment and EUR 628 million in private investment – a notable increase in private contributions compared to the previous roadmap. Among the newly introduced measures is the aws Spin-off Initiative, a EUR 8.5 million programme aimed at enhancing VC access for spin-offs through two components: support for building spin-off structures within universities, and direct financing for venture capitalists investing in spin-offs.

Despite these efforts, Austria’s venture capital environment remains challenging. VC investments continued to decline for the third consecutive year, with total VC financing reaching EUR 578 million in 2024, down from EUR 695 million in 2023. The number of start-up financing rounds also fell from 184 to 149 over the same period. In 2023, VC investment in Austria amounted to just 0.022% of GDP, among the lowest in Europe. Investors, including business angels, have adopted a cautious approach, often focusing on supporting their existing portfolios rather than making new investments. Meanwhile, many start-ups are delaying exits in the hope of better valuations in the future, reducing reinvestment flows and contributing to stagnation in growth-stage financing.

Austria’s business environment remains robust thanks to strong institutional support and a high level of public investment in entrepreneurship. However, challenges persist in attracting international investors and improving the overall competitiveness of the ecosystem. Continued progress on these fronts will be essential to unlocking Austria’s unicorn potential and fulfilling its 2030 target.

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience

In 2023, Austria continued to demonstrate strong individual cybersecurity awareness, with 77.67% of individuals reporting that they took at least one step to protect their personal data online – higher than the EU average of 69.55%. Notably, more than half (51.94%) of Austrians adopted three or more protective measures, indicating above-basic digital safety skills. Among specific measures, refusing the use of personal data for advertising purposes was most prevalent (56.54%), whereas changing browser settings to limit cookies remained less common (39%).

Based on the latest data (2024), 95.38% of Austrian enterprises had implemented some form of ICT security measure, and 61.07% explicitly informed employees about cybersecurity obligations.

In terms of technical standards deployment, Austria remains below EU averages for IPv6 deployment, with just 34.0% of end users (EU average 36.0%) and 10.0% of servers (EU average 17.0%) adopting the standard since Q3 2024. Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is also an important standard to be rolled out as it introduces security features to DNS. In Austria, the DNSSEC validation rate (i.e. verification of the authenticity of responses sent by name servers to clients, using a digital signature technology) is 23% (Q3 2024), below the EU average of 47%.

The policy landscape experienced mixed developments during the past year. Austria has yet to implement the NIS2 Directive formally, after a legislative proposal was rejected by the Austrian Parliament in July 2024.

The adjusted national strategic roadmap introduces important refinements in Austria’s cybersecurity policy. In particular, the measure on Austria's Cybersecurity Research Funding Programme ‘K-PASS’ represents an important policy innovation. K-PASS has already allocated approximately EUR 4.9 million to fund 10 research projects in its initial call, with an annual budget of EUR 5 million planned. The programme has no fixed end date but includes an assessment planned for 2027 to ensure alignment with EU cybersecurity research funding initiatives under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Overall, a total of EUR 35 million is planned for K-PASS by 2027.

Austria also continues to address cybersecurity among SMEs through the Cybersecurity cheque 2023 measure. Originally more broadly defined, this initiative has now been specifically adapted to support SME cybersecurity readiness, reflecting increased recognition of SME-specific cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Austria has made considerable efforts to address cybersecurity specifically in the healthcare sector: Austria established the Austrian Health CERT (AHC), which is a dedicated Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) for the healthcare sector. Austrian authorities emphasise that the stringent liability rules under NIS2 will inherently boost compliance and cybersecurity standards across healthcare providers.

Austria has also fully implemented the EU 5G Cybersecurity Toolbox through legislative provisions within the national telecoms law.

The national cybersecurity strategy, originally introduced in 2021, is also expected to undergo a major update in line with the transposition of the NIS2 Directive. Comprehensive guidance on achieving national cybersecurity objectives, complementing EU regulatory frameworks, is expected in the near future.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 78% of Austrians believe that improved cybersecurity, better protection of online data, and the safety of digital technologies would significantly facilitate their daily use of digital tools. This is slightly below the EU average of 81%. Meanwhile, 19% of respondents in Austria did not consider it significant, compared to 16% at EU level.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs

Austria’s digital transformation strategy continues to place increasing emphasis on inclusiveness, with a growing number of targeted policy measures aiming to reduce socio-demographic divides in digital skills and access. While the country performs well overall, gender gaps remain substantial, particularly in both basic digital skills and ICT professions. Similarly, educational background continues to have a considerable influence on digital proficiency, with lower-skilled individuals significantly lagging behind. Austria addresses these disparities through a mix of national and regional initiatives, such as ‘Digital Everywhere+’, aimed at reaching rural populations and vulnerable groups, and the MINT Action Plan, designed to promote STEM education and participation among youth and women.

Austria has also begun integrating digital tools more strategically into public services, with a strong focus on usability and citizen trust. Measures in areas such as e-health and digital justice reflect an intention to make digital services more responsive to user needs. However, efforts to promote the uptake of secure digital identity solutions (eID) remain limited and will require additional focus. On the democracy and information front, Austria continues to enhance its response to disinformation through interministerial coordination, awareness-raising campaigns, and international cooperation. While digital safety for vulnerable groups such as children is not yet a central policy pillar, ongoing initiatives in schools and public campaigns aim to strengthen digital awareness from an early age.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 78% of Austrians consider accessing public services online to be important for their daily life by 2030. This is below the EU average of 84%. At the same time, 21% of Austrian respondents did not view it as important, compared to 14% at EU level. When it comes to human support, 73% of Austrians believe that receiving human support to help access and use digital technologies and services would significantly facilitate their daily digital experience, slightly below the EU average of 77%, while 87% of Austrians consider it important that public authorities ensure proper human support to accompany the transformation brought by digital technologies and services, slightly below the EU average of 89%.

Equipping people with digital skills

Basic Digital Skills

Austria maintains a strong position in digital skills, with 64.68% of its population possessing at least basic digital skills in 2023, well above the EU average of 55.56%. While new overall data is not available for 2024, detailed demographic insights highlight both strengths and areas requiring attention:

·Gender Gap: Austria faces the largest gender gap in the EU, with 68.71% of men and 60.67% of women proficient in digital skills – a disparity of 8.04 pps, significantly higher than the EU average (2.23 pps). Bridging this gender divide remains a key challenge.

·Educational Attainment: Highly educated Austrians exhibit high digital proficiency (83.06%), exceeding the EU average (79.83%). However, those with lower education levels remain substantially behind at 37.17%, highlighting a considerable skills gap (27.51 pps below the national average), larger than the EU average (21.95 pps).

· Urban-Rural Divide: Rural residents have a lower rate (59.24%) compared to the national average but still surpass the EU rural average (47.50%). The digital divide between rural and national averages (5.44 pps) is smaller than the EU average (8.06 pps).

·Age Group Analysis: Individuals aged 35-44 have the highest proficiency (76.10%, significantly above the EU average of 65.26%). Although the 65-74 age group is the least proficient (37.68%), they are notably above their EU counterparts (28.19%).

·Digital Skills Components: Austria exceeds the EU average across all Digital Skills Index areas, notably excelling in communication and collaboration (94.30%). Digital content creation remains comparatively the weakest area (76.20%), yet still above the EU average.

Overall, Austria demonstrates robust digital skills performance but needs targeted measures to reduce disparities, especially regarding gender and educational background.

Austria initially set an ambitious national target to reach 100% basic digital skills coverage by 2030. However, in 2024, following extensive stakeholder consultations, the authorities adjusted this goal to align with the EU target (80%). This revision acknowledges realistic constraints such as structural challenges and certain demographic groups’ resistance to full digitalisation.

The adjusted Austrian roadmap introduced targeted measures designed to strengthen the country’s progress towards achieving widespread basic digital skills, reflecting both lessons learned from earlier initiatives and new priorities identified through extensive stakeholder consultation. These measures specifically address critical areas such as the use generative AI, vocational education, and public administration digitalisation:

·Inter-University Project ‘Academic AI Services’ (EUR 6 million, 2025-2027): This initiative aims to establish a secure, controlled environment within universities to explore and integrate generative AI technologies. By providing students and academic staff with direct exposure to advanced digital tools, the project supports not only the development of specialised digital skills but also contributes significantly to overall digital literacy within higher education.

·Digi-Cheque for Trainees (2023-2024): Targeting vocational apprentices, this programme was designed to boost digital skills by fully funding participation in relevant training measures (up to EUR 500 per training course, for up to three training courses annually). Although this specific initiative has formally concluded, evaluation is currently underway, which will determine its future renewal and potential adjustments to better serve the changing needs of apprentices.

·Future Skills initiative (EUR 900 000, 2025-2030): Recognising the urgent need for digital transformation within public services, this initiative identifies and develops essential digital competencies among employees in the Austrian federal administration. It aims to equip civil servants with the skills necessary to navigate and support ongoing digitalisation efforts effectively.

These new initiatives complement longstanding measures, such as the Digital Skills Initiative, which provides digital devices to approximately 80 000 students annually, and the systematic integration of digital education modules into primary and secondary curricula. Together, these coordinated efforts form the backbone of Austria’s strategy to sustainably improve digital proficiency across all segments of society.

The 2024 report recommended targeted support for lower-skilled workers, disadvantaged groups, and rural populations, emphasising sustained financial backing and scaling up successful initiatives. The Austrian authorities responded by refining their strategy:

‘Digital Everywhere+’, an interministerial initiative, has proven particularly successful. Initially aimed at disadvantaged adult learners, rural residents, and those with a low level of education, it has shown promising results. This programme combines face-to-face workshops and online sessions, reaching digitally excluded groups effectively through partnerships with municipalities. About 50% of municipalities involved are in infrastructure-poor rural regions.

ICT specialists

In terms of ICT specialists, Austria outperforms the EU in the total percentage of ICT specialists as a share of total employment. In 2023, 5.3% of Austria’s total employment were ICT specialists, compared to the EU’s 4.8%. This figure remained steady at 5.3% in 2024, while the EU’s share increased to 5.0%. Austria’s growth rate is thus of 0.0% in this area is lower than the EU’s 4.2%.

Regarding female ICT specialists, Austria shows a positive trend. In 2023, 19.5% of ICT specialists in Austria were female, slightly above the EU’s 19.4%. This figure increased to 21.1% in 2024, while the EU’s share increased to 19.5%. Austria’s growth rate of 8.2% in this area is higher than the EU’s 0.5%.

In 2022, 20.14% of Austrian enterprises with 10 or more employees provided ICT training, slightly below the EU’s 22.37%. By 2024, this figure decreased to 19.92% in Austria, while the EU saw a marginal decrease to 22.29%. Austria’s annual growth rate of -0.5% in this area is lower than the EU’s -0.2%.

In summary, while Austria lags behind the EU in the proportion of enterprises providing ICT training and the growth rate of total ICT specialists, it shows a promising trend in increasing the share of female ICT specialists. The country’s annual growth rate in this area is significantly higher than the EU’s, indicating a positive trajectory towards gender balance in the ICT sector. However, Austria’s overall ICT specialist growth rate is lower than the EU’s, suggesting a need for strategies to boost the growth of ICT specialists in general. The country is lagging behind compared to its national trajectory.

To align with the EU’s Digital Decade target of 10% ICT employment by 2030, Austria has now explicitly defined a national trajectory towards this objective in its adjusted roadmap.

The roadmap introduces seven new measures specifically aimed at expanding the ICT workforce and addressing gender imbalances. The IT Experts funding programme (EUR 1.2 million, 2025-2026) promotes innovative approaches to expand the ICT talent pool, with a particular emphasis on training, career orientation, and increasing the participation of women. A complementary initiative is the study on the labour market situation in the field of cybersecurity, funded through the K-PASS cybersecurity research programme, which will inform future policy through in-depth analysis of skills gaps, demand forecasts, and existing training offers.

To tackle gender-based barriers more directly, Austria has launched multiple awareness and outreach campaigns, including the initiative on dismantling gender stereotypes in educational and career choices (EUR 2.8 million, 2024-2026), the MINT-Girls Challenge, and the Girl’s Day in the federal public service. These initiatives aim to make ICT and STEM careers more accessible and appealing to girls and young women. More broadly, the MINT Action Plan serves as a strategic umbrella for promoting STEM education across the entire training chain. It includes programmes such as MINT Regionen, which supports regional networking among educational institutions to promote STEM careers, with an emphasis on raising awareness and improving visibility for female students in technical fields.

Austrian authorities acknowledge that reaching the 10% target will require substantial efforts, particularly in closing the gap between current ICT workforce supply and the strong demand from industry. Stakeholder feedback highlighted the need to go beyond attracting new entrants and focus on reskilling and upskilling existing professionals, particularly for experienced roles.

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all

Austria reached a score of 80.82 in total digital public services for citizens in 2024 (2030 national target set), slightly below the EU average of 82.32. The annual growth rate was 0.1%, significantly lower than the EU’s 3.6%. For cross-border digital public services for citizens, Austria’s score fell from 68.22 in 2023 to 66.67 in 2024, remaining below the EU average of 71.28. The growth rate of -2.3% contrasts with the EU’s +4.3%, signalling a need for renewed efforts to boost service availability and accessibility. The country is on track according to its national trajectory

In the realm of digital public services for businesses, Austria is on a more positive trajectory with a score of 87.69 exceeding the EU average of 86.23. Austria’s growth rate of 5.8% outpaced the EU’s 0.9%. For cross-border digital public services for businesses, Austria’s score was 76.94 in 2024, above the EU’s 73.76. Austria’s growth rate of 12.2% was significantly higher than the EU’s 0.9%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory.

Regarding access to e-health records, Austria’s total score was 88.17 in 2023 and 86.98 in 2024, both higher than the EU’s 79.12 and 82.70, respectively. However, Austria’s growth rate of -1.4% was considerably lower than the EU’s 4.5%. The country is lagging behind compared to its national trajectory.

Austria’s digital public services and access to e-health records present a nuanced picture. While Austria leads in certain areas such as total digital public services for citizens in 2023 and access to e-health records in both years, it lags behind in others, particularly in cross-border services and growth rates. The country’s performance in digital public services for businesses shows a promising development, with higher growth rates than the EU in both total and cross-border services.

eID

Austria continues to provide universal access to a secure digital identity (eID), which is fully notified under eIDAS. Consequently, the country has already met the Digital Decade’s 2030 target, with 100% of its population having access to a secure, privacy-protecting digital identity solution.

The adjusted roadmap does not introduce new measures specifically targeting increased eID usage. However, Austrian authorities have indicated ongoing efforts to promote broader uptake through practical incentives and integration into daily life. Initiatives include linking the new eID Austria with passport issuance processes and offering fee reductions for public services when users identify themselves digitally. Such initiatives are expected to enhance the convenience and appeal of digital identities, ultimately encouraging more widespread adoption. Overall, the share of e-Government users within the population has only increased slightly, from 78.46% in 2022 to 78.71% in 2024.

Sustained promotional campaigns and integration of eID into essential public services will be crucial to increasing its everyday use, thus fully capitalising on Austria’s strong foundation in digital identity infrastructure.

Digitalisation of public services for citizens and businesses

Following recommendations from the 2024 report, Austrian authorities addressed critical gaps in their strategic roadmap by setting explicit national targets and trajectories aligned with the EU’s Digital Decade goals for both citizens and businesses. The adjusted roadmap streamlined previous initiatives, narrowing its focus onto fewer, more impactful measures to accelerate overall progress in digital public service delivery.

The establishment of a jointly defined publicly accessible health portal, for instance, aims to create a comprehensive digital platform providing streamlined access to health-related services and information. At the same time, the digitalisation of case management in the judiciary constituted a step forward in fully digitalising Austria’s judicial system: by transitioning to digital case management, the initiative seeks to significantly boost administrative efficiency, reduce processing times, and enhance transparency, thus providing citizens and businesses with easier and more accessible judicial services.

These targeted initiatives directly respond to previously identified challenges, notably by reinforcing coordination across government levels and improving the user experience in essential public sectors such as healthcare and judiciary services.

In the area of key digital public services for businesses, the topic of structured e-invoicing and Peppol integration has gained attention among economic operators in Austria. Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) is a set of technical specifications and a secure network infrastructure that facilitates the cross-border exchange of electronic procurement documents – most notably, structured electronic invoices – between public administrations and businesses across the EU. While e-invoicing to the federal government has been mandatory since 2014 – with the Peppol transport infrastructure accepted as a valid method for submission – Austria still lacks a designated national Peppol Authority, which places it behind most other EU Member States in this area. The Peppol system, operated by the non-profit organisation OpenPeppol, enables cross-border interoperability in electronic procurement and invoicing, and its effective implementation typically relies on coordination through a national authority. In Austria, although the Austrian Federal Computing Centre (BRZ) operates a centralised Service Metadata Publisher and supports approximately 5 000 Peppol receivers, it does not hold official Peppol Authority status. Economic stakeholders have voiced concern over this gap.

Authorities have notably prioritised overarching projects, emphasising coordinated implementation at federal and regional levels. The strategic reduction in the number of individual measures reflects a deliberate effort to focus resources effectively, thereby enhancing implementation and achieving clearer, measurable outcomes.

e-Health

In 2024, Austria made significant progress to contribute to e-health Digital Decade commitments. While the key challenges identified in the 2024 country report persist, Austria adopted a dedicated e-Health Strategy in June 2024, reflected clearly in the adjusted national roadmap. The new strategy aims to address the challenges related to the lack of integration for specific data categories – such as medical devices, implants, and medical imagery – and incomplete connections within the ELGA system (standing for ‘Elektronische Gesundheitsakte’, which means electronic health records), as it currently includes public hospitals and pharmacies, but excludes many private healthcare providers.

For the first time, a defined national trajectory and explicit targets for e-health have been established, aligning closely with EU Digital Decade objectives. In support of these goals, Austria has committed to an annual budget of approximately EUR 51 million for e-health initiatives, distributed through a yearly programme designed to implement specific projects prioritised under the new strategy.

By the same token, the new measures introduced in the adjusted roadmap significantly enhance Austria’s e-health framework. The measure ‘Access for citizens to all ELGA health records’ expands both the accessibility and completeness of the existing ELGA platform, allowing citizens comprehensive digital access to their personal health records. This measure aligns closely with the establishment of the new publicly accessible health portal, which integrates various digital health services into a unified, user-friendly interface. The measure on ‘Access for all healthcare providers (GDA)’ ensures comprehensive connectivity to Austria’s public telematics infrastructure for healthcare professionals – including private providers. By addressing previously identified gaps in ELGA connectivity, particularly for private healthcare providers, and introducing mobile connectivity options, it significantly strengthens interoperability and communication within the healthcare ecosystem.

Finally, the introduction of the measure ‘Data on medical devices and implants’ addresses a notable gap from previous years by integrating these critical data categories into the ELGA infrastructure. This addition substantially enhances the completeness of patient information available on the platform, thereby improving data availability, patient safety, and overall care coordination.

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy

In recent years, Austria’s digital civic and political participation rates have shown a moderate decline, yet generally remain aligned with or above EU averages. In 2024, 11.30% of Austrians participated in online consultations or digital voting to define civic or political issues (down from 12.67% in 2023), still above the EU average of 10.05%.

Similarly, the percentage of individuals expressing opinions on civic or political matters through websites or social media decreased notably from 15.79% in 2023 to 12.39% in 2024, now falling below the EU average of 16.48%. Overall civic or political participation dropped to 19.79% in 2024 (from 22.88% in 2023), slightly below the current EU average of 20.45%. These trends indicate a weakening engagement that calls for renewed attention from policymakers, especially given Austria’s traditionally strong digital infrastructure.

In 2023, in Austria, 31.4% of individuals encountered online messages considered hostile or degrading towards groups based on factors such as ethnicity or disability, slightly below the EU average of 33.5%. Young people (aged 16-24) (45.50%) reported much higher exposure than adults (aged between 25-64) (31.84%), showing a substantial age-related difference. Males (32.27%) and females (30.55%) reported similar rates, reflecting balanced exposure across genders.

In 2023, 42.57% of individuals in Austria reported having come across information or content on internet news sites or social media that they considered untrue or doubtful, below the EU average of 49.25%. Of those who encountered such content, 28.26% verified its truthfulness, indicating that a notable share of individuals assessed the reliability of the material. Youth (16-24) (48.70%) reported slightly more exposure than adults (25-64) (44.29%), with verification rates also being higher for youth (37.33%) compared to adults (28.93%). Similarly, males (47.25%) reported notably higher exposure than females (37.94%), with verification rates also being considerably higher among males (33.94%) than females (22.63%).

Compared to EU averages, a lower proportion of individuals in Austria encountered perceived hostile and degrading online messages and potentially misleading information online. At the same time, a higher proportion of individuals reported verifying the accuracy of information compared to the EU average, though notable differences in exposure and verification rates existed between males and females, as well as between young people (16-24) and adults (25-64). Overall, while the data shows a relatively more positive picture for Austria than broader EU trends, efforts are still needed to ensure the safety and inclusiveness of online spaces, with a focus on countering misinformation.

Austrian authorities have taken targeted and comprehensive measures to address rising concerns about disinformation, particularly around major electoral events. Austria employs a robust interministerial approach, exemplified by the Interministerial Working Group on Hybrid Threats, established in 2019, aimed at coordinating national strategies to counter disinformation effectively and enhancing resilience through regular assessment and inter-agency communication.

Strategically, Austria’s approach involves both preventive and responsive measures. Prior to the 2024 elections, authorities implemented dedicated initiatives such as the social media campaign ‘Combating disinformation’ to raise public awareness and resilience. Furthermore, the government launched targeted awareness campaigns for municipalities to enhance vigilance against misinformation in local elections. Regular training and information sessions, including online and classroom-based courses for public administration staff, contribute to broader societal awareness.

On an operational level, Austrian authorities utilise the Federal Criminal Police Information Service on Disinformation, which provides daily analyses and operational measures through interministerial platforms, significantly enhancing preparedness against coordinated disinformation campaigns. The strategic communication response to Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) is bolstered by continuous research, notably via the national security research programmes (KIRAS and K-PASS).

Austria has demonstrated successful pragmatic cooperation among ministries and institutions, particularly evident during cyber threats. Nonetheless, authorities highlight that sustained long-term investment in resilience-building measures, digital literacy, and public trust is indispensable to effectively counter the evolving landscape of disinformation.

Overall, Austria maintains a relatively favourable digital environment, exhibiting slightly lower rates of hostile and misleading content exposure compared to broader EU trends. Yet, declining civic participation online signals the need for renewed policy focus on digital civic engagement. The authorities’ comprehensive, interministerial approach to combating disinformation provides a robust framework, but sustained efforts remain crucial to further strengthen resilience, build digital awareness across demographics, and maintain Austria’s democratic integrity in the digital age.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, Austrian respondents express a very high sense of urgency for public authorities to act in protecting children online, mirroring the EU average. Specifically, 93% of Austrians consider urgent action necessary to address the negative impact of social media on children’s mental health, identical to the EU average, while 92% find it urgent to tackle cyberbullying and online harassment, and92% support urgent action on age assurance mechanisms to restrict access to age-inappropriate content, again equal to the EU average.

At the same time, 79% of Austrians consider it important that public authorities take action to shape the development of Artificial Intelligence and other digital technologies to ensure they respect fundamental rights and values, slightly below the EU average of 83%.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Austrian authorities recognise the importance of the green transition and consistently prioritises sustainability in their broader political and economic agenda. However, the integration of environmental objectives within the country’s digital strategic roadmap remains limited. While certain initiatives – such as those promoting AI for environmental purposes – contribute indirectly to climate goals, the roadmap lacks a comprehensive approach to harness digital tools for sustainability. As a result, the green-digital nexus is not yet fully embedded in Austria’s digital transformation strategy, suggesting scope for a more strategic alignment moving forward.

The environmental footprint of Austria’s ICT sector reveals a positive trend. Austria’s recycling rates for outdated ICT devices consistently exceed EU averages, indicating higher device turnover. Specifically, for older desktop computers (18.05%), mobile phones (14.69%), and laptops or tablets (14.50%), Austria surpasses EU average disposal rates (14.66%, 10.93%, and 11.31% respectively).

Austrians notably prioritise sustainability when purchasing ICT devices. Only 1.80% of Austrian consumers report that they consider none of the sustainability characteristics important, substantially below the EU average (3.65%). Moreover, Austrian consumers exhibit strong environmental awareness regarding product lifecycle management: 20.88% consider the availability of a manufacturer or seller take-back scheme as important, markedly higher than the EU average (6.85%). Price remains a decisive factor for most consumers (71.43%), slightly higher than the EU average (69.12%).

The adjusted Austrian roadmap continues to lack a dedicated, explicit green digital transition section, although several initiatives indirectly support sustainability objectives. Existing measures, such as ‘AI for Green’, continue to drive progress by funding AI applications explicitly designed to achieve environmental and climate goals. The programme emphasises assessing the climate-related costs versus the environmental benefits of new AI applications, thus embedding sustainability directly within digital innovation processes.

Furthermore, the SME-DIGITAL 4.0 & GREEN support initiative remains active, promoting the digital transformation of SMEs with a sustainability focus. However, no significant new measures or innovations specifically addressing the environmental footprint of the ICT sector have been introduced.

Austrian authorities highlighted proactive steps towards greater sustainability awareness in digital technologies. In particular, the recent call ‘AI Ökosysteme 2024’ includes a funded research study on Green AI, with a budget of up to EUR 100 000 for 18 months. This study systematically evaluates current research on sustainable AI systems and aims to provide practical guidelines for developers and policymakers, facilitating broader adoption of less resource-intensive AI technologies, such as renewable-powered infrastructure and computationally efficient algorithms.

Additionally, sustainability and climate neutrality form core cross-cutting themes within the 2024-2026 AI Implementation Plan of the national AI strategy (AIM AT 2030), underlining Austria’s intent to embed environmental considerations deep into its broader AI and digital strategies.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 69% of Austrians believe that digital technologies will be important in helping to fight climate change by 2030, such as through apps that track emissions or enable car-sharing and online meetings. This figure is slightly below the EU average of 74%. Similarly, 76% of Austrians consider it important that public authorities ensure digital technologies serve the green transition, compared to an EU average of 80%.

Annex I – National roadmap analysis

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles 10

(1)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(2)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(3)

The Best Practice Accelerator (BPA) is a platform that enables Member States to share successful measures and challenges encountered in their efforts to meet their Digital Decade targets and objectives. Best practices are made available to Member States via the BPA Repository and showcased in regular workshops, currently focused on three thematic clusters: Digital Skills, Green IT, and the Uptake of Digital Technologies.

(4)

Most of the indicators mentioned in the country report are explained in the DESI 2025 Methodological Note accompanying the State of the Digital Decade report 2025

(5)

 Special Eurobarometer 566 on ‘the Digital Decade’ 2025: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news-redirect/883227

(6)

When referring to national roadmaps, data used in this report are those declared by the Member States in their national roadmaps, on the basis of the Commission’s guidance (C(2023) 4025 final). Data might reflect possible variations in reporting practices and methodological choices across Member States. No systematic assessment of the extent to which Member States followed the guidance was carried out.

(7)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(8)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(9)

Joint Research Centre, Nepelski, D. and Torrecillas, J. Mapping EU level funding instruments 2021-2027 to Digital Decade targets – 2025 update, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, JRC141966. Last data update: 10 March 2025.

(10)

 Based on a study to support the Monitoring of the Implementation of the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, available here . For a more detailed country factsheet accompanying the study, click  here .

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 16.6.2025

SWD(2025) 294 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Digital Decade 2025 country reports

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

State of the Digital Decade 2025: Keep building the EU's sovereignty and digital future

{COM(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 291 final} - {SWD(2025) 292 final} - {SWD(2025) 293 final} - {SWD(2025) 295 final}

Contents

Executive summary    

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership    

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies    

Connectivity infrastructure    

Semiconductors    

Edge nodes    

Quantum technologies    

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises    

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity    

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics    

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups    

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience    

Protecting and empowering EU people and society    

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs    

Equipping people with digital skills    

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all    

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy    

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening    

Annex I – National roadmap analysis    

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding    

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles    

Executive summary

Belgium benefits from a dynamic tech ecosystem and rapid technology adoption among enterprises. It holds a leading position in VHCN (gigabit) coverage, although there remains room to expand FTTP coverage and address persistent gaps in digital skills. The country has positioned itself as a leader in cybersecurity, strategic technology development and online service provision.

Belgium shows a high level of ambition in its contribution to the Digital Decade, having set 14 national targets, 93% of which are aligned with the EU 2030 targets. The country is following its trajectories, with 86% of them on track (on the basis of the 2024 trajectories defined for 7 KPIs out of 8 analysed). Belgium addressed 75% of the 8 recommendations issued by the Commission in 2024, either by implementing significant policy changes (50%) or making some changes (25%) through new measures.

Belgium stands out for its performance in gigabit coverage and rapid progress in 5G deployment. While fibre coverage still has room to grow, efforts to expand its deployment are accelerating. Business digitalisation is improving, with a focus on AI adoption and support to SME and start-up innovation. In cybersecurity, Belgium leads by engaging SMEs and committing to resilience-building initiatives. Digital skills development remains an area that needs to be prioritised, with programmes addressing ICT and STEM shortages and promoting gender inclusion. Belgium excels in online public services. Aligning with EU priorities, Belgium embeds sustainability in its strategies, and enhances the EU’s sovereignty and competitiveness, such as in R&D for semiconductors.

According to the 2025 special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade, 72% of Belgian citizens consider that the digitalisation of daily public and private services is making their lives easier. Concerning the action of the public authorities, 87% consider it important to counter and mitigate the issue of fake news and disinformation online, and regarding competitiveness, 84% consider it important to ensure that European companies can grow and become ‘European Champions’ able to compete globally.

A competitive, sovereign, and resilient EU based on technological leadership

In recent years, Belgium has made significant progress with its connectivity infrastructure’s coverage. Belgium is now in the leading position on VHCN (gigabit) coverage. By now, Belgium has recovered the lag in 5G spectrum assignment and has scope to improve its FTTP coverage, which is below the EU average, but deployment is gaining pace on that front. Moreover, the country’s 5G coverage now surpasses the EU average as it has rapidly improved since 2023. This firmly puts Belgium on track to achieve its 2030 targets. While Belgium has made progress in increasing the share of high-speed broadband subscriptions and 5G SIM card usage, it still lags behind the EU average in 5G coverage for households in sparsely populated areas and in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band. The country’s strong growth rates in these areas indicate a positive trajectory, but there is still room for improvement to catch up with the EU average.

Belgium and its regions prioritise advances in AI take-up by companies and the digitalisation of online public services, which shows a strong dynamic in particular for businesses. It is also home to strategic assets such as R&D in semiconductors, and actively promotes quantum computing and quantum ecosystem. The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) and its activities position Belgium as a leader in cybersecurity, but also strengthens its capacity for technological innovation and resilience by narrowing the cybersecurity skills gap. Regarding cybersecurity, Belgium continues to lead by example through a range of initiatives. Looking ahead, the continued implementation of the current National Cybersecurity Strategy, the development of its successor, and efforts to enhance SME participation in cybersecurity measures will be key to ensuring long-term resilience and success.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Belgium’s digital transformation is under pressure due to persistent gaps in digital skills, ICT talent shortages, and gender imbalance among ICT specialists. The low performance in advanced digital skills hampers labour market outcomes and competitiveness. However, Belgium excels in delivering digital public services, especially for businesses (above the EU average), and in the uptake of e-ID by citizens. Belgium leads the EU in terms of access to e-Health records in 2023 with a maximum score of 100. Authorities focus on closing skills gaps through lifelong learning and targeted reskilling, with special attention given to women in digital roles. Efforts also target combating disinformation and promoting digital literacy to protect citizens online, fostering a safer and more inclusive digital environment.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Regarding progress in its twin transition, Belgium is actively engaged in both greening its digital infrastructure and supporting digital solutions for carbon reduction in other sectors. While several initiatives show promise, a comprehensive strategy that links the digital and green transitions would likely accelerate these efforts.

National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

Belgium submitted an addendum to its national Digital Decade roadmap on 11 December 2024, addressing all the roadmap recommendations issued in 2024. The country pledged to improve coordination across governance levels and to transition to an annual roadmap update cycle starting in 2025. The roadmap includes 13 updated and 5 new measures added to last year’s 161 measures. The new measures focus on people, digital skills, accessibility and inclusion. Most trajectories remain unchanged, with updates limited to missing KPIs for edge nodes and FTTP. The revised roadmap is composed of 166 measures with a budget of EUR 913.71 million (equivalent to 0.15% of GDP), up from EUR 892 million. It still covers all objectives of the Digital Decade such as a human-centred digital space, resilience and security, sovereignty, sustainability, and protection of society. Stakeholder engagement is planned for 2025, with Belgium committing to a more coordinated national strategy to close identified gaps and align with the EU’s 2030 digital objectives. The country also decided to deliver a yearly roadmap, starting in 2025, instead of one every two years as the DDPP requires.

Funding & projects for digital

Belgium allocates 26% of its total recovery and resilience plan to digital (EUR 1.2 billion) 1 . In addition, under cohesion policy, EUR 329 million, representing 13% of the country’s total cohesion policy funding, is dedicated to advancing Belgium’s digital transformation 2 .

Belgium hosts the EUROPEUM EDIC. It is also a member of the Local Digital Twins towards the CitiVERSE EDIC and participates as an observer in the Alliance for Language Technologies EDIC, for which the region of Flanders is a member. Belgian entities are indirect and/or associated partners in the IPCEI on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies (IPCEI-ME/CT) and in the IPCEI on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS). Belgium is a participating state of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU) and of the Chips JU.

Within the Digital Decade’s Best Practice Accelerator 3 , Belgium leads the ‘Technology Uptake’ Cluster, organising workshops on AI adoption for SMEs and other key topics, with active participation across Europe and plans for ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Digital rights and principles

According to a support study, Belgium has been one of the most active Member States in implementing the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles , with over 100 initiatives overall and 12 new initiatives launched in 2024. Belgium is most active in the areas of digital education, training and skills and fair and just working conditions. Less activity has been identified with regards to sustainability. Measures in the area of freedom of choice appear to have most impact on the ground, in contrast to those addressing safety, security and empowerment and sustainability.

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Belgium’s digital has been a key focus for policymakers, who aim to position the country as a forerunner in several areas of Europe’s tech landscape. While Belgium's competitiveness in ICT faces hurdles overall, there is potential for further growth.

Government initiatives at both federal and regional levels, such as participation in the European Startup Nations Alliance and the establishment of an AI Campus hub, reflect strong support for start-ups and innovation. Additionally, significant public support for business R&D and a stable ICT sector contribution to gross value added indicate progress in research and innovation (R&I) performance. However, these improvements are tempered by decreasing venture capital (VC) intensity, inconsistent VC investments, and relatively low R&D spending and low numbers of ICT specialists. Furthermore, the need for small firms to better grow and commercialize innovations, along with limited employment in high-growth and innovative businesses compared to EU averages, highlights ongoing challenges.

Belgium's ICT sector represented 4.08% of the gross value added in 2022, which is its lowest performance since 2019 and below the EU average of 5.46%, pointing to an overall under-performance of the country 4 . R&D spending in Belgium’s ICT sector is not among the highest, at 16.91% of the total R&D business expenditure in 2021. R&D personnel in the ICT sector made up 23.5% of the total R&D workforce, which is below the average compared to other EU countries for which data was available.

High-growth businesses account for only 4.53% of employment, vs an EU average of 12.23%, according to Eurostat. In innovative sectors, despite the good performance of Belgium in R&I, employment in fast-growing enterprises in 50% of the most innovative sectors is low (2.2% in 2019 vs 5.5% EU average).

Public support to business R&D is one of the highest in the from EU (0.31% of GDP compared with the EU average of 0.24% of GDP), with two-thirds of it provided through tax incentives. However, the share of R&D tax support that small firms benefit from is low by OECD standards. Furthermore, evidence indicates that the impact of these R&D tax incentives diminishes as firm size increases.

Belgium remains a strong performer in R&I, although this does not fully translate into business dynamism. The 2024 European Innovation Scoreboard ranks Belgium as a ‘strong innovator’, with performance well above the EU average and nearly on a par with the ‘innovation leader’ countries. Belgium’s innovation performance relative to the EU average (2.22% in 2023) has steadily increased over the last decade alongside its overall R&D intensity, which reached 3.35% of GDP in 2023 (compared to 2.06% in 2010). This growth has been achieved thanks to a very substantial increase in business R&D intensity (2.47% in 2022), now the second highest in the EU.

On connectivity, Belgium is in the leading position on VHCN (gigabit) coverage, rapidly caught up on its 5G backlog. Although it has scope to expand its FTTP coverage, deployment is gaining pace on that front as well. However, the country needs to further monitor 5G coverage for households in sparsely populated areas and in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band, and fibre coverage.

Regarding critical technologies, Belgium remains a European leader in chip R&D with Flanders’ Imec research lab. The country also plays a key role in advancing semiconductor innovation and production through public and private sector commitments (such as through the Semicon Coalition and a Chips Act's pilot line). Belgium continues to promote quantum computing and is likely to meet its edge nodes target.

The tech ecosystem for SMEs and start-ups growth in Belgium keep developing with a rather encouraging dynamic, thanks to ongoing support measures. The digital landscape for businesses in Belgium is positive overall.

On the state of enterprise digitalisation, in 2023 and 2024, Belgium made significant and consistent progress in the uptake of digital technologies by businesses, particularly in accelerating the uptake of AI in 2024. Of note, Belgium is the host and lead Member of the ‘Technology Uptake’ Cluster of the Digital Decade’s Best Practice Accelerator (BPA). Belgium leads or participates in six European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and is engaging discussions to potentially participate in an AI factories project at EU level.

Belgium continues to lead in cybersecurity by example through a host of initiatives. Moving forward, the continued implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy and efforts to boost SME participation in cybersecurity initiatives will be crucial for sustained success.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer 5 , 83% of Belgian people think that building efficient and secure digital infrastructures and data processing facilities should be a priority for the public authorities.

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies

Belgium excels in Fixed Very High-Capacity Network (VHCN) coverage, semiconductor R&D, and digitalisation, with strong growth in AI adoption by enterprises and cybersecurity leadership. However, the country needs to further monitor 5G for households in sparsely populated areas and in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band, and fibre coverage. Belgium also needs to increase SMEs’ participation in cybersecurity initiatives.

Connectivity infrastructure

Belgium's digital infrastructure exhibits a complex landscape and mixed performance. While it leads the EU in total VHCN coverage and shows impressive growth in 5G coverage, it lags in Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) coverage. The lag in 5G spectrum assignment has been solved in 2022. The country's performance in expanding to sparsely populated areas varies, with strong growth in some areas but low coverage in others. Belgium's broadband take-up indicators show a mixed performance compared to the EU average. The country leads in the share of fixed broadband subscriptions at speeds of 100 Mbps or higher but lags behind in subscriptions at speeds of 1 Gbps or higher and in the share of the population using 5G SIM cards. However, Belgium's growth rates in these areas are generally positive and, in some cases, outpace the EU. Some of the measures in place include regulatory interventions to facilitate network deployment, spectrum management, promotion of VHCN and 5G take-up through awareness campaigns, the establishment of the Broadband Competence Office (BCO), and project fundings for 5G pilots, VHCN in white areas and 6G research.

Regarding consumers, Belgium remains expensive for small mobile plans, fixed internet, and premium bundles, but competition is improving with DIGI’s entry as a fourth mobile operator. In addition, changes to the universal service rule that took effect on 1 March 2024 redefined the affordable adequate Internet access service by introducing a new social internet offer. This new version of the social tariff system was adopted by 20 123 beneficiaries as of January 2025, while the old system still covered 162 701 users by the end of 2024. The number of beneficiaries of the new system is expected to grow as awareness increases.

Belgium's broadband take-up indicators show a mixed performance compared to the EU average. In 2023, 72.25% of fixed broadband subscriptions in Belgium were at speeds of 100 Mbps or higher, surpassing the EU's 65.9%. This figure rose to 75.87% in 2024, still ahead of the EU's 71.88%. However, the growth rate for this indicator in Belgium was 6.3%, which is lower than the EU's 9.1%.

For fixed broadband subscriptions at speeds of 1 Gbps or higher, Belgium lagged behind the EU. In 2023, only 4.57% of Belgian fixed broadband subscriptions were at this speed, compared to the EU's 18.47%. This rose to 5.53% in 2024, still below the EU's 22.25%. However, Belgium's growth rate of 22.4% outpaced the EU's 20.5%.

The share of the population using 5G SIM cards in Belgium was 13.26% in 2023, lower than the EU's 21.7%. This figure rose to 31.19% in 2024, still below the EU's 35.56%. Belgium's growth rate of 135.2% for this indicator was significantly higher than the EU's 63.9%.

VHCN and FTTP

Belgium’s VHCN coverage is at 93.8% (2030 national target 100%), after a progression of +2.9% in 2024 and stands far above the EU average of 82.49%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. However, the 2.9% growth rate between2023 and 2024 was lower than the EU's 4.9%. For households in rural areas, Belgium's VHCN coverage was 80.83% in 2024, above the EU's 61.89%. The VHCN growth rate was 12.2%, outperforming the EU's 11.3%.

On regional disparities, Wallonia historically had the lowest VHCN coverage, but this changed with Orange’s Docsis 3.1 network upgrade. However, while Belgium reported that near-full VHCN coverage will be achieved by 2030, white areas persist. 

Belgium’s FTTP coverage is at 30.7% (2030 national target 82%), after a progression of +22.8% in 2024 and stands far below the EU average of 69.24%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. The growth rate of 22.8% between 2023 and 2024 significantly outpaced the EU's 8.4%. For households in rural areas, Belgium's FTTP coverage was 2.05% in 2024, far below the EU's 58.78%. The FTTP growth rate was 6.8%, lower than the EU's 11.9%. However, by 2024, FTTH made up 10.8% of broadband lines (555 000 lines), with Proximus seeing a 23.6% increase in FTTH retail sales.

The entire German-speaking region will be fully covered by an FTTH network by 2026 as GO Fiber, in the framework of a public-private partnership, is reducing white areas. For Belgium as a whole, Proximus and its joint-venture subsidiaries (Fiberklaar and Unifiber) are expanding coverage independently. Wyre (a joint venture between Telenet and Fluvius – a utility company) and DIGI have also started deploying fibre. Wyre’s ambition is to cover 78% of their footprint in the northern part of Belgium with fibre by 2038 and is aiming at 70% by 2029.

Potential cooperation between Proximus/Fiberklaar and Telenet/Wyre may have a positive impact on the FTTH roll-out trajectory in Flanders: a Memorandum of Understanding aims to deploy FTTH in 2 million medium-density homes and allow reciprocal network access, pending review by competition authorities. The possibility of a similar agreement with Orange is under discussion for Wallonia. If approved, such partnerships could boost rollout speed and service quality.

Take-up of high-speed broadband is low, with the share of fixed broadband subscriptions reported at 5.53% for speeds greater than 1 Gbps (vs EU average of 22.25%), despite Belgium being above the EU average (72.25% vs 65.9%) for subscriptions to services of speeds greater than 100 Mbps.

Looking at the market status of Belgium’s operators, Proximus continues to hold its position as the dominant mobile operator in the market, followed by Orange and Telenet. 

Regarding copper switch-off, a gradual shutdown was initiated in 2023, with a full switch-off expected by 2035. Fibre replacement takes approximately five years per area. The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) continues to monitor the transition, ensuring transparency and improvements to communication. 

5G

Belgium’s 5G coverage is at 96.87% (2030 national target 100%), after a progression of +140.1% in 2024 and stands just above the EU average of 94.35%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. The growth rate of 140.1% between 2023 and 2024 vastly outperformed the EU's 6.0%. For households in rural areas, Belgium's 5G coverage was 69.77% in 2024, below the EU's 79.57%. The 5G growth rate was 141.1%, far surpassing the EU's 11.9%.

In the 3.4–3.8 GHz band for 5G coverage, Belgium showed remarkable growth, with a growth rate of 246.5% between 2023 and 2024 compared to the EU's 32.6%. However, Belgium's coverage was lower than the EU's in both years, at 14.24% in 2023 and 49.34% in 2024, compared to the EU's 51.06% and 67.72%, respectively. For households in sparsely populated areas, Belgium's coverage was 3.76% in 2023 and 39.64% in 2024, compared to the EU’s 15.86% and 26.19%, respectively. Their growth rate was 954.3%, significantly outperforming the EU's 65.1%. Belgium started from very low initial coverage, and was late to auction its 3.5 GHz spectrum (mid-2022), compared to many other EU countries. These high growth rates are in part a reflection of the country’s efforts to catch up from a low base, driven by delayed spectrum deployment, policy incentives, and strategic investments made after 2022.

On 5G spectrum, Belgium's assignment of harmonized spectrum in the 5G pioneer bands was 65.83% in both 2024 and 2025, lagging behind the EU's 73.4% and 74.63% respectively. Belgium showed no growth in this area between both years, while the EU's growth was 1.7%, owing to a lack of market demand.

There have been some noteworthy developments in Belgium:

·Belgium strengthened competition by allowing a fourth mobile operator with a full spectrum portfolio to enter the market. Citymesh/DIGI, became active in the retail market in December 2024 after acquiring reserved 5G spectrum for newcomers.

·In 2024, NRB sold its spectrum to Proximus.

·A Royal Decree and the BIPT decision with technical conditions of 2023 allows BIPT to issue private 5G licences, but there have been some applications for private 5G spectrum up to now.

·A Royal decree was published in 2024 to allow 5G deployment in the North Sea. Multiple 5G networks are in operation there.

·The remaining 20 MHz spectrum at 3.6 GHz was offered to the market in April 2024, but there were no bidders.

·No significant industrial demand for 26 GHz band has been identified, but a new consultation on the Royal decree is expected in 2025.

On 5G coverage, challenges include operators’ preference for 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) by reusing existing LTE sites, which slows down the deployment of full 5G SA. In addition, financial constraints and concerns about return on investment are limiting large-scale 5G SA roll-out. Many customers do not perceive a clear benefit of SA over NSA, reducing demand pressure. A significant portion of users still rely on 4G devices, and rapid replacement is not seen as ecologically desirable.

Belgium has not pushed for SA deployment. While 5G networks are expanding, there is no targeted intervention to improve speed and service in underserved areas.

There is progress on B2B: Belgium has allocated 3800-4200 MHz spectrum for private 5G networks. Federal funding is exclusively awarded to B2B projects, supporting private 5G SA networks. Some private networks are using SA structures, indicating progress in adoption by industry.

On B2C and spectrum access challenges, there is limited demand for private spectrum: Few parties are requesting 3800-4200 MHz spectrum, as MNOs already offer private 5G solutions within their licensed bands. There is no major push for consumer (B2C) 5G SA adoption: Belgium notes that no "crucial" B2C 5G SA application exists yet. Finally, there is a lack of regulatory leverage: Belgium states that, due to technology neutrality, it cannot force operators to speed up SA deployment, limiting its role in actively driving the transition.

Semiconductors

Belgium remains a European leader in chip R&D with its Imec research lab, and plays a key role in advancing semiconductor innovation and production through public and private sector commitments.

In March 2025, Imec and Dutch chip printing machine supplier ASML struck a five-year partnership , that will bring some of ASML’s machines to the new pilot line funded under the EU Chips Act by the EU and the Belgian region of Flanders. The pilot line aims to make microchips even smaller (to below 2 nanometres); it has started its activities and will focus on the procurement of tools in the early stage. The ASML investment in the partnership is complemented with funding made available by the Chips Joint Undertaking (JU) and the Flemish government (which invested EUR 1.4 million through the EU Chips Act for the realisation of the EU Chips Act NanoIC pilot line), and by the Dutch government (as an Important Project of Common European Interest). Bringing together ASML and Imec’s respective knowledge and expertise will foster EU competitiveness by developing solutions that advance the semiconductor industry and initiatives focused on sustainable innovation.

Wallonia is involved in the FAMES pilot line, one of the three main pilot lines of the Chips Act. UCLouvain (ICTEAM) is a member of the consortium responsible for setting up and providing services for FAMES, and this initiative is co-financed by Wallonia. The Chips JU will fund the initiative through the chips competence call, and the required 50% co-financing the JU will make will be covered by the funding possibilities in the Walloon decree on R&I. Dedicated funding is planned for several European partnerships, including the Chips JU.

In March 2025, Belgium joined eight other EU countries to establish the  IPCEI on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS) , committing to strengthening Europe’s semiconductor industry. The coalition aims to: (i) Expand semiconductor production capacity within the EU; (ii) Enhance Europe’s leadership in key areas of the global semiconductor value chain; and (iii) Respond to increasing global public investment in the semiconductor sector. In collaboration with the European Commission, the Semicon Coalition will explore additional long-term support mechanisms to maintain and strengthen Europe’s competitive position in the global semiconductor industry.

Also in March 2025, the Commission selected two Belgian projects led by advanced materials company Umicore, as part of its efforts to secure strategic resources. Both projects target germanium, a critical semiconductor metal used in the defence and space sectors: 'GePETO' focuses on refining the metal and 'Re-looks’ explores substitutions for it.

Edge nodes

According to the Edge Node Observatory, Belgium is estimated to have deployed a total of 30 edge nodes by 2024, a progression of +100% since 2023. This is doubling (+15 edge nodes) the amount estimated for 2023 (15, number revised since the 2024 Digital Decade Report).

Quantum technologies

Belgium is steadily developing its capabilities in high-performance computing and quantum technologies, through initiatives at both regional and federal levels. While efforts are primarily focused on research, education, and ecosystem-building, they are laying important groundwork for future strategic developments.

Flanders invested EUR 8.6 million in the purchase of a new Flemish supercomputer . It will be installed at the VUB Green Energy Park in Zellik. The computer will be operational from November 2025. Japanese high-tech company NEC Deutschland GmbH (NEC) will supply this new Flemish Tier-1 supercomputer. This supercomputer is part of a platform of systems providing computing power, data storage, and cloud applications offered by the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) to researchers in knowledge institutions and companies across Flanders.

In September 2024, the Belgian Ministry of Economy (FPS Economy) hosted ‘Guiding the Quantum Technology Landscape’, a workshop for government officials at all levels together with high-level executives from the private sector (IBM) on quantum, in order to raise awareness of and explain more about this technology. The Ministry also drafted a paper to assess quantum technologies’ economic impact, and to map the ecosystem at national and EU levels. The Ministry also launched an ad-hoc quantum working group in 2024 to share all relevant developments on the country’s different levels and organise strategic discussions about Belgium’s next steps. As quantum computing (which the Digital Decade indicator is linked to) will be in a research phase for several years to come, for now, Belgium prioritises research, education and attracting/retaining quantum skilled researchers, rather than rolling out a national strategy.

The Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) is engaged in the Quantum Technologies Cooperation Group at EU level, as well as participating to the NIS Cooperation Group Work Stream on PQC to work on a European roadmap. In addition, the BeQCI initiative signed a MoU with Luxembourg in 2024. Belgium held discussions with France, but assessed it too expensive up to that point to connect both infrastructures. Furthermore, the BeQCI initiative is considering organizing a hackathon in 2025, to further promote quantum.

Wallonia is currently building its own quantum ecosystem, and plans to take part in the next DEP calls for projects.

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises

Belgium is making strong progress in digitalisation, with 2024 marking an acceleration in technology adoption among businesses. AI has become a priority in new government strategies following the 2024 elections, though concrete plans and budgets were still pending at the time of reporting.

The country benefits from high business R&D investment (2.47% of GDP, well above the EU average) and strong science-business linkages. In 2024, Belgian companies filed 741 ICT patent applications—a 59.35% increase from 2023—making it a record year over the past five years 6 . Belgium excels in patents related to agri-food, health, and electronics.

Despite public support, business dynamism remains moderate, and SMEs struggle to scale up. While Belgium offers tax incentives for start-ups and scale-ups, their impact remains unclear.

Regulatory challenges persist, particularly for SMEs. Belgium lags behind OECD top performers in easing the administrative burden, market entry, and regulatory efficiency. Further reforms are needed to foster innovation and business growth.

Of note, Belgium is the host and lead Member of the Cluster ‘Technology Uptake’ of the Digital Decade’s Best Practice Accelerator (BPA). It has presented two of its initiatives as part of the BPA workshops: Start IA by DigitalWallonia4.AI; and Athumi, a data utility company working with the Flemish government that streamlines processes in smart societies by putting citizens in control of their personal data.

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity

83.7% of Belgian SMEs had at least a basic level of digital intensity (2030 national target 90%) after a progression of +4.1% annually between 2022 and 2024; it stands well above the EU average of 72.91%, maintaining a leading position.

Belgium is driving digitalisation, AI, and sustainable innovation through federal and regional initiatives. The Ministry of Economy (FPS Economy) and regions along their competences support businesses via financial incentives, digital transformation programmes, public-private partnerships (such as with Digital Wallonia), and EU collaboration.

Regional initiatives foster innovation through strategic frameworks and financial support. Wallonie-Entreprendre (WE), SPW Recherche Flanders’ Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) agency and  Innoviris (Brussels region) offer grants, including for university-business collaboration. The Agence du Numérique supports projects under StartIA, funding up to 70% for private and 100% for public sector projects. In Flanders, VLAIO backs SME innovation, while Innoviris plays a similar role in Brussels. Belgium prioritizes AI, smart automation, and ethical digitalisation, with a strong AI ecosystem (AI4Belgium, top universities, Robovision). Industry 4.0 and robotics are advancing in aerospace, healthcare, and logistics, while sustainable digitalisation integrates AI, IoT, and blockchain for green tech.

Belgium leads or participates in six European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), including Walhub, SustAin.brussels, and Flanders AI. Wallonia hosts two EDIHs: WalHub (Industry 4.0 & logistics) and CONNECT (Construction 4.0), supporting over 500 companies since 2023. Key priorities include AI, cybersecurity, IoT, and digital transformation for SMEs. In 2024, WalHub has developed an e-learning tool on cybersecurity dedicated to SMEs, while CONNECT developed several resources to help very small enterprises take their first steps in digital transformation. To further strengthen industry expertise, train-the-trainer sessions have been organized around digital technologies in collaboration with the Wallonian employment agency (FOREM) and training centre (IFAPME). Both EDIHs also contribute to the regional programmes ‘Industrie du futur’ and ‘Construction du futur’.

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics

·Artificial intelligence or Cloud or Data analytics

According to new data collected in 2024, 24.71% of Belgian enterprises adopted AI (2030 national target 75%) after a progression of +78.93% in a year; this performance stands considerably above the EU average of 13.48%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. Belgium experienced a significant growth in the use of AI by enterprises (78.93%) from 13.81% in 2023, surpassing the EU average increase between 2023 and 2024 (67.2%). At the same time, a significant difference existed between SMEs, which had an uptake rate of 23.09%, and large enterprises, which demonstrated a significantly higher uptake rate of 66.27%. As such, the gap between SMEs and large enterprises was 43.18 percentage points, which was higher than the EU gap of 28.53 percentage points.

Adoption of cloud, data analytics, and the three technologies together were not measured in 2024.

In 2023, 47.69% of Belgian firms adopted cloud technologies (2030 national target 75%), which is considerably above the EU average of 38.97%. More specifically, 46.3% of SMEs used cloud services, while a much higher proportion of large enterprises – more than 4 out of 5 (84.62%) – adopted these services. This indicates a percentage point difference of 38.32 in uptake between SMEs and large enterprises in Belgium, which was higher than the EU gap of 31.68.

Data from 2023 showed that 44.47% of Belgian firms adopted data analytics technologies (2030 national target 75%), considerably above the EU average of 33.25%. More specifically, while 43.03% of SMEs made use of data analytics, the uptake was considerably higher among large enterprises, with 82.71% engaging in such activities. This reflects a 39.68 percentage point difference between SMEs and large enterprises in Belgium, which is in line with the EU gap.

When taking the three technologies together in 2023, 64.21% of enterprises in Belgium engaged with either AI, cloud, or data analytics technologies (2030 national target 75%), considerably above the EU average of 54.7%. More specifically, the uptake among SMEs was slightly lower at 63.05%, while large enterprises demonstrated a significantly higher engagement at 94.98%. This indicates a percentage point difference of 31.93 in uptake between SMEs and large enterprises in Belgium, which is in line with the EU gap.

Indicators on the adoption of cloud computing, data analytics, and AI technologies in Belgium demonstrated a strong overall performance, with the country exceeding EU averages in all three areas. However, a significant disparity exists in technology adoption between SMEs and large enterprises. While large enterprises demonstrated high levels of adoption, SMEs lagged behind, particularly in AI adoption, and there was a sizeable gap in cloud computing and data analytics uptake. This mirrors broader EU trends, where large enterprises consistently outpace SMEs in technology adoption. Given that SMEs accounted for 95.8% of enterprises with more than 10 employees in Belgium and produced 38% of the country's value added in 2022, addressing these disparities is crucial to promoting digital transformation and driving economic growth.

·Cloud

The BIPT and other EU national regulatory authorities (NRAs) are monitoring the growing integration of telecom and cloud services, driven by technologies like cloud and edge computing. Key concerns include interoperability, market competition, and the dominance of hyperscalers.

Belgium had decided to engage in the IPCEI-CIS on Cloud in 2023. All IPCEI projects are coordinated by the Ministry of Economy but competences to engage lay often in the hands of the Regions. Belgium ultimately participated with two projects supported in Flanders and therefore ‘indirect partners’ (funding via non-IPCEI funds managed by Flanders’ VLAIO). Both projects are based on detailed IPCEI measures, and they focus on: (i) The development of smart charging solutions for electric vehicles; and (ii) software for decentralizing computing and storage infrastructure and decentralizing data ownership.

·Data Analytics

No specific new measures were introduced or signalled by the adjusted roadmap submitted by Belgium in 2025.

·Artificial Intelligence

Some efforts were made to accelerate the uptake of AI in 2024. At federal level, the Ministry of Economy’s recent state of play shows a good performance of Belgium regarding the adoption of AI, with almost one out of four businesses (of more than 10 full-time equivalents) using at least one AI tool. Furthermore, AI is taking into account in all government agreements. AI4Belgium, led by the Federal Public Service Policy and Support (BOSA), provides an overview of Belgium’s AI ecosystem with its Observatory for AI and new digital technologies  to monitor the progress and transparently inform the public. The Ministry has also published the yearly  update of its National Productivity Board in December 2024, a report that takes stock of Belgium’s productivity growth, with the perspective that AI can be a catalyst to boost it.

Belgium allocates 3.2% of its RRF budget to AI projects, slightly below the EU average of 3.7%. While budgets were not set at the time of reporting, the new federal government’s coalition agreement highlights AI as a priority, potentially leading to increased funding.

Wallonia is exploring an AI sandbox at federal and regional levels and developing a new digital strategy aligned with EU recommendations, focusing on AI and cybersecurity. The region currently hosts two EDIHs (with their potential fusion considered at the time of reporting), one TEF, and is considering joining an AI factory.

Flanders, a member of the ALT-EDIC, is working on a follow-up for EDIHs despite budget constraints, aiming for one AI-focused EDIH supporting digital innovation in SMEs. The region is advancing AI with generative AI guidelines for government, M365 Copilot deployment, and LLM training for AI4Gov. Its 2024 AI Policy Plan allocates EUR 35 million annually for research, business adoption, and training. Flanders is also investing in AI Factories, TEFs (Smart Cities, Agrifood, Edge-AI chips), and data-driven innovation, with AI linked to 40% of funded innovation projects in 2024.

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups

At the beginning of 2025, Belgium had 7 unicorns (2030 national target of 14), which is equal to last year. Based on Dealroom data, these include 3 firms in enterprise software: Deliverect, Odoo, and Team.blue (enterprise software). One more unicorn has emerged in 2024 ( Lighthouse) . As signs of a gradually maturing ecosystem, Belgium is home to five of the top 150 of Europe’s leading start-up hubs according to the Financial Times , including two on technology, namely Hexa in Brussels, and CAP Innove in Nivelles.

Belgium’s business dynamism has faced challenges, particularly for small firms struggling to grow and commercialise innovations. Despite a slowdown in the European tech industry in 2023, Belgium is since then recovering fast. Recent reports by industry (such as Agoria ) suggest that Belgium’s tech ecosystem is maturing and showing positive changes, with an improving investment climate and growing Venture Capital (VC) activity. In 2024, Belgium saw a record EUR 1.43 billion in tech investments , nearly doubling the 2023 total. Flanders led with EUR 1.06 billion, followed by Wallonia and Brussels. Ghent emerged as the tech capital, with EUR 520 million invested in 26 companies. The pace of investment in start-ups is accelerating, with early-stage rounds accounting for 77% of the capital raised, significantly higher than the European average.  federal level, the Belgian government has shown strong support for start-ups, with activities such as active participation in the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA), hosting its 2024 Forum. The new government has announced measures, including an SME plan with a focus on start-ups, and it plans to review the tax shelter system to better support growth. A 2025 study from the Ministry of Economy (FPS Economy) is also assessing ways to boost federal support for digital start-ups.

Flanders is also boosting support for start-ups and scale-ups with programmes like 'scale-ready' (targeting innovative start-ups) and IMEC I-start. In 2025, the University of Ghent will establish an AI Campus hub to foster collaboration between AI specialists and research institutions.

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience  

Belgium is on a strong footing to achieve the Digital Decade’s cybersecurity objective. Many initiatives in place continue to strengthen the country’s capabilities and preparedness, especially through awareness raising and educational efforts by the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB).

In Belgium, 68.2% of individuals took at least one action to protect their personal data online in 2023, which was slightly below the EU average of 69.55%. 40.22% of individuals engaged in three or more precautionary actions (and therefore could be considered as having above basic digital safety skills). The measure most frequently taken was refusing the use of personal data for advertising purposes (47.15% of individuals). In contrast, reading privacy policy statements before providing personal data was the measure taken the least (only 20.34% of individuals).

By 2022, 96.12% of Belgian enterprises deployed some ICT security measures (just above the EU average of 92.76%) and 62.82% of enterprises made their employees aware of their obligations in ICT security related issues, above the EU average (59.97%). In 2024, 3.96% of enterprises reported ICT security incidents caused by external cyberattacks (slightly above the EU average of 3.43% and down from 5.22% in 2022). In March 2025, the hacker collective NoName057 took down several Belgian government websites, including the government portal MyGov.be, which gives citizens access to official documents.

Concerning the deployment of secure internet standards, Belgium is one of the EU countries’ best performers in the roll-out of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) for end users (58%, EU average: 36%) despite a slightly decreasing trend. Belgium is also well above the EU average on the server side (31%, against 17% for the EU). IPv6 is an important protocol as it ensures the scalability, stability, and security of the Internet. The deployment of this new version has become increasingly urgent, as traditional IPv4 addresses have long been depleted. Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is also an important standard to be rolled out as it introduces security features to DNS. In Belgium, the DNSSEC validation rate is 39% (Q3 2024), below the EU average of 47%.

Overall, the data on several dimensions of cybersecurity suggest that Belgium performs overall above the EU average, demonstrating strong adoption of ICT security measures and a leading position in IPv6 deployment. However, higher-than-average vulnerability to hardware and software failures, and a below-average DNSSEC validation rate, highlight areas where further improvements are needed to strengthen overall cybersecurity resilience.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, 87% of Belgian citizens think that improved cybersecurity, better protection of online data, and safety of digital technologies would facilitate their daily use of digital technologies. This figure remains unchanged from last year, reflecting a stable perception.

Belgium has made significant strides in cybersecurity in 2024, with ongoing support for the CCB. The CCB is leading the development of a new National Cybersecurity Strategy, coordinating government efforts, and spearheading awareness campaigns, including its Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) initiative. Belgium is one of the first EU countries to have fully transposed cybersecurity rules for critical entities and now has adequate national rules in place. In October 2024, Belgium, along with Croatia, became one of the first countries to apply the NIS2 Directive, which was approved in 2022 to protect critical entities like energy, transport, and banking from major cyber threats.

The country has also introduced the Cyber Fundamentals framework, offering a structured approach to cybersecurity with certification, and actively participates in international initiatives. The CCB’s Spear Warning system monitors threats, sending targeted warnings to vulnerable systems. Belgium is focusing on SMEs and micro-SMEs, providing tailored resources through the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre (NCC-BE) to boost digital skills and resilience. EU funding opportunities are also being made available through the Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) program.

Belgium has implemented the 5G Cybersecurity Toolbox and improved security measures across its telecommunications infrastructure. The 5G rollout requires prior authorization, and inspections ensure ongoing compliance. The country has also seen the expansion of cybersecurity skills development programmes and is working to internationalize its CyberFundamentals Framework. In response to regional threats, the Flemish government is launching the Flemish Centre for Digital Security, integrating EU cybersecurity policies, while also addressing digital security in healthcare.

Belgium's proactive cybersecurity stance includes the Active Cyber Protection (ACP) initiative, with the launch of ethical hacking events like 'Hack the Government' in November 2024. The CCB also integrates practical NIS2 guides into SafeOnweb@Work to assist businesses in compliance. Belgium’s efforts have been recognized globally, ranking in the highest category of the UN Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) and winning the European Cybersecurity Award for Best Awareness Video. Additionally, Belgium's CyberFundamentals scheme was adopted by Romania, marking a significant step in international cooperation.

On implementation of the NIS2 Directive, following this transposition, the CCB has been conducting awareness-raising webinars to explain the Directive’s legal framework and requirements for NIS2 entities. The NIS2 Directive makes reporting incidents mandatory. During this period, and at the time of reporting on March 17 , reports of cyber incidents had increased by 80%. In addition, by that time, 2 410 organisations from critical sectors had registered with the CCB. Figures from the Ministry of Economy estimated that about 2 500 of those organisations are in the scope of NIS2. These results are therefore in line with the CCB’s expectations and contribute to a better threat picture.

Of note, the CCB played a role in the overall Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU (January-June 2024). During this six-month period, Belgium – and the CCB – contributed to several initiatives that will help strengthen Europe’s digital resilience.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Belgium is actively addressing gaps in the population’s digital skills through various initiatives, focusing on women in digital roles and lifelong learning to enhance labour market outcomes. However, significant challenges remain, including high ICT and STEM shortages, gender imbalance, and one of the EU's levels of skills mismatches. The country excels in providing public services online, particularly for businesses, and is committed to combating disinformation and promoting digital literacy. While online civic participation is increasing, concerns about hostile online messages and disinformation persist, especially among young people. Continued efforts and public engagement are crucial to improving Belgium's digital environment and supporting its competitiveness.

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs

Despite persisting gaps in both basic and advanced digital skills, Belgium and its regions have maintained and accelerated initiatives to close those gaps, building on existing programmes and reinforcing measures. Belgium has performed well in increasing ICT training and growing the share of ICT specialists (above the EU average), based on a proactive approach to digital integration. However, the decline in female participation in the ICT workforce calls for corrective action. Recognizing the significant potential that the female workforce holds for boosting the country’s competitiveness and growth, Belgium has been stepping up efforts through its inter-federal Women in Digital strategy and a host of other initiatives. Strengthening lifelong learning, especially among low-skilled individuals, and targeted up- and re-skilling of adults remain essential for improving Belgium’s labour market outcomes and supporting competitiveness. High ICT and STEM shortages hinder economic performance as the educational system alone does not fully address labour market needs. Skills mismatches are also among the highest in the EU, at 25.9% compared to 19.6% at EU level. According to the dedicated Eurobarometer  survey on SMEs and skills shortages in March 2025, in Belgium, 68% of SMEs identified 'difficulties in finding employees with the right skills' as one of the most serious problems they currently face, the highest percentage among all EU Member States.

Belgium remains one of the EU’s forerunners with respect to the provision of public services online, further improving those delivered to businesses in particular, and in terms of e-ID uptake. The new government has renewed the country’s commitments to combating disinformation. Awareness campaigns and digital literacy actions continue supporting a currently dynamic civic engagement online and protecting Belgian citizens across regions.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 85% of Belgian people think that accessing public services online will be important for their daily life in 2030. Concerning human support to help access and use digital technologies and services, 82% consider it would improve their daily use of digital technologies, and 90% think public authorities should consider it important to ensure that people receive proper human support to help them adapt to the changes in their lives brought about by digital technologies and services.

Equipping people with digital skills

Belgium demonstrates a strong commitment to developing basic digital skills and ICT training, and continues to outpace the EU average in the percentage of ICT specialists in employment. However, the decline in the share of female ICT professionals signals a potential gender imbalance in the sector.

Overall, Belgium made some progress in fostering digital skills. The regions and communities’ government programmes referred to initiatives to pursue upskilling and reskilling the workforce. In the country’s recovery and resilience plan (RRP), several initiatives, both at federal and at regional levels, are planned and have started to be implemented. These include measures to bring in individual learning accounts to boost lifelong learning and adapted support to vulnerable jobseekers to strengthen their social and labour market integration.

Belgium’s RRP includes several measures to support the development of digital skills, allocating EUR 233 million . The plan includes the digitalisation of schools and higher education institutions. It also includes e-inclusion projects targeted at supporting the digital inclusion of vulnerable groups, in particular people lacking basic digital skills and prison inmates. Upskilling and reskilling of labour force includes measures to digitalise and improve services and training offered by public administrations services.

Basic Digital Skills

Belgium is at 59.4% of adults with at least basic digital skills (2030 national target 80%), after a progression of +4.6% between 2021 and 2023 and stands above the EU average of 55.56%. While there was no new data collection in 2024, a deeper analysis reveals several areas where Belgium can focus its efforts to ensure even broader digital proficiency:

·Gender Gap: With 60.67% of males and 58.11% of females having basic digital skills, the gender gap in Belgium is at 2.56 pp., exceeding the EU average gap of 2.23pp.

·Educational Level: The gap between individuals with higher education and those with lower or no formal education is striking. While 80.83% of the highly educated have basic digital skills, only 32.32% of the less educated do, creating a substantial national gap of 27.07pp, which is wider than the EU average gap of 21.95pp.

·Living Areas: Urban areas in Belgium surprisingly lag with a 57.37% level of basic digital skills, which is below the EU average for urban areas of 62.55%. However, the country shows a relative homogeneity. The internal gap between living areas is narrow, at a difference of 3.24 pp, with towns and suburbs leading at 60.61%.

·Age Groups: For the 25 to 34 age group, a high 72.35% have basic digital skills, outperforming the EU average of 70.18%. However, the senior cohort of 65 to 74-year-olds falls behind with only 39.06% skilled, despite being significantly above the EU average of 28.19%.

Digital Skills Index Components: Belgium's strong performance in four of the five areas of the Digital Skills Index is noteworthy. The country excels in communication and collaboration skills at 92.97%, well above the EU average of 89.33%. Safety skills, however, are a point of relative weakness, with Belgium scoring 68.20%, just below the EU average of 69.55%.

Last year’s Digital Decade report showed that the country already had rolled out an extensive range of programmes and measures to support digital skills. The Ministry of Economy expects that Belgium’s efforts at all levels regarding digital inclusion and programmes on upskilling and reskilling people will bear fruit in time. The launch of new programmes and additional measures is expected to gain momentum in the second half of 2025, once the 2025 governmental budgets are finalised.

For the limited update in 2025, two new measures were added to Belgium's roadmap that address the 2024 recommendation for basic digital skills:

(i) A call for projects aiming to the enhancement of basic and female digital skills (total budget: EUR 1.2 million).

(ii) Two studies released by the Ministry of Economy, mapping potential digital inclusive actions within companies and proposing an inclusive click-call-connect principle. The studies were recently published and will have been presented to the private sector in January 2025. They are expected to raise awareness among companies of the benefits of an inclusive digital strategy by discussing a potential ROI, and to show that they also have a role to play alongside the government to reach this objective.

In its roadmap update, Belgium also highlighted several measures that encompass skills and cybersecurity. The CCB is actively supporting the integration of digital skills into all levels of education and training, with a specific emphasis on AI, cybersecurity, and the ethics of technology.

In Wallonia, a book aimed at students was published at the end of 2024 and is now widely distributed in schools. Its goal is to provide best practices and cyber hygiene guidance to help students better understand cybersecurity challenges. The book also supports teachers in addressing the topic in class, promoting awareness and encouraging appropriate responses to threats.

Beyond these national efforts, Belgium is actively addressing digital skills inclusion by participating in EU-wide initiatives. As a member of the Digital Decade’s Best Practice Accelerator (BPA) in the ‘Digital Skills’ cluster, Belgium has showcased two notable programmes: ‘Women in Digital Revolution,’ a strategy aimed at tackling gender disparities in the tech sector, and ‘Connectoo,’ a training initiative designed to reduce the digital divide by equipping public officials with the skills to support citizens facing digital exclusion.

In addition to these initiatives, since last year’s Digital Decade report, Belgium’s regions have been implementing targeted measures to strengthen digital education.

In Wallonia, several ongoing programmes are expanding access to digital training and educational tools. The region organizes an annual event, ‘Ludovia#Be,’ which brings together educators and the EdTech sector to foster innovation in digital teaching. Wallonia’s network of Public Digital Spaces (EPNs) which assists citizens with digital administration and training, established eight new spaces in 2024. The Federation of Wallonia-Brussels (FWB) is further enhancing these efforts through international and national collaborations. It has partnered with France to create a cross-border digital skills observatory, aligning competency frameworks and monitoring trends in digital education. The FWB is also actively integrating AI into education, aligning with the Digital Decade report’s recommendations by reforming curricula, providing teacher training, and developing regulatory frameworks. AI is now formally embedded in the digital education framework, with specialized teacher training programmes designed to support the effective pedagogical use of AI.

Flanders has also made significant progress in advancing digital skills, announcing initiatives to increase the participation of its workforce in training and improve access to training for everyone, regardless of their employment status, in particular to improve the workforce’s digital knowledge. The region is also preparing to launch a Digital Strategy for Flanders, which includes a dedicated action plan on digital skills. Since 2021, an ICT Policy Planner has provided structured roadmaps, templates, and resources to help schools develop their own ICT strategies. A more dynamic version of this tool is expected in 2025 and will minimise the administrative burden while ensuring practical implementation.

In 2024, Flanders published a policy paper on ‘Responsible AI in Education,’ outlining principles for the ethical integration of AI into schools. These principles are now being translated into concrete actions, including research, legal analysis, knowledge development, and awareness campaigns. The region’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency (VLAIO) is also funding the ‘ Digital School: Teacher Training’ project, which began in late 2024. This initiative improves future teachers’ digital skills by embedding the DigCompEdu framework (set out in the project) into initial teacher training programmes. With four projects launched in September 2024, this programme will run for two years, with a total budget of EUR 1.4 million.

Flanders has set targets to boost STEM participation in secondary education and improve study efficiency in higher education. STEM academies have shown some positive results, particularly among girls. Policy responses in the French Community have been slower, with no regional STEM strategy currently in place.

The German-speaking Community is providing ICT equipment for every pupil and sick kids for example get ‘replaced’ by a small robot in the classroom, that way these kids don’t have to miss out on anything.

ICT specialists

Belgium is at 5.7% of ICT specialists in total employment (2030 national target 10%) after a progression of +5.6% in 2024 and stands above the EU average of 5.0%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory.

Among the Digital Decade targets, the ICT specialists goal is the most challenging for Belgium. The country has set an ambitious target of having over 500 000 ICT specialists by 2030 – an increase of at least 220 000 from current levels. Skills shortages in ICT and STEM fields continue to hinder business growth and the adoption of digital technologies. At the same time, on ICT training, Belgium consistently outperforms the EU average. In 2022, 33.0% of enterprises with 10 or more employees in Belgium provided ICT training, compared to 22.37% at the EU level. This upward trend continued in 2024, with 36.83% of Belgian enterprises offering such training (EU: 22.29%). The country’s annual growth rate in this area was 5.6%, significantly above the EU's -0.2%.

However, progress on gender balance among ICT specialists has been less positive. In 2023, the share of female ICT specialists in Belgium matched the EU average at 19.4%. In 2024, this figure fell to 19.0%, below the EU’s 19.5%. This means Belgium’s growth rate of female ICT specialists was -2.1%, compared to a modest increase of 0.5% in the EU.

Belgium currently has the highest job vacancy rate in Europe, particularly in ICT (5.4% in Q3-2024), nearly double the EU average (2.8%). STEM graduates remain scarce, with only 18.3% of tertiary students enrolled in these fields (EU average: 27.1%), and ICT enrolments are also below average.

Belgium’s education and training systems are under pressure, struggling to keep up with demand for highly qualified STEM professionals. This is compounded by declining basic skills among young people and critical teacher shortages. The number of new STEM graduates (12.9 per 1 000 aged 25-34) is below the EU average (17.5), and the number of ICT graduates is among the lowest in the EU (2.4 per 1 000 vs EU average 3.6). Participation in adult learning, especially among low-skilled individuals, remains insufficient to support the green and digital transitions.

Despite several initiatives aimed at strengthening the ICT talent pipeline through academic and industry collaboration, Belgium faces economic headwinds. According to the Agoria Economic Monitor  (October 2024), job losses in the tech sector have reached a 12-year high, threatening employment targets.

To address these challenges, Belgium supports an EU-wide strategy to attract and retain ICT experts, particularly in emerging fields like AI and quantum. The country also recognizes the urgency of accelerating workforce reskilling and increasing female participation in ICT. Persistent efforts are needed to improve retention and gender diversity in the ICT workforce. Expanding training through consultancy services and flexible learning modules could further alleviate skills shortages. Continued policy support and potential funding incentives may be required to offset job losses.

On labour market demand, Eurostat experimental statistics based on web scraping show that in Belgium, the profiles of ‘software and applications developers and analysts’ are the most sought after, representing 62.9% of online job advertisements for ICT specialists (compared to 58.0% at EU level). Two types of profiles are more in demand in Belgium than in the EU on average: ‘information and communications technology operations and user support technicians’ (11.1%) and ‘telecommunications and broadcasting technicians’ (2.5%).

On Belgium’s progress on ICT specialists as a Digital Decade target, several recent developments across the country’s regions support this goal and are worth mentioning.

At federal level, the CCB launched the CySec Education and Research Pool in 2023 to expand the number of qualified cybersecurity professionals and support IT security experts and organisations. Pending additional funding, this initiative is set to grow further in 2024 and beyond. 

In Flanders, initiatives such as WeGoSTEM and #SheGoesICT actively promote female participation in ICT through targeted outreach. An upcoming 2025 STEM Monitor will provide updated data on gender representation. New STEM pathways and partnerships launched by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) aim to strengthen connections between STEM education and societal challenges like digitalisation, climate, and the circular economy. Additionally, the ‘STEMhub’ initiative from Flanders will support entrepreneurs in developing STEM skills, and sector agreements will continue to guide lifelong learning efforts.

Wallonia has expanded digital training opportunities through centres such as Technobel, Technocité, TechnofuturTIC, Technifutur, and FOREM Cepegra Centre, which offer specialized education in AI, cybersecurity, and Industry 4.0. The Skills Validation Consortium is working on new qualifications for IT roles (business analyst, architect, developer) to improve job market integration. By 2026, five Digital Factories will be established to train professionals in construction, industry, logistics, and transport in digital transformation.

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all

In 2024, Belgium continued to excel in the provision of e-Government services, the delivery of digital public services for businesses, and giving access to e-Health records, with scores and growth rates that outperform the EU average. Digital public services for citizens, both total and cross-border, show a decline in scores and growth rates that fall short of the EU average – but the country’s performance overall exceeds it by far.

Under its national RRP, Belgium aims to accelerate the digitalisation of different administrative services at federal level, for instance, by redesigning the landscape of digital counters and encouraging entrepreneurship by digitalising interactions with the government. Belgium’s RRP allocates EUR 907 million to digital public services. Key measures include: (i) the digitalisation of social security services and user-administration interactions; (ii) 12 federal investment projects targeting digitalisation in areas such as justice, employment, foreign affairs, food safety, asylum and immigration, and crisis management, along with cross-cutting projects on public data use and the Single Digital Gateway; (iii) e-Health initiatives, providing tools for video consultations and home hospitalisation, promoting secure health data use, and establishing a Health Data Authority for data governance; and (iv) Regional and local digitalisation projects in Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders, including targeted efforts like digitising the services of the Office of Birth and Childhood and urban/environmental permit procedures.

e-ID

The share of e-Government users is very high in Belgium: 84.87% of Belgian internet users engaged with e-Government services in 2024, well above the EU average of 74.71% (DESI 2025) but down from 85.85% the previous year, similarly to the EU average which was slightly higher at 75% in 2023.

In 2023, 77.08% of Belgian people had used their e-ID to access online services for private purpose in the last 12 months, which was well above the EU average (41.11%).

Belgium’s largest digital investment (EUR 391.2 million) under its RRP is dedicated to further increasing the use of digital public services. The use of Belgium’s e-ID system remains high across both EU and national services. While 77% of citizens used their e-ID for private services in 2023 (vs. 41.11% EU average), usage for national public services stood at 59.1% (vs. 36.14% EU average).

According to the FPS Policy & Support, the country’s results for the various indicators of the e-Government Benchmark 2025 assessing accessibility, user-friendliness, and the reduction of burden for businesses broadly show a status quo in terms of User Support & Cross-border User Support (96.8% and 85.2% respectively – well above the EU average). Unfortunately, Transparency of Service Delivery is decreasing, from 58.3% to 52.8% (below the EU average of 66.8%). However, the use of e-ID on Belgian websites increased from 80.3 to 81.3 (EU average: 81.5). For Mobile friendliness, Belgium scored almost the maximum last year (99.3), remaining approximately stable at 99.2 in 2024 (EU average is 96.1). The Digital Dashboard is also worth mentioning in this regard.

The Commission’s DESI e-Government benchmark suggests varying data and results for Belgium. For instance, its indicator for Pre-filled Forms indicates an increase of over 9 points between 2024 and 2025 (from 75.1 to 84.3 out of a score of 100). This reflects significant progress for the number of online services requesting data through a form which present already available data to the user. Other indicators such as User Support and Mobile Friendliness remained stable, and a slight decrease was observed for Transparency of Service Delivery (from 64.8 to 63) due to a changed composition for this indicator.

100% of Belgians currently have access to a form of e-ID notified under the eIDAS Regulation. Belgium offers six e-ID schemes (e-Cards, itsme®, email one-time password (OTP), SMS OTP, TOTP and Username/Password). Itsme in particular remains a success as Belgium’s authentication app, and is a good example of collaboration between the public and private sector. It is now regularly used by 7 million Belgians – about 90% of the active population over 16 years of age. However, Belgium has not yet set up and notified e-ID schemes for legal persons under the eIDAS Regulation. This means that Belgian businesses cannot authenticate themselves to access public services offered by other Member States, including those enabled by the Once-Only Technical System.

A development worth noting is the preliminary success of the new Belgian Digital Identity Wallet MyGov.be, whose launch in May 2024 was mentioned in the 2024 Digital Decade report. It now has over 300 000 activations (by May 12, 2025), and the app has been equipped with numerous new functionalities (social statutes, activation using FaceID, etc.). There are plans to continuously expand it with even more of those features.

As noted in last year’s report, Belgium's stakeholders, both public and private, are present in three of the Large-Scale Pilots (LSPs) consortia (POTENTIAL, EWC, DC4EU) proceeding to the grant agreement preparation stage. This includes government ministries and agencies both national and local. Use-cases Belgium will be involved in include: (i) POTENTIAL: Electronic identification/ authentication for eGovernment services, electronic attestation of driving licence, remote qualified electronic signature; (ii) EWC: piloting the use-cases of Digital Travel Credentials, payments and organisational digital identities; and (iii) DC4EU: social security documents. Belgium did not take any new measures, but progress is being made on the numerous and significant measures that are already in place and benefit from RRP support.

Digitalisation of public services for citizens and businesses

Belgium's digital public services for citizens scored 81.43 (2030 national target of 100) after a slight decline of -1.1%, just below the EU average of 82.32. The country is lagging behind compared to its national trajectory. For cross-border digital public services for citizens, Belgium scored 74.38 in 2023 and 71.64 in 2024, both higher than the EU's 68.37 and 71.28, respectively. However, Belgium's growth rate of -3.7% lagged behind the EU's 4.3%.

On digital public services for businesses, Belgium scored 95.37 (2030 national target of 100) after an increase of 4.1%, well above the EU average of 86.23. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. For cross-border digital public services for businesses, Belgium scored 83.17 in 2023 and 90.74 in 2024, both higher than the EU's 73.13 and 73.76, respectively. Belgium's growth rate of 9.1% also surpassed the EU's 0.9%.

Belgium recognised early the need to link digital transformation with administrative simplification. The Directorate-General for Simplification and Digitalisation (DG SD), housed within the FPS BOSA, reflects this integrated approach. This structure evolved from earlier simplification services that were part of the FPS Chancellery of the Prime Minister, and later merged with the  Directorate-General for Digtial Transformation  to support streamlined federal services.

A remarkable initiative of the Belgian government is its Federal Action Plan for Administrative Simplification (PAFSA, or ‘Kafka Plan’), in place since 2022 to implement the federal government's ambitions for administrative simplification and digitalisation. It is updated every two years and contains 70 measures in various areas. By implementing measures linked to administrative services, it is estimated that EUR 116.2 million in public savings will be made. Belgium’s ‘ Kafka test’, which was already introduced by the government in 2004, aims to prevent unnecessary administrative burden by requiring a brief questionnaire for policy proposals with significant impacts, aligning Belgium with international efforts to streamline regulations.

Online public services have progressed in terms of accessibility, user-friendliness, and reduction of burden on businesses. The trends in Belgium’s performance with respect to the Digital Decade’s targets were very dynamic in 2023-2024, but with regional variations and slower growth for the digitalisation of public services for citizens.

The measures provided in the Belgian RRP aim to further digitalise the public administration, in view of streamlining access to public services and thereby supporting SMEs. Cybersecurity support is being provided to SMEs. The online creation of a business will be made easier and federal public procurement will be further digitalised in order to make them more easily accessible. In Belgium, business and labour regulations come now only fourth and fifth place respectively in the list of barriers cited by enterprises in the EIB investment survey. 

The country has undertaken several initiatives to simplify administrative procedures. However, there is scope for Belgium to further strengthen its mechanisms for simplifying regulation and cutting administrative burdens. For example, when preparing legislation, regulators are not required to identify and assess the impact of a ‘no regulation’ option or to identify and assess the impact of alternative non-regulatory options. Key challenges remain due to a lack of coordination across federal government departments which has hindered the sharing of best practices. Policy planning and evaluation would be improved by making the policymaking process more transparent. 

Belgium is making progress in enabling a search-free automated exchange of authentic documents and data between authorities across the EU. It has already successfully tested its first transactions through the Once-Only Technical System, part of the EU Single Digital Gateway. Belgium is in the process of connecting up the first authorities, but more effort is needed to further reduce administrative burden.

In September 2024, the 'SME Office' of the Brussels-Capital Region came into force, with the aim of supporting impact analyses of Brussels regulations in order to minimize the potential negative impacts on SMEs. A digital platform for submitting planning and environmental permits in all 19 municipalities in the Region was created, with the possibility to submit applications digitally since December 2024.

Additional developments have taken place towards data-driven public administration in Flanders. In 2025, the region will launch a programme to reduce the administrative burden and regulatory pressure. Flanders is planning to improve digital services for entrepreneurs in the region through the existing e-loket, with the coalition agreement for 2024-2029 explicitly highlighting the government’s ambition to expand the use of regulatory sandboxes and experimental legislation. Politician, administrations, and stakeholders will collaboratively develop initiatives, including by using digital applications. This will lead to the centralisation of digital services, proactive service provision, and publishing open data via Datavindplaats,  Flanders’ consolidated catalogue of datasets. The Flemish government has set digitalisation goals and created an investment programme, Flanders Radically Digital 3 (VRD 3), to promote the digital transformation of the Flemish government through cross-policy initiatives and to work towards becoming a government as a platform. 

Wallonia has also fully committed to the administrative simplification process, aiming to reduce the burden on both citizens and businesses. In October 2024, a task force coordinated by the Minister for Administrative Simplification was established to develop the Pact for Administrative Simplification, expected in the first quarter of 2025. This Pact will be guided by four key principles: (i) User experience as a foundation, ensuring that services are designed around the needs of users; (ii) Digitisation of procedures, while preserving access to physical service desks; (iii) A generalised principle of trust, where the administration relies on user declarations and avoids systematic checks; and (iv) The ‘Only Once’ principle, requiring users to provide their data just once, even when interacting with different public services.

e-Health

Belgium's access to e-health records remains exemplary, with a score of 100.0 in both 2023 and 2024, well above the EU's 79.12 and 82.70, respectively. The country is on track according to its national trajectory; it continues to strengthen its performance in line with its national target of 100% by means of measures that consistently improve access to health data and empower citizens through advanced digital health systems.

In its RRP, Belgium includes measures that can strengthen the resilience of its health system; for example, investments in digital health services and investments to improve health data collection and availability. The measures included in the RRP have been partially completed to date.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 73% of Belgian people think that digital technologies will be important when accessing or receiving healthcare services (e.g., telemedicine, artificial intelligence for diagnosing diseases) during their daily life by 2030.

Belgium’s ' e-gezondheid’  (e-Health) Interfederal Action Plan is central to its digital health strategy and aligns with last year’s Digital Decade recommendations. Running through 2024 and set for renewal for 2025-2027, the plan focuses on improving access to health data, empowering people, and improving interoperability across healthcare providers. Key initiatives include the ‘Access to Health Data’ project, which standardises rules on informed consent, access management, and mandates, ensuring a harmonised system for data sharing. Individuals can share personal health data – such as insights from wearable technology and medication intake – via a user-friendly interface, improving accessibility and control over such data. The Belgian Integrated Health Record (BIHR) improves patient care by ensuring the interoperability of data and services throughout a patient’s lifetime. This system facilitates a seamless data exchange between healthcare professionals and aligns with broader EU initiatives, including the European Health Data Space and the Data Governance Act.

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy

In Belgium, efforts to strengthen digital democracy and online safety are under way with initiatives aimed at combating disinformation and protecting citizens online. The country has seen a steady increase in online civic participation, though it remains below the EU average. Concerns persist about the prevalence of hostile online messages and disinformation, particularly among young people. The federal government and regional authorities are implementing campaigns and legislation to promote digital literacy and critical thinking. However, maintaining efforts to stay vigilant and sustain public engagement will be essential to improving the public’s online environment.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, there is strong awareness among the Belgian population that the rights which apply offline should also be respected online, with 70% of respondents reporting so — up from 65% in last year’s survey, and well above the EU average of 59%. 92% of Belgian citizens believe it is urgent for public authorities to address the negative impact of social media on children’s mental health, including cyberbullying and online harassment. Similarly, 91% support the urgent implementation of age assurance mechanisms to restrict access to age-inappropriate content.

In Belgium, online participation to political and civic life is growing steadily. In 2024, 14.66% of people used the internet to participate to consultation, for voting or sharing opinions online. This share is below the EU average but trending upwards (13.34% in 2022), which is in line with the trend observed at the EU level (17.59% in 2022 and 20.45% in 2024).

Individuals encountering hostile and degrading online messages: In 2023, in Belgium, 30.86% of individuals encountered messages online that they considered hostile or degrading towards groups of people based on characteristics such as political views, LGBTIQ identities, or racial origin. This figure was slightly below the EU average of 33.5%. Among young Belgians, 41.78% reported encountering such messages, compared to a considerably lower 31.74% of adults (25–64), showing higher exposure among the youth (16–24), consistent with EU-wide trends. Males (32.76%) and females (28.98%) reported similar exposure rates, reflecting a minimal gender difference.

Individuals evaluating data, information and digital content: In 2023, 55.93% of individuals in Belgium declared having encountered information or content on internet news sites or social media that they considered untrue or doubtful, notably higher than the EU average of 49.25%. Of those who came across such content, 30.58% took the initiative to verify its truthfulness. This indicates that while a significant proportion of individuals faced potentially misleading content, nearly 1 in 3 individuals made efforts to check its accuracy, reflecting a relatively high level of critical engagement compared to the EU average. Youth (16–24) (66.35%) were significantly more likely than adults (25–64) (35.94%) to report encountering such content, and among those, 35.94% of youth checked its truthfulness compared to 32% of adults. Males (59.3%) were more likely than females (52.58%) to report seeing untrue or doubtful information, as well as to check its truthfulness (34.72% of males vs 26.47% of females).

The 2023 data on online interactions in Belgium reveals a concerning picture, with a significant proportion of individuals, particularly young people (16–24), exposed to perceived hostile and degrading online messages and potentially misleading information. Despite being slightly below the EU average in terms of exposure to hostile content, Belgium surpassed the EU average in terms of the prevalence of potentially untrue or doubtful information. These findings underscore the need for continued efforts to promote digital literacy, critical thinking, and a safer online environment, especially among young people, to empower them to effectively navigate the online world.

The 2025 Eurobarometer shows that 86% of Belgian people think that public authorities should prioritise shaping the development of Artificial Intelligence and other digital technologies to ensure that they respect our rights and values. This represents an increase of five percentage points compared to last year and is above the EU average (83%), which has also increased, reflecting the growing interest of the citizens in this respect.

The 2024 municipal, regional, federal and European elections in Belgium have seen attempts at foreign interference, mainly through disinformation campaigns. During the two electoral days of June 9 (regional, federal and European elections) and October 13 (municipal elections), the Belgian secret services detected interference of this type. In 2025, Belgium’s military intelligence flagged Russian disinformation campaigns linked to the country’s pledge to deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Its annual report notes rising influence operations aimed at undermining public trust. The service plans to double its staff by 2040 to counter political tensions and espionage, and is launching a major recruitment campaign.

The coalition agreement of the new Belgian federal government pledged to focus on combating disinformation, linking it to Russian destabilisation efforts. Domestically, the government will explore AI for police use, including facial recognition to track criminals and detect mobile phone use while driving, although privacy concerns remain. The government will also be linking online accounts to real identities.

In Flanders, the Flemish government’s campaign ‘Klopt dat wel’ was launched to run through the 2024/2025 school year to help young people recognise disinformation. An interesting citizen science campaign about visual and AI-manipulated disinformation, the ‘ VISAVIS project ’, was launched in October 2024 by the Imec-SMIT, VUB research group, Mediawijs (Imec’s Flemish Knowledge Centre for Digital and Media Literacy), Filmpedagogerna (S) and CERTH (G), supported by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF). The aim is to: (i) provide practical solutions for awareness-raising, such as AI tools, among 25-35 and 55+ year olds; and (ii) make digital checks more accessible to the general public. The consortium-based project will run through 2026.The BIPT was formally recognised as Belgium’s Digital Services Coordinator (DSC). Belgium is now able to start enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA) for platforms based in the country, for example the social media platforms Telegram and BlueSky.

On the protection of the Belgian public and their data, the Belgian Data Protection Authority opened an investigation following a complaint by consumer rights organisation Testachats into Chinese AI DeepSeek. Testachats has argued that DeepSeek’s data processing practices breach EU data protection rules, citing concerns over data transfers, profiling, and child protection. It has requested a temporary restriction on processing Belgian users’ personal data. The complaint has been deemed admissible and referred to the authority’s inspection service.

Flanders actively promoted the protection of minors throughout 2024. For instance, Mediawijs launched campaigns in formal education called Nieuws in de Klas . This includes manuals, online interactive lessons and contests: (i) on journalism for those aged 12-14; (ii) on fact-checking for those aged 14-16; and (iii) on opinions and constructive social engagement for those aged 16-18. Mediawijs organised extra training for teachers at VRT, at DPG-media and at the Ghent University Museum (in spring 2025).

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

The environmental and circular economy priorities remain at the heart of Belgium’s federal and regional strategies and funding programmes. Belgium’s strategy aligns with EU priorities on digital and green transitions, well positioning the country in responsible tech adoption.

Belgium’s green transition is a comprehensive effort to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in line with EU targets. The country is investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable mobility, supported by significant EU funding. The national RRP, including revised measures and the REPowerEU chapter, allocates 51% (EUR 2.7 billion) of its total funding to climate-related objectives. Notably, the REPowerEU chapter alone contributes 88% (EUR 637 million of EUR 726 million) to climate goals, well above the 37% threshold set by the RRF Regulation. This green transition is closely tied to Belgium’s digital transformation, with measures to enhance digital skills, support SME digitalisation, and promote the development of green technologies.

In 2024, 14% of people in Belgium considered energy efficiency to be important when purchasing ICT devices (below the EU’s 19.35% average), and the device’s ecodesign was also considered to be important by 9.49%, below the EU average as well (12.04%). Those two eco-friendly criteria take on less importance for Belgian buyers than the price, performance (speed), and design of the ICT device.

Belgian people tend to recycle their mobile phones, laptops and tablets and desktop devices (12.84% for mobile phones, 14.07% for laptops or tablets, and 16.43% for desktops) more than the EU average (10.93%, 11.31% and 14.66%, respectively).

As the scope of the twin transitions is quite broad, many of Belgium’s measures outlined in the initial roadmap already contributed to the twin transitions. Belgium is aiming to improve the way it communicates about the Digital Decade’s objectives to the right bodies concerned. The addition of a new, specific target or KPI in time would be helpful to foster these efforts.

The twin transitions were already high on the agenda of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, which hosted a two-day event in Ghent, with its integration into new policies as well as the revision or review of existing policies. Belgium committed to collecting more measures on this topic in time, in particular in its roadmap’s next revision in 2025, as it has pledged to provide a yearly update.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, 73% of Belgian people consider digital technologies important to help fight climate change (standing slightly below the EU average of 74% and showing an decrease of four percentage points since last year), while 78% of Belgian respondents think that ensuring that digital technologies serve the green transition should be an important action for public authorities (slightly below the EU average of 80%).

Belgium is consistently improving the energy efficiency of its digital infrastructure, particularly in telecoms. Recent commitments from Proximus (by 2030), Telenet, and Orange (through 2040-2050) reinforce the sector’s commitment to net-zero emissions. The BIPT’s environmental footprint study (updated in 2024) revealed a 9% drop in energy consumption (2018-2022) and that 77% of energy used in 2022 came from renewable sources. A new update to this BIPT study expected by Q2 2025 will refresh sustainability indicators, assess new metrics, and expand its scope to smaller infrastructure operators, MVNOs, and service providers. It will also set out scenarios for lowering emissions, quantifying their costs and benefits. However, there are no plans to extend this scope beyond telecoms as this is outside the remit of the BIPT. As mentioned in the 2024 Digital Decade report, the study analyses the telecom networks’ footprint, specifically looking into the evolution of energy consumption, carbon emissions and waste processing over the past five years 7 .

There are several ‘digital for green’ initiatives, through which Belgium is actively supporting recent and ongoing R&D projects that use digital solutions to cut emissions across sectors. Imec's Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems programme, launched to assess and disrupt chip fabrication processes for reduced environmental impact. The Flemish AI Research Programme includes new and  ongoing projects that use AI for renewable energy, smart grids, and sustainability solutions.

The postal sector is under growing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. For some operators, sustainability has even become a key differentiator — take, for example, ecological city delivery services. In 2022, CityDepot ( now BD Logistics ) and the University of Antwerp launched a CO₂ calculator. Based on a scientifically calibrated method, this tool enables the calculation of total CO₂ emissions at the level of individual shipments, factoring in customer-defined dispatch and destination points. It also allows for comparisons between major operators. To support this, the full logistics network of these operators was mapped — from sorting and distribution centres to vehicle fleets — enabling business clients to estimate potential CO₂ savings.

Following a Royal Decree, all large operators in Belgium are now required to publish sustainability indicators. The BIPT has developed a dedicated methodology for this purpose and will oversee audits to ensure compliance.

Bpost (the Belgian postal service) has accelerated its green logistics efforts: since 2021, it has introduced reusable (parcel) packaging, expanded e-bike trailers , and in 2024, it  launched a CO₂ tracking tool for parcels. A pilot project, which started in January 2025 , will test packaging-free, label-free shipping via Parcel Machines, making it the first provider to offer such a solution.

On 24 April 2025, the Walloon Government adopted the 2025 roadmap outlining priority measures under the PACE 2030 (Air-Energy-Climate Plan). It focuses on reducing the digital sector’s carbon footprint by promoting innovation through several actions: aligning Digital Wallonia with EU CO₂ reduction targets, raising public awareness of the climate impact of digital technology (especially mobile use), encouraging recycling of old devices, fostering energy-efficient digital investments, and supporting both ‘Green IT’ and ‘IT for Green’ solutions for businesses.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy’s Energy department is developing a database on data centre energy use (in line with Regulation (EC) 1099/2008), with the first national dataset (2024 reference year) expected by March 2026. The reporting deadline for 2023 data has been repeatedly extended, with submission now in progress. Meanwhile, an Energy Efficiency Directive database is now in place, containing various performance indicators for ongoing evaluation.

Belgium is actively encouraging new and upcoming initiatives supporting the twin digital and green transitions. These include: (i) an upcoming AI Code of Conduct to promote sustainable AI practices; (ii) expanded energy labelling and digital product passports to increase transparency on products’ environmental impact; and (iii) 69 new project proposals submitted in January 2025 to the Energy Transition Fund (ETF), which currently supports more than 118 R&D projects (the evaluation process is ongoing).

The country is promoting private investment to foster the economy through the twin transitions. A proposal to reform the system of tax deductions for corporate investment has been adopted by the federal government. The main objective of the initiative is to make the system simpler and greener. The general deduction rate for self-employed people and SMEs rises from 8% to 10%, but it can increase to 20% for digital investments and to 30% (bigger firms) and 40% (smaller firms) for green investments. The list of green investments, which is currently significantly outdated, will be updated every three years.

Annex I – National roadmap analysis

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles 12

(1)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(2)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(3)

The Best Practice Accelerator (BPA) is a platform that enables Member States to share successful measures and challenges encountered in their efforts to meet their Digital Decade targets and objectives. Best practices are made available to Member States via the BPA Repository and showcased in regular workshops, currently focused on three thematic clusters: Digital Skills, Green IT, and the Uptake of Digital Technologies.

(4)

Most of the indicators mentioned in the country report are explained in the DESI 2025 Methodological Note accompanying the State of the Digital Decade report 2025.

(5)

Special Eurobarometer 566 on ‘the Digital Decade’ 2025: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news-redirect/883227

(6)

Source: Ministry of Economy, SPF Economie, Direction générale de la Réglementation Economique (2025)

(7)

The update of the study in 2023 had revealed that during the 2018-2022 period, the energy consumption of the three examined operators (Proximus, Telenet and Orange) dropped by 9%. The electricity consumed by the network as such decreased by 77%. The consumption of the mobile network turns out to be up to 40 times more energy efficient per bit transferred than fixed networks. In 2022, 77% of the total energy consumed was renewable. Over the same period, the carbon emissions dropped by 19%. Although the Belgian telecommunications market is already carbon neutral thanks to the purchased emission allowances, further efforts are being made to continue reducing the carbon emissions. The objective is to achieve net zero emission based on science-based targets (SBTi) by 2040 at the earliest. However, in 2022 the carbon emissions increased compared to 2021 due to post-Covid normalization. The energy consumption of the set-top boxes and modems turned out to be almost as high as the energy consumption of the three largest operators combined.

(8)

When referring to national roadmaps, data used in this report are those declared by the Member States in their national roadmaps, on the basis of the Commission's guidance (C(2023) 4025 final). Data might reflect possible variations in reporting practices and methodological choices across Member States. No systematic assessment of the extent to which Member States followed the guidance was carried out.

(9)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(10)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(11)

Joint Research Centre, Nepelski, D. and Torrecillas, J. Mapping EU level funding instruments 2021-2027 to Digital Decade targets – 2025 update, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, JRC141966. Last data update: 10 March 2025.

(12)

 Based on a study to support the Monitoring of the Implementation of the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, available here . For a more detailed country factsheet accompanying the study, click here .

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 16.6.2025

SWD(2025) 294 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Digital Decade 2025 country reports

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

State of the Digital Decade 2025: Keep building the EU's sovereignty and digital future

{COM(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 291 final} - {SWD(2025) 292 final} - {SWD(2025) 293 final} - {SWD(2025) 295 final}

Contents

Executive summary    

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership    

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies    

Connectivity infrastructure    

Semiconductors    

Edge nodes    

Quantum technologies    

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises    

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity    

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics    

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups    

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience    

Protecting and empowering EU people and society    

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs    

Equipping people with digital skills    

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all    

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy    

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening    

Annex I – National roadmap analysis    

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding    

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles    

Executive summary

Bulgaria has a well-developed connectivity infrastructure and is strengthening its role in critical technologies, like semiconductors and quantum computing. However, its competitiveness potential is hampered by a fragmented ecosystem; persistent R&D gaps; weak innovation and tech uptake by SMEs and start-ups; and cybersecurity concerns. While the country is advancing in digital public services, challenges remain in digital skills, inclusion, and integrating sustainability into its digital infrastructure.

Bulgaria’s contribution to the Digital Decade is moderately ambitious, with 12 national targets, half of which are aligned with the EU 2030 targets. The country is following its trajectories well with 75% of them being on track (based on the 2024 trajectories established for 8 KPIs out of 8 analysed). Bulgaria did not address the 13 recommendations issued by the Commission in 2024 through new measures.

Bulgaria excels in assigning 5G spectrum and is gradually bridging geographical divides in access to high-speed connectivity. The country positions itself as a growing player in critical technologies, with initiatives in semiconductors and quantum computing. While enterprise digitalisation is progressing, particularly in AI adoption, the overall adoption of advanced digital technologies remains below par. Recent actions, such as the launch of an AI Factory at Sofia Tech Park confirm Bulgaria’s ambition to enhance its tech ecosystem. Despite its ongoing reliance on Chinese telecommunication components, Bulgaria is orienting its digital policies towards greater sovereignty by strengthening European partnerships in critical technologies.

According to the 2025 special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade, 76% of Bulgarian citizens consider that the digitalisation of daily public and private services is making their lives easier. Concerning the action of the public authorities, 86% consider it important to counter and mitigate the issue of fake news and disinformation online, and regarding competitiveness, 82% consider it important to ensure that European companies can grow and become ‘European Champions’ able to compete globally.

A competitive, sovereign, and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Bulgaria boasts a robust connectivity infrastructure. It excels in assigning 5G spectrum and in rolling out gigabit networks to progressively bridge geographical divides. In 2024, Bulgaria’s total VHCN and FTTP coverage outperformed the EU averages. Overall, 5G coverage lags behind EU coverage, and is growing at a slower pace. However, Bulgaria’s coverage for households in sparsely populated areas shows improvement. Bulgaria is making strides in improving its broadband take-up indicators, with growth rates outpacing EU growth rates, but remaining below EU averages. The country is strengthening its position in critical technologies, notably through its integration in the European semiconductor ecosystem and initiatives in quantum computing. Despite these advancements, Bulgaria faces challenges in fully realising its tech ecosystem’s potential. This is true particularly for SMEs and start-ups, due to persistent R&D and innovation gaps compared with the rest of the EU. Recent government initiatives and the establishment of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are positive steps, but the broader ecosystem issues constrain the ICT sector’s growth. EU funding has supported Bulgaria’s enterprise digitalisation, including the growing adoption of AI, the forthcoming AI Factory at Sofia Tech Park, and the development of supercomputers and Centres of Excellence in ICT and Big Data under Cohesion Policy. However, the overall uptake of digital technologies in the country still lags behind the EU average. Moreover, Bulgaria’s cybersecurity preparedness remains a concern, and a significant part of its telecommunications infrastructure continues to depend on Chinese components, raising strategic and security-related challenges.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Bulgaria’s approach to digital inclusiveness shows promise, with targeted investments in education, digital infrastructure, and improvements in the digitalisation of public services for both businesses and citizens. However, its journey towards a fully inclusive digital society is complex and might require sustained effort. Despite ongoing and well-targeted measures, Bulgaria still faces a host of educational challenges, including digital skills proficiency, persistent digital divides, and a lack of scientific research capacity. In 2023, the basic digital skills of Bulgaria’s population trailed behind the EU average. Adult learning participation is also alarmingly low and declining. Bulgaria’s ICT training provision and ICT specialist workforce are below the EU average, although the country is showing positive growth in these areas. Bulgaria has a strong legal framework for digital services, a well-developed e-government system, and is digitalising more services. It is progressively improving its administrative processes to alleviate the burden for citizens and enterprises. However, and despite substantial Cohesion policy support in the field, Bulgaria lags behind in overall digital public services for citizens, and only one third of Bulgarians use e‑government services. A low proportion of public services is fully online, and the lack of digital inclusion for minorities and people living in remote areas remains a major obstacle to the wider use of online services. Bulgaria’s performance on e-ID use is currently very poor – the lowest in the EU – but there are positive signs of improvement thanks to recent regulatory changes in 2023. The population’s access to e-Health records is steadily improving, with some areas already surpassing EU averages. Digital democracy based on public participation, the protection of children online and the fight against disinformation is also expanding, with scope for further acceleration.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Bulgaria’s progress in its twin transition is hampered by the lack of a practical, integrated approach to making digital infrastructure greener or tracking emission reductions.

National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

Bulgaria did not submit a revised national roadmap. Instead, it presented minor updates to the roadmap initially submitted on 8 April 2024, primarily correcting clerical errors and updating dates, but without introducing significant changes or new measures. The roadmap aligns with the values and measures in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the European programmes. Bulgaria addressed most of the State of the Digital Decade 2024 recommendations through written responses and references to existing measures. A full stakeholder consultation was conducted. The roadmap continues to prioritise: the digitalisation of secure, interoperable, human-centred public services; basic digital skills; and the digitalisation of businesses (SMEs, smart farming). It contains 60 measures and has a budget of EUR 2.19 billion (equivalent to 2.11% of GDP) that covers all the Digital Decade objectives, such as digital inclusion; cybersecure and resilient infrastructure; sovereignty; and governance of the digital transformation.

Funding & projects for digital

Bulgaria allocates 23% of its total recovery and resilience plan to digital (EUR 1.3 billion) 1 . In addition, under cohesion policy, EUR 1.3 billion, representing 12% of the country’s total cohesion policy funding, is dedicated to advancing Bulgaria’s digital transformation 2 .

Bulgaria is a member of the ‘Alliance for Language Technologies’ EDIC. It is also a member of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) and of the Chips JU.

Bulgaria has not yet contributed to the Digital Decade’s Best Practice Accelerator 3 .

Digital rights and principles

According to a support study, Bulgaria has been relatively active in implementing the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles , with 79 initiatives overall and 4 new initiatives launched in 2024. Bulgaria is most active in the area of putting people at the centre of the digital transformation. Less activity has been identified with regards to privacy and individual control over data. Measures in the area of putting people at the centre of the digital transformation appear to have most impact on the ground, in contrast to those addressing safety, security and empowerment.

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Bulgaria’s digital competitiveness remains modest and places it in the lower-performing segment of the EU’s tech landscape. Its digital transformation is supported by a well-developed telecommunications sector, rapidly expanding 5G networks and significant investments in fibre-optic infrastructure. These factors, combined with the growing start-up ecosystem and venture capital landscape, make Bulgaria a promising destination for investment and innovation. ICT sector growth, AI adoption among SMEs and the expansion of digital innovation hubs all signal progress. However, persistent underinvestment in research and development (R&D), weak science-business collaboration and the absence of unicorn enterprises are limiting its innovation potential. According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2024, Bulgaria’s innovation performance has improved but more slowly than the EU average. Sustaining this positive trajectory will be essential to closing the widening gap with the rest of the EU.

Bulgaria’s ICT sector has shown strong growth, contributing 7.42% of the country’s gross value added in 2022 – above the EU average of 5.46% – and maintaining a rather steady upward trend since 2012 4 . That same year, R&D in this sector represented 35.22% of total R&D expenditure by businesses, one of the highest shares in the EU. Despite this progress, Bulgaria continues to face challenges in research and innovation. ICT R&D personnel represented only 23.69% of the country’s total R&D workforce in 2022 – relatively lower than in other Member States for which data is available.

Bulgaria has a dual funding approach for R&D, using both public funding (national budget) and EU funds (European Structural and Investment Funds and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)). Public R&D spending remains insufficient, limiting the development of a strong research base. Moreover, institutional fragmentation further weakens the efficiency of funding, because resources are spread too thinly across multiple institutions, preventing key players from achieving critical mass. Another key obstacle is the weak link between academia and businesses, which hampers innovation and the commercialization of research.

Bulgaria performs well on connectivity infrastructure roll-out, outperforming the EU on 5G spectrum assignment and Fixed Very High-Capacity Network (VHCN) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) coverage, although 5G coverage and broadband take-up still lag behind the EU averages.

Regarding critical technologies, Bulgaria is strengthening its resilience through its role in the EU’s semiconductor ecosystem (notably via the Sofia Tech Park) and is continuing to promote quantum computing and the quantum research community.

The tech ecosystem for SMEs and start-ups shows potential, thanks to support from government initiatives and the establishment of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), but a significant innovation gap with the rest of the EU remains.

Bulgaria’s ICT sector is a bright spot, but broader ecosystem challenges continue to constrain its growth.

Cybersecurity preparedness remains a concern, particularly given the continuing reliance on Chinese components in many of Bulgaria’s telecommunications networks.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer 5 , 84% of Bulgarian people think that building efficient and secure digital infrastructures and data processing facilities should be a priority for the public authorities (an increase of three percentage points compared to last year).

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies

Bulgaria’s internet infrastructure is resilient overall thanks to strong growth in Fixed Very High-Capacity Network (VHCN) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) coverage as well as to assets such as affordable high-quality mobile connectivity. Performance nevertheless remains below the EU average in areas such as 5G take-up and 1 Gbps broadband subscriptions.

Bulgaria is strengthening its semiconductor and quantum computing sectors through new competence centres and research initiatives. However, it is lagging in overall 5G coverage and digital technology adoption, requiring further efforts to enhance R&D, SME innovation, and enterprise digitalisation.

Connectivity infrastructure

Bulgaria’s digital infrastructure has had a mixed performance compared with the EU average. It leads in certain areas such as VHCN and FTTP coverage as well as 5G spectrum assignment for pioneer bands, but it is lagging behind in overall 5G coverage and growth rates in most areas. Bulgaria’s performance in sparsely populated areas is particularly noteworthy, with high coverage rates and growth in some areas. Bulgaria’s broadband take-up indicators show a mixed picture. In 2023, 53.41% of fixed broadband subscriptions in Bulgaria were at speeds of 100 Mbps or higher – a lower share than the EU’s overall 65.9%. This figure rose to 63.84% in 2024 and was still below the EU’s 71.88%, but the year-on-year growth rate of 19.5% was more than double the EU’s 9.1%. Bulgaria lagged behind the EU for subscriptions at speeds of 1 Gbps or higher, with 1.01% in 2023 and 2.02% in 2024 (compared with the EU’s 18.47% and 22.25% respectively). Bulgaria's growth rate was 100.0%, almost five times faster than the EU (20.5%.)

The share of 5G SIM cards in Bulgaria was 14.53% in 2023 and 24.41% in 2024 (both lower than the EU’s 21.7% and 35.56% respectively). Bulgaria’s growth rate of 68.0% exceeded the EU’s 63.9%.

VHCN and FTTP

Bulgaria has made very good progress on fixed broadband connectivity, and its Gigabit networks (VHCN and FTTP) are expected to reach 99% in 2030. The country is on track according to its national trajectory for these two indicators. The latest figures and measures in place suggest that it is realistic to expect that Bulgaria will reach its national target of nearly 100% VHCN and FTTP coverage.

Bulgaria is at 90.36% of VHCN coverage (2030 national target at 99%) after a progression of +1.75% in 2024 and stands above the EU average. However, Bulgaria's growth rate of 2% in this area was lower than the EU's 4.9%. A similar trend is observed for households in sparsely populated areas, where Bulgaria's coverage was 72.56% in 2023 and 79.1% in 2024, both higher than the EU's 55.61% and 61.89% respectively, but with a growth rate of 9% compared to the EU's 11.3%.

Bulgaria is at 90.36% of FTTP coverage (2030 national target nearly 100%) after a progression of +1.75% in 2024 and stands above the EU average. The growth rate of 2% is lower than the EU's 8.4%. For households in sparsely populated areas, Bulgaria's FTTP coverage was 72.56% in 2023 and 79.1% in 2024, compared to the EU's 52.55% and 58.78% respectively, with a growth rate of 9% against the EU's 11.9%.

Bulgaria is accelerating its connectivity efforts through a measure in its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) which focuses on deploying VHCNs in sparsely populated, remote and rural areas. This measure has a budget of EUR 240 million (including EUR 200 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)). It aims to reduce the digital divide, ensure gigabit connectivity for all, and improve access to high-quality digital services.

Bulgaria is accelerating its connectivity efforts through a measure in its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), focusing on the large-scale deployment of digital infrastructure. With a budget of EUR 270 million from the RRF, the initiative aims to reduce the digital divide, ensure gigabit connectivity for all, and improve access to high-quality digital services.

Bulgaria’s good performance and encouraging deployments across its territory meant that it did not propose any new measure in its adjusted roadmap in 2024.

Given the dynamic growth of FTTP subscribers using speeds of 1 Gbps and above, the Bulgarian telecom regulator – Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) expects FTTP network coverage to continue expanding to meet the growing demand for higher speeds. The demand for ultra-high-speed connectivity (particularly gigabit speeds) is increasing significantly. The share of subscribers using speeds above 1 Gbps remains relatively small, but the trend suggests a strong interest in high-speed networks that is likely to continue growing. The steady increase in subscribers within the 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps range indicates that these speeds still meet the connectivity needs of many businesses. In the short term, businesses are expected to increasingly focus their demand on gigabit connectivity.

Regarding copper switch-off, the CRC reports that it has no legal instruments to impose a plan, because the local access market was deregulated in June 2019. Wholesale copper services were last used in 2012, so no undertakings are affected by the process.

By mid-2024, no changes were observed in the positions of the top three undertakings, which account for the largest share of broadband subscribers.

5G

Bulgaria is at 81.33% of overall 5G coverage (2028 national target 100%) after a progression of +3.1% in 2024 and stands below the EU average. In sparsely populated areas, Bulgaria is at 38.25% of 5G coverage (2028 national target 100%) after a progression of +34.3% in 2024 and stands far below the EU average (79.57%). Bulgaria is lagging behind compared to its national trajectory. Bulgaria’s growth rate for its overall 5G coverage could be supported by additional measures and/or accelerated investment.

Bulgaria is at 81.33% of 5G coverage in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band after a progression of +33.8% in 2024 and stands above the EU average (67.72%). In sparsely populated areas, Bulgaria is at 38.25% of 5G coverage in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band after a progression of +184.4% in 2024 and stands above the EU average (26.19%).

In 2025, Bulgaria has fully assigned 96.67% of its harmonized spectrum for 5G pioneer bands, same value as last year, outperforming the EU's 74.63%.

The CRC reported that just under 7.9 million subscribers were using mobile broadband access in mid-2024, a slight decrease of 1.5% since the end of 2023. The total number of mobile broadband subscribers exceeded 1.5 million and increased by 12.3% in the first half of 2024. On 1 July 2024, they represented almost 20% of the total number of mobile broadband subscriptions. The CRC believes that 5G subscriptions will become the largest group within the total number of mobile access subscriptions in the next few years.

On 1 July 2024, Bulgaria still had three major mobile operators, which each had stable market shares. 5G traffic accounted for 28% of total mobile broadband traffic in the first half of 2024.

Conditions have been established in Bulgaria to ensure the successful implementation of 5G.

Bulgaria has more than 4 400 5G base stations and the number of base stations has consistently grown over the years.

Bulgarian law allows operators to transfer or lease radio frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.6 GHz, and 26 GHz bands, subject to a decision by the CRC. However, the CRC did not receive any applications for the transfer or lease of the allocated radio frequency spectrum in 2024.

Semiconductors

Bulgaria is strengthening its semiconductor sector with C3BG, a national competence centre. The Ministry of Innovation and Growth and the Bulgarian SMEs Agency announced the establishment C3BG in September 2024. It will be part of the European Network of Competence Centres, providing technical expertise, design support, and skills development for SMEs. C3BG will receive EUR 8 million over four years with 50% aid intensity (50% of the funding will come from public sources). The winning consortium is led by the Technical University of Sofia and includes participants from other leading universities in Bulgaria, the Microelectronics and Industrial Electronic Systems Cluster, and Belgium’s Imec. The project has been assessed and approved by the Chips Joint Undertaking and the implementation contract is due to be signed in 2025.

Sofia Tech Park is also involved in the Chips of Europe project , tackling workforce shortages by fostering industry-academia collaboration to attract talent to semiconductor careers. Through these initiatives and others reported in last year’s Digital Decade report, Bulgaria is ensuring that its semiconductor sector not only follows an industry-driven approach but also integrates national R&D strengths, workforce development, infrastructure growth, and policy support – thus reinforcing Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU’s semiconductor ecosystem.

Based on the objectives of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) and the outcomes of the mid-term review of the ‘Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation’ (PRIDST) programme, Bulgaria has proposed revising PRIDST. The revision aims to foster the development of critical technologies in areas such as deep tech and biotechnology, including through the establishment of technology infrastructures. It will also integrate measures for skills development related to the manufacturing of critical technologies in these fields. The ERDF’s financial support for the proposed STEP measure under PRIDST is currently estimated at EUR 81.5 million.

Similarly, based on the same objectives of STEP and the outcomes of the mid-term review of the Programme ‘Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises’ 2021-2027 (PCIE), Bulgaria has proposed revising PCIE. This revision would encourage the development and manufacturing of critical technologies, focusing on investment in SMEs and large companies in the area of ‘clean and resource-efficient technologies’. The ERDF’s financial support under this proposed STEP measure within PCIE is estimated at EUR 30 million.

Edge nodes

According to the Edge Node Observatory, Bulgaria is estimated to have deployed a total of 10 edge nodes by 2024, a progression of +100% since 2023. This is doubling (+5 edge nodes) the amount estimated for 2023 (5, number revised since SDDR 2024).

Bulgaria has presented forecast data for the edge nodes metric, which shows a trend of rapid expansion with an emphasis on reducing the distances between nodes. This suggests that the accessibility of services and the efficiency of the network have improved, so the network is likely to expand in suburban regions and local centres of economic activity.

BRAIN++ and Edge-Enabled AI Robotics at Sofia Tech Park, a key initiative in Bulgaria’s AI strategy, are advancing AI-powered robotics by integrating robotic foundation models with digital twins. This approach accelerates automation across manufacturing, R&D, healthcare, logistics, and urban planning, reducing traditional robotics' cost and complexity. By focusing on modular, scalable AI models, BRAIN++ ensures adaptability across diverse environments. AI-powered drones use 3D-scanned public spaces to create digital twins, thus allowing robots to refine their skills in realistic simulations before physical deployment. Collaboration with Sofia Tech Park’s robotics lab further strengthens this ecosystem, ensuring seamless training, validation, and real-world integration.

Crucially, this initiative embodies edge computing principles. Robots trained on digital twins require real-time AI inference and decision-making at the edge, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud systems. Distributed AI processing at edge nodes enhances responsiveness, reliability, and autonomy, particularly in dynamic, human-interactive environments. To address safety and ethics, BRAIN++ emphasizes Trustworthy AI, developing the COMPL-AI framework to ensure AI systems operate safely, transparently, and reliably. By offering an open-source AI robotics platform to the EU’s AI factories, BRAIN++ fosters collaboration and competitiveness in the EU’s AI ecosystem, and also reinforces edge computing as a foundation for next-generation robotics.

Quantum technologies

Bulgaria continues to promote quantum computing, in particular with the ‘Increasing the Capacity in the Field of Quantum Informatics’ national programme.

The Ministry of Education and Science (in cooperation with notable and leading scientists in the field of quantum technologies) approved this project last year (the public consultations  have now closed ). The national programme aims to build a highly skilled and cohesive quantum research community in Bulgaria by attracting at least 40 PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and young scientists to conduct cutting-edge research in quantum computing, simulation, metrology, sensing and communication. The programme is expected to be implemented in 2025-2031 with up to BGN 12 million (EUR 6.1 million) earmarked from the budget of the Ministry of Education and Science.

The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski was officially established in late 2023 to coordinate and advance quantum research within the physics faculty. It focuses on four key areas: quantum computers, sensors, and control; quantum simulations and metrology; quantum algorithms; and quantum control. Through these research groups, the CQT will aim to strengthen Bulgaria’s position in quantum technology development. The CQT’s building is currently being constructed on the campus of the Faculty of Physics with funding provided by the Rectorate of Sofia University, which is expected to be ready in the spring of 2025. The building will enable the creation of jobs for 25-30 researchers and will include a seminar hall. The work of the CQT is funded by one project under the RRP for BGN 1.1 million (EUR 562 444) for 42 months (until June 2026); one project under Horizon Europe for EUR 360 000 (until September 2025); and several smaller projects of young scientists.

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises

Bulgaria’s adoption of digital technologies remains significantly below the EU average, despite recent progress on the uptake of cloud services by SMEs.

Regarding the tech ecosystem and R&D, Bulgaria is sustaining its involvement in several EDIHs, and consolidating funding for R&D infrastructure such as centres of excellence (CoEs) and centres of competence (CoCs). Recent developments are encouraging, with growing awareness among enterprises of the importance of digitalisation and acceleration in their use of AI, as well as the recently announced AI factory to be hosted by Sofia Tech Park.

Total R&D intensity increased from 0.43% of GDP in 2007 to 0.79% in 2023, but R&D investment – both public and private – remains critically low (among the lowest in the EU) and is still far below Bulgaria’s 2% target for 2025. In addition to a fragmented research system and weak science-business ties, this underinvestment is weighing heavily on Bulgaria’s innovation potential.

Science-business cooperation remains at the low end of the scale. This is reflected in the share of public-private scientific co-publications and in the share of public R&D expenditure that is financed by businesses, which is also well below the EU average. Knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research results is hampered by the lack of an effective technology transfer ecosystem (with properly funded technology transfer structures); the lack of incentives for researchers to engage in collaboration with the private sector; and the lack of formalised relationships between academia and businesses. This is despite the fact that several organisations supporting start-ups and innovative businesses have been established in Bulgaria over time (e.g. the Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association (BESCO); the Bulgarian Association for Equity and Risk Investment; and the Business Angel com platform).

Bulgaria has reported some recent developments that suggest that, with the emergence of widely available generative intelligence, many SMEs have realised that they need to develop their own strategy for holistic digitalisation and use of new technologies. In this regard, under the national RRP, Bulgaria’s government has provided financial resources for innovation and digitalisation for smart transformation for almost all business activities – from a voucher scheme for improving staff skills to the development and localisation of IT solutions for the benefit of competitiveness.

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity

In 2024, 49.93% of SMEs showed at least a basic level of digital intensity (2030 national target 60%) after a progression of +2.9% annually between 2022 and 2024. The country stands far below the EU average of 72.91%, and ranks last among EU Member States. More specifically, only 16.46% of Bulgarian SMEs had a high or very high digital intensity, compared to the EU average of 32.66%, highlighting the need for further digital development among SMEs.

To address this issue, the Bulgarian RRP includes an investment to support the deployment of digital technologies in SMEs and improve their readiness for the subsequent adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. The cohesion policy investment would primarily focus on supporting SMEs in achieving higher levels of digitalisation and deploying Industry 4.0 technologies.

In October 2023, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Innovation and Growth approved funding of BGN 82 million (EUR 41.9 million) to establish eight European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). The programme is part of the Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation (PRIDST) 2021-2027 and is consistent with the Digital Europe Programme’s focus on EDIHs. The initiative aims to assist BGN 51.8 million (EUR 26.4 million) in fostering technological transformation in Bulgaria, with a focus on AI, digitalisation and smart solutions. The most ambitious of these hubs, ‘Mechanica’, plans to support 507 businesses and organisations. Others, like the ‘RIC Gabrovo’ hub (serving 22% of organisations), will play a more modest role. RIC launched the European Digital Innovation Hub in October 2024 and the deadline for the project’s implementation is October 2027. Bulgaria’s sustained involvement in the EDIHs will accelerate the adoption of AI, digital, and green technologies. This will bridge the gap between research, development and real-world AI deployment. It will also reinforce Bulgaria’s contribution to the digital transformation of EU industries.

Bulgaria is seeking to ensure that public R&D investment contributes effectively to technological advancements and economic growth by fostering an integrated research and innovation ecosystem. In particular, to strengthen the national R&D ecosystem, Bulgaria adopted the Act on the Promotion of Scientific Research and Innovation (ZNNII) in May 2024. This law lays the foundation for sustainable research funding and alignment with the European Research Area; establishes a national framework programme to improve coordination between government, academia, business and society; creates a national innovation fund to finance R&D projects; and enhances science-business linkages through the National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure. The NRSI covers 51 R&D sites (including CoEs and CoCs).

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics

Bulgaria has a mixed performance in the adoption of cloud computing, data analytics and AI technologies. It is lagging significantly behind the EU averages in all three areas. There is also a significant disparity between SMEs and large enterprises when it comes to the adoption of technology. Large enterprises have relatively high levels of adoption, but SMEs have trailed behind (particularly in AI adoption and cloud computing) and there is a sizeable gap in data analytics uptake. This mirrors trends in the EU as a whole (where large enterprises consistently outpace SMEs in technology adoption) and has significant implications for Bulgaria’s economy. In 2022, SMEs in Bulgaria accounted for 42.7% of the total value added in the economy, while large enterprises generated 37.6%. SMEs represented 97.4% of the enterprises with more than 10 employees, while large enterprises made up just 2.6%.

·Artificial intelligence or cloud or data analytics

According to new data collected in 2024, 6.47% of Bulgarian enterprises adopted AI (2030 national target 11%) after a progression of +78.73% in a year; despite significant growth, this performance remains significantly below the EU average of 13.48%. More specifically, uptake among SMEs was slightly lower at 6.13%, while large enterprises reported a higher usage rate of 20.19%. This corresponds to a gap of 14.06 percentage points between SMEs and large enterprises, which is lower than the EU gap of 28.53 percentage points. Bulgaria is on track according to its national trajectory.

Adoption of cloud, data analytics, and the three technologies together were not measured in 2024.  

In 2023, only 14.22% of Bulgarian firms adopted cloud technologies (2030 national target 15%), which is considerably lower than the EU average of 38.97%. Among these, a notable disparity existed between SMEs, which had an uptake of 13.47%, and large enterprises, among which 43.66% adopted cloud services. This reflects in a 30.19 percentage point gap between SMEs and large enterprises in Bulgaria, which aligns with the EU level gap of 31.68.

Data from 2023 showed that 21.86% of Bulgarian firms adopted data analytics technologies (2030 national target 9%), which corresponds to a considerably lower share than the EU average of 33.25%. Among these, approximately 1 out of 5 (21.06%) SMEs used data analytics, whereas 1 out of 2 (53.04%) large enterprises conducted data analytics. This resulted in a gap of 31.98 percentage points between SMEs and large enterprises, which was lower than the EU gap of 39.72 percentage points.

When taking the three technologies together in 2023, 29.34% of enterprises in Bulgaria engaged with either AI, cloud, or data analytics technologies (2030 national target of 35%), considerably below the EU average of 54.7%. Among SMEs, the uptake was slightly lower at 28.34%, compared to a much higher rate of 68.22% among large enterprises. This indicates a percentage point difference of 39.88 in uptake between SMEs and large enterprises in Bulgaria, which is higher than the EU level gap of 32.97.

·Cloud

There are no specific developments to report that are relevant to the 2025 Digital Decade report.

·Data Analytics

There are no specific developments to report that are relevant to the 2025 Digital Decade report.

·Artificial Intelligence

Bulgaria is taking steps that will likely elevate AI use among Bulgarian enterprises. The 2024 Digital Decade report included BgGPT , an open AI model in Bulgarian language, as one of the country’s best practices. It was developed and launched in 2024 by the INSAIT research institute.

In March 2024, Bulgaria announced that it will host BRAIN++ , an AI training factory at Sofia Tech Park , as part of a EUR 485 million initiative by the Commission to fund seven sites. Construction of this modern GPU AI data centre will begin in 2026. The EUR 90 million project, with 50% funded by the Bulgarian government, is a joint effort by Sofia Tech Park and the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT). BRAIN++ will tap into the EU's supercomputing network, exchanging computing power, data, and talent across Europe, and contributing to a united European AI ecosystem that promotes ethical and responsible practices. It will also integrate a cloud solution called BulgAI Sandbox, providing a secure space for SMEs and researchers to develop, test, and deploy AI solutions. This hybrid approach combines Bulgaria's Discoverer+ EuroHPC supercomputer with cloud-based features, offering a flexible and accessible environment for AI innovation.

Bulgaria’s government is closely monitoring the AI adoption and innovation levels of its enterprises, categorising them into four distinct groups. The ‘leaders’ group represents 14% of Bulgarian enterprises, which are the most innovative and seamlessly integrate AI into various business functions with dedicated budgets and a strong commitment to innovation. The ‘catch-up’ group comprises 23% of enterprises, which are rapidly adopting AI and experimenting with multiple tools. They are often involved in warehouse automation and AI-driven management systems but are slightly less innovative than the leaders. The ‘laggards’ group is the largest with 41% of enterprises that have minimal AI adoption and limited understanding of its potential, and that only rare and superficially use AI. The ‘I Want To’ group consists of the 22% of enterprises that are enthusiastic about AI but have limited actual implementation, often allocating budgets but lacking the necessary processes and expertise for effective adoption.

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups

At the beginning of 2025, Bulgaria had no unicorns, which is equal to last year. A national forecast trajectory was not provided. However, the development of enterprises in the country in this field will continue to be monitored.

Bulgaria’s business environment has experienced significant growth, particularly in its start-up ecosystem and foreign investment landscape. In January 2025, Bulgaria received EUR 338 million in FDI , which highlights its rising appeal to investors. Sofia hosts over 800 start-ups and ranks 37th globally as a start-up hub . In 2023, Bulgarian start-ups secured EUR 264 million in investment, supported by EUR 500 million from local VC funds via the Fund of Funds (FoF) – a fourfold increase over five years . In January 2025, the FoF allocated EUR 100 million to the ‘Entrepreneurship Fund’. Government initiatives like the Variable Capital Company aim to streamline business structures, despite challenges such as a skills shortages and regulatory issues.

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience  

Bulgaria’s overall cybersecurity preparedness remains a concern. The country continues to lag behind in the adoption of ICT security measures, employee awareness, and the deployment of key secure internet standards.

Approximately 1 in 2 (50.75%) individuals in Bulgaria reported that they had taken at least one precautionary action to protect their personal data online in 2023. This was well below the EU average of 69.55%. Only 16% of individuals in Bulgaria took three or more such actions and can therefore be considered as having above-basic digital safety skills. The most common protective action was reading privacy policy statements before providing personal data (31.88% of individuals did this). By contrast, only 5.64% checked that the websites where their personal data were held were secure (this was the least common precautionary step).

The number of Bulgarian enterprises that experienced ICT security incidents leading to unavailability of ICT services due to attack from outside (e.g. ransomware attacks and denial of service attacks) decreased slightly from 1.96% in 2022 to 1.79% in 2024. It is still below and is only half the EU average (3.43%). Bulgarian enterprises are also less subject to incidents related to hardware or software failures (9.18%) than enterprises in the EU as a whole (17.97%).

83.23% of enterprises deployed some ICT security measures (this was below the EU average of 92.76% and was the lowest score). Only 48.62% of enterprises made their employees aware of their obligations regarding ICT security (below the EU average of 59.97%).

Concerning the deployment of secure internet standards, Bulgaria is below the EU average in the roll-out of the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) for end users (Bulgaria: 16%, EU average: 36%) It is also the lowest performer on the server side (Bulgaria: 2%, EU average: 17%). IPv6 is important because it ensures the scalability, stability and security of the internet. The deployment of this new version is becoming increasingly urgent because traditional IPv4 addresses have long since been used up. Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is also an important standard that should be rolled out because it introduces security features to DNS. Bulgaria’s DNSSEC validation rate was 46% in Q3 2024 (only slightly below the EU average of 47%).

Bulgaria has not yet transposed the provisions of the NIS2 Directive into its national legislation but has started the process of adopting the necessary legislation for this. The National Assembly passed government-sponsored amendments to the Cybersecurity Act on first reading in February 2025 and a second reading is was expected in the spring. Bulgaria will have to take steps to implement this legislation once it has been implemented.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, 76% of Bulgarian citizens think that improved cybersecurity, better protection of online data, and safety of digital technologies would facilitate their daily use of digital technologies. An increase of two percentage points compared to last year reflects the growing concern of the Bulgarians about this subject. Additionally, 82% believe that having access to affordable, high-speed internet would further improve their daily use of digital technologies (above the EU average of 80% and stable compared to last year).

A number of ongoing policy efforts are set to significantly improve Bulgaria’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber threats across multiple critical sectors.

·Bulgaria’s Network and Information Security Directorate at the Ministry of Electronic Governance (MEG) has launched or followed up several key initiatives to enhance national cybersecurity: National cybersecurity infrastructure: Strengthening cybersecurity measures across all digitalisation programmes.

·5G cybersecurity: Continuing implementation of the 5G cybersecurity toolbox for secure and resilient networks. However, 65% of Bulgaria’s networks remain dependent on Chinese components (according to data on the percentage of national EU telecommunication networks set on Chinese technologies).

·Cyber Incident Monitoring & Response Centre: Established at strategic sites under the Internal Security Fund.

Several projects have recently been launched, starting in 2024.

·National Coordination Centre (NCC-BG): Supporting cybersecurity innovation; funding opportunities; and collaboration between industry, academia, SMEs and public organisations. Financial support is provided to SMEs to enhance cybersecurity.

·Cybersecurity Training Centre (Ministry of Electronic Governance): A new centre for cybersecurity training, awareness, and incident management. It will include a Cyber Training Area with interactive simulations for real-world attack scenarios, boosting the response capabilities of both public and private stakeholders.

·Healthcare Cybersecurity Initiative (Ministry of Health): Strengthening national cybersecurity in the health sector through a dedicated Cyber Incident Response Team (CSIRT) and integration with other national cybersecurity systems.

·Energy Sector Cybersecurity (Ministry of Energy): A project funded under the Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Intelligent Transformation Programme 2021-2027 and worth BGN 1.4 million. It aims to enhance cybersecurity infrastructure, implement vulnerability scanning tools and establish an incident-response system.

·The Ministry of Health has, when reporting on the steps Bulgaria is taking further to the European action plan on cybersecurity of hospitals , highlighted its commitment to ensure a secure national health system for all citizens. Several cybersecurity measures have been developed, including the implementation of VPNs. Bulgaria is currently carrying out a project focused on incident response in the healthcare sector and is preparing another project to enhance cybersecurity in hospitals.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Bulgaria is working to foster an inclusive digital transition. This involves various educational and vocational initiatives to address divides in gender, age, education as well as rural-urban disparities. Significant challenges nevertheless remain. 64.5% of the population lacks basic digital skills and there is a low uptake of e-Government services. The uptake of digital public services is promising because, although the delivery of online public services remains low among citizens, it is accelerating among enterprises. The country’s National Health Information System (NHIS) is making it easier for citizens to access their health records. A new national strategy is driving strong improvements for e‑Health overall. Bulgaria’s online environment remains a concern, but current efforts to address risks online are having encouraging results.

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs

Bulgaria is taking steps to foster an inclusive digital transition, recognizing the need to address various divides within its society. The strategic framework 'Digital Transformation of Bulgaria 2024-2030' aims to bridge gaps related to gender, rural-urban disparities, age, education levels, and socio-economic status. Significant challenges nevertheless remain. Initiatives such as the 'Increasing the Competences of Academic Teachers' and 'Digital Qualification' programmes are enhancing digital skills in higher education. Vocational training through the Network of Bulgarian Educational Enterprises is providing hands-on digital literacy. However, the impact of these programmes has yet to be fully realised, and their reach is still limited, particularly in rural areas.

Despite these efforts, Bulgaria faces substantial hurdles in digital skills proficiency. The fact that women in Bulgaria have slightly higher digital skills than men should not be allowed to obscure deeper issues, such as significant disparities between different education levels and age groups. Rural areas and older people are particularly affected, so more targeted interventions are needed. The upcoming school education initiative in 2025 aims to address some of these gaps by upgrading infrastructure and training teachers, but its success will depend on effective implementation and sustained support. Bulgaria faces challenges in terms of the overall level of ICT training provision and the percentage of ICT specialists, but its growth rates in these areas are encouraging. The decline in the growth rate of female ICT specialists is a concern that needs to be addressed in order to ensure a balanced and inclusive ICT workforce.

Bulgaria’s e-Government system is well-developed and ongoing efforts are being made to digitalise public services and reduce administrative burdens. The Single Digital Gateway and other digital tools aim to simplify access to regulatory information and procedures. However, while digital public services for businesses have improved, citizens’ uptake of e-Government services remains low, which indicates a need for greater public awareness and trust in digital platforms. Bulgaria’s performance on eID use is the lowest in the EU, but regulatory changes might improve the situation. Bulgaria’s performance on e-Health is improving and the National Health Information System is making it easier for citizen to access health records. However, the full integration of digital tools in healthcare remains a work in progress.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 81% of Bulgarian people think that accessing public services online will be important for their daily life in 2030. Concerning human support to help access and use digital technologies and services, 78% consider it would improve their daily use of digital technologies, and 87% think public authorities should consider it important to ensure that people receive proper human support to help them adapt to the changes in their lives brought about by digital technologies and services (an increase of four percentage points compared to last year).

Equipping people with digital skills

Basic Digital Skills

According to data from 2023, Bulgaria had 35.52% of its population having basic digital skills (2030 national target 52%) trailing behind the EU average of 55.56%. There was no new data collection in 2024, yet a deeper analysis can reveal new areas of improvement:

·Gender Gap: Interestingly, Bulgaria defies the common trend with 36.19% of females having basic digital skills compared to 34.83% of males, resulting in a negative gender gap of -1.36 percentage points. This is not only below the EU average gender gap of 2.23pp but also indicates an unusual situation where women are more digitally skilled than men.

·Education Level: There is a considerable disparity when it comes to education levels. Among those with high formal education, only 65.28% possess basic digital skills, significantly below the EU average of 79.83%. The situation is more dire for those with low or no formal education, where only 14.56% have basic digital skills, with a gap of 20.96pp compared to the national average, narrowly smaller than the EU average gap of 21.95pp.

·Living Areas: The digital skills gap is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where a mere 20.93% of residents have basic skills, starkly below the EU average of 47.50% for rural zones. The rural-urban digital divide in Bulgaria is substantial, with a 14.59pp difference from the national average, which is much greater than the EU average gap of 8.06pp.

·Age Groups: Young Bulgarians (16 to 24 years) are the most digitally competent, with 53.15%, yet this figure falls short of the EU average of 69.98%. The elderly (65 to 74 years) are at the lowest end of the spectrum, with only 7.30% having basic digital skills, which is significantly lower than the EU average of 28.19% for the same age group.

Digital Skills Index Components: Across the board, Bulgaria scores below the EU average in all five areas of the Digital Skills Index. Its highest performance is in communication and collaboration skills at 78.84%, but this is still not up to the EU average of 89.33%. The lowest score is in digital content creation skills (48.34%), significantly lower than the EU average of 68.28%.

Bulgaria’s RRP includes investments to boost digital skills among its citizens. A nationwide digital skills training campaign is underway. To support those with limited digital access, a network of staffed digital clubs equipped with laptops will be established. The RRP also invests in improving STEM education in schools by building and equipping STEM labs and high-tech classrooms to promote digital literacy and modern teaching methods.

Bulgaria faces significant challenges in education and skills development. Over 50% of 15-year-olds lack basic proficiency in maths or reading. Nearly 50% lack basic proficiency in science. These are among the lowest rates in the EU. The situation is particularly severe for disadvantaged students. 62% of disadvantaged students fail to achieve minimum competency levels in all three subjects. Key factors include poor teaching quality, an ineffective curriculum, socio-economic segregation in underperforming schools, and inadequate measures to address poverty-related disadvantages. In addition, digital skills among young Bulgarians are among the lowest in the EU, further limiting their future opportunities.

Adult learning participation is also alarmingly low and declining, dropping from 11.6% in 2016 to 9.5% in 2022 – the lowest in the EU. Even when in employment, only 28% of adults engage in on-the-job training (the EU average is 53.9%).

In order to achieve its 2030 targets and objectives, Bulgaria has launched several initiatives to bridge digital gaps between urban and rural areas, generations and socio-economic groups (particularly in education and vocational training). The plans mentioned in the following paragraphs were already included in the 2023 roadmap but have only recently begun to be put into practice.

Two national programmes aim to enhance digital competencies in higher education: ‘Increasing the Competences of Academic Teachers’ and ‘Digital Qualification’. These initiatives focus on improving the digital skills of over 1 200 academic teachers and 800 teachers; funding study programme updates; establishing 23 university centres for innovative educational technologies; and providing training materials, video lectures and virtual libraries.

Higher education institutions are also integrating digital technologies, virtual reality and interdisciplinary approaches into their teaching and assessment. The aim is to enhance digital skills and employability by aligning education with modern technological trends.

In vocational education, the Network of Bulgarian Educational Enterprises supports digital literacy through hands-on training. 5 000 students receive simulated workplace training in over 124 educational enterprises every year, covering areas such as banking, IT, insurance and consulting. The annual Young Entrepreneur Fair also promotes skills development by connecting students with local and international business networks.

A major initiative for school education will be launched in 2025 (led by the Ministry of Education and Science) with a digital transformation budget of BGN 246.5 million (EUR 126 million). Its objectives include: (i) upgrading digital education infrastructure, including the ‘Digital Backpack’ platform (described in last year’s report); (ii) training 3 897 teachers in digital skills, media literacy and digital content creation, alongside support for 202 839 children and students, and 212 539 parents and educational mediators; and (iii) supporting students’ digital literacy through enhanced general education, extracurricular training and practical lab experience in areas such as IT, virtual reality and analytical skills, as well as the use of automated processes and the integration of AI into school education.

The lack of ICT competences and the need to enhance the workforce’s technological knowledge and digital skills remain critical challenges for education and training systems at all levels. To address these issues, the MEG has introduced national measures for acquiring and improving digital skills. These were included in the 2023 roadmap to the the strategic framework ‘Digital Transformation of Bulgaria 2024-2030’. A national skills policy plan was finalised in 2024.

Bulgaria has also recently proposed the ‘Capacity building of the MEG as competent authority for developing public policy for AI for implementing AI Act’ project as part of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) programme. The aim is to ensure compliance with the AI Act and enhance civil servants’ AI literacy. Bulgaria will produce an institutional mapping to ensure that public administration can adapt to the regulatory environment and swiftly implement new and future digital legislation. Further to the needs highlighted by the mapping, Bulgaria will increase administrative capacity by means of training. It will also enhance the literacy and trust of the public administration by sharing of good practices and targeted workshops to inform civil servants about AI and its use. This proposal has been pre-approved. At the time of reporting, the procedure for the official approval of the project was expected to be completed by the end of March 2025.

Regarding training activities and the development of competencies and skills, the Institute of Public Administration’s 2025 training catalogue now includes a new programme titled ‘Intelligent Data Management and Artificial Intelligence’. This programme covers topics related to the application of AI in the public sector and offers both in-person sessions and online modules. It aims to equip civil servants with both foundational and advanced knowledge of AI technologies. Additionally, in April, the IPA launched a study to assess the readiness of public administrations for AI adoption and to identify the training needs of civil servants. The results of this study are currently being analysed and will be published in due course.

The ‘New Skills’ initiative was funded by the European Social Fund+ (ESF+) and launched in early 2025. It will train 14 000 employees in digital, business and soft skills, and will be completed by the end of 2026. Applications to the ‘New Skills’ initiative closed on 5 March 2025. It has a budget of BGN 74 million (EUR 37.8 million). Employers can apply for grants ranging from BGN 20 000 (EUR 10 226) to BGN 5.9 million (EUR 3 million) to train employees (including in digital skills).

Since early 2024, targeted digital skills training has been funded via the national RRP and ESF+. Online testing and certification is available for those learning independently or on the job. 67 060 digital skills certificates had been issued by 9 February 2025 (65 716 through courses and 1 344 via independent assessment).

The 2024 project ‘Addressing Labour Market Challenges’ (ESF+ funded) is updating labour market forecasts in order to improve training strategies. This includes analysing the impact of digital and green transitions on jobs and skill needs. The results are expected by 2026. A national survey in 2025 will examine barriers to adult learning among individuals aged 25-64.

To support disadvantaged learners, 760 digital clubs with computers, internet access, and mentors will be established. In addition, the Employment Agency runs training programmes (including a training programme on ‘Digital Skills’ that offers digital upskilling for unemployed and employed individuals based on training vouchers.

ICT specialists

Bulgaria is at 4.6% of ICT specialists in total employment (2030 national target 5%) after a progression of +7.0% in 2024; its stands below the EU average of 5.0%. In 2023, ICT specialists made up 4.3% of total employment, compared to the EU's 4.8%. Bulgaria's growth rate of 7.0% exceeded the EU's 4.2%, suggesting a positive evolution. The country is on track according to its national trajectory.

The percentage of female ICT specialists in Bulgaria was 29.1% in 2023, higher than the EU's 19.4%. This figure decreased by 7.2% to 27.0% in 2024 but was still above the EU’s 19.5%. However, Bulgaria’s year-on-year 7.2% decrease compared unfavourably with the EU’s 0.5%year-on-year increase. Bulgaria nevertheless continues to perform very well with respect to women in ICT jobs, partly thanks to education policies and organisations like Women in Tech Bulgaria and Rails Girls Sofia, which actively support women entering and excelling in the field In 2022, 9.06% of enterprises with 10 or more employees provided ICT training, significantly lower than the EU’s 22.37%. This figure increased slightly to 9.11% in 2024, but was still well below the EU’s 22.29%. However, Bulgaria’s annual growth rate of 0.3% did outperform the EU’s -0.2%. This indicates that, even if Bulgaria’s overall level of ICT training provision is still low, Bulgaria is making progress in this area.

Systemic loss of scientific capacities is hampering Bulgaria’s competitiveness and transition towards a knowledge-based economy. Bulgaria’s pool of available workers for R&I (as measured by the share of new graduates in science and engineering in the population) has been on a downward trend since 2010 and is well below the EU average. This is further exacerbated by one of the lowest shares of people aged 25-34 who have successfully completed tertiary education (35.8% compared with the EU average of 43.1%) along with an ageing and numerically insufficient research staff due to low career projections. This is reflected in the low number of researchers (full-time equivalents) employed by the public sector per thousand of the active population, which has remained among the lowest of all EU Member States (2.8 in 2022 compared with the EU average of 4.1).

In terms of labour market demand, Eurostat experimental statistics based on web-scraping show that in Bulgaria the profiles of ‘software and applications developers and analysts’ are the most sought after, representing 39.5% of online job advertisements for ICT specialists (58.0% at EU level). Two types of profiles are more in demand in Bulgaria than in the EU as a whole: ‘information and communications technology service managers’ (5.3% of online job advertisements for ICT specialists), and ‘information and communications technology operations and user support technicians’ (11.7%).

Participation in higher education remains low (particularly in STEM fields) despite policy efforts. The declining number of STEM graduates is aggravating skills shortages. The especially low level of enrolment among disadvantaged groups (including Roma students) is limiting their early skill development and career prospects.

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all

Bulgaria’s digital public services overall and access to e-Health records have steadily improved, with some areas already surpassing EU averages. Bulgaria lags behind in overall digital public services for citizens, but it excels in digital public services for businesses and is rapidly improving in access to e-Health records. Bulgaria’s growth rates in these areas often outpace the EU’s, indicating a positive development path. Bulgaria’s performance on e-ID use is the lowest in the EU – but there are positive signs of improvement thanks to 2023 regulatory changes.

Bulgaria’s institutional framework poses challenges to its competitiveness, with low public trust, complex administration and an unstable legal environment. Productivity in public administration is hindered by low skills and pay disparities; and, unlike other EU Member States, Bulgaria lacks a dedicated pro-productivity institution. Corruption and judicial independence issues also affect the business environment.

The situation could improve as Bulgaria strengthens it legal framework for digital services and builds on its e-Government system by incentivising more of its population to use online services. Bulgaria is making efforts to digitalise registers, enhance interoperability, and apply the Once Only principle to streamline administrative processes.

Bulgaria’s RRP contains numerous measures to digitalise public administration . This includes enhancing the justice system's IT infrastructure, the digitalisation of healthcare (e.g. the development of the National Health Information System and of a National digital platform for medical diagnostics), employment and social services, and cultural collections. In addition, the RRP promotes the digital transformation of energy and transport systems, as well as agriculture, to streamline data exchange between farmers and the administration.

Only one third of Bulgarians use e-government services. The share of people using government internet websites or apps has been increasing every year in Bulgaria: from 31.74% in 2022 and 35.39% in 2023 to 36.48% in 2024. Engagement nevertheless remains far below the EU average of 74.71% in 2024 and is the second lowest in the EU. This is partly due to the very low share of public services which are fully online. Moreover, insufficient digital inclusion of minorities and people living in remote areas is a further obstacle to the use of online services. In addition, the e-Government benchmark indicator for mobile friendliness indicates a decrease of over 5 pps between 2024 and 2025 (from 95.7% to 90.5%) as several websites for services under the family life event were found to be unresponsive to smaller (mobile) screens.

The most popular reason for accessing public websites or apps in 2024 was to get information about services. The online public service usage data relates to a time when the Bulgarian parliament was debating the budget account in February 2025, when it was proposed to allocate some BGN 56 million (EUR 28.6 million) to the Ministry of Electronic Governance.

e-ID

In 2023, 6.09% of Bulgarian people had used their eID to access online services for a private purpose in the last 12 months. This was the lowest EU Member State performance in the EU and well below the EU average (41.11%). Use of eID for accessing services provided by national public authorities or public services was slightly lower at 5.36% (well below the EU average of 36.14%).

Bulgaria is implementing the amended eIDAS Regulation to establish a European Digital Identity framework that will enable the use of the European Union Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW).

Bulgaria currently has two main digital identity solutions for online public services: EvrotrustID (a private-sector solution controlled by the MEG) and the national electronic identity card (issued by the Ministry of the Interior). The MEG oversees digital identity policies. The Ministry of the Interior manages the national eID card. Regulatory changes introduced in 2023 are significantly improving the Evrotrust eID.

Bulgarian stakeholders are participating in one of the large-scale pilots (LSPs) consortia, namely the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC), which is proceeding to the grant-agreement preparation stage. This includes government ministries and agencies (both national and local).

Digitalisation of public services for citizens and businesses

For digital public services for citizens, Bulgaria scored at 67.98 (2030 national target of 100) after a small growth of +0.8% in 2024, below the EU average of 82.32. The country is lagging behind compared to its national trajectory. In 2023, Bulgaria's total score for digital public services for citizens was 67.47, falling short of the EU's 79.44. Bulgaria's growth rate of 0.8% was significantly lower than the EU's 3.6%. In the cross-border category, Bulgaria scored 45.71 in 2023 and 47.81 in 2024, both below the EU's 68.37 and 71.28, respectively. Nevertheless, Bulgaria's growth rate of 4.6% outpaced the EU's 4.3%.

For digital public services for businesses, Bulgaria scored at 94.04 (2030 national target of 100) after a progression of +2.4% in 2024 and stands well above the EU average of 86.23. The country is on track according to its national trajectory. In 2023, Bulgaria's total score was 91.88, surpassing the EU's 85.42. This lead widened in 2024, with Bulgaria at 94.04 and the EU at 86.23. Bulgaria's growth rate of 2.4% also exceeded the EU's 0.9%. In the cross-border category, Bulgaria scored 90.0 in 2023 and 92.5 in 2024, both higher than the EU's 73.13 and 73.76, respectively. Bulgaria's growth rate of 2.8% again surpassed the EU's 0.9%. Bulgaria is developing the necessary infrastructure towards seamless, automated exchange of authentic documents and data across the EU. There are still additional steps to be taken for Bulgaria to become technically ready to connect to the Once-Only common services, part of the EU Single Digital Gateway.

Bulgaria is continuing work to improve its policymaking process. The Ministry of Economy and Industry reports that a set of measures in the government’s programme has been put in place to improve strategic planning; the monitoring of policy implementation; and the use of evidence, data and innovative methods in policymaking. These measures complement investments in IT tools for better strategic planning made under the national RRP. Bulgaria has also reported that, in line with the obligation for administrative authorities to align their registers with the Electronic Government Act (EGA) by 31 March 2025, the MEG was implementing a project to digitalise 5 pilot registers and configure 60 more pilot registers using the centralised creation and maintenance of registers (ISCCMR). These registers will comply with updated EGA requirements and secondary legislation. They will support the successful register reform and enable fully electronic administrative services. Users will therefore no longer need to submit documentary proof of facts that have already been recorded in the registers. Administrative bodies can use the system to create and maintain electronic registers free of charge. In addition, the reform introduces an obligation to provide electronic services for a reduced fee and establishes the role of an intermediary for requesting administrative services electronically.

To meet the growing demand for electronic identification solutions, State policy encourages private-sector involvement in developing electronic identification schemes. Work is also underway to establish a national electronic identification system that is regulated by the Electronic Identification Act. Electronic identifiers will be integrated into citizens’ personal cards but may also be available on other platforms, including as a mobile application. The provision of electronic identifiers is expected to begin by mid-2025.

The implementation of the single model for requesting, payment and delivery of electronic administrative services (the Single Model) is continuing. The number of administrative bodies that have joined the e-government systems maintained by the MEG (e-Authentication, e-Payment, e‑Delivery, Registry Information Exchange System RegiX, e-Forms) has grown significantly in recent years. 503 administrations at all levels are currently providing centralised e-services through the e‑Government Portal (egov.bg). These services are provided via the Single Model, which ensures high-quality and affordable electronic services through a single point and significantly reduces the administrative burden on businesses and citizens.

e-Health

Bulgaria scored at 87.47 for access to e-Health records (2030 national target of 100) after a growth of +13.3% in 2024 and stands above the EU average of 82.7. In 2023, Bulgaria's score was 77.21, slightly below but close to the EU's 79.12. The 2024 score not only caught up with but also exceeded the EU average. Bulgaria's impressive growth rate of 13.3% significantly outpaced the EU's 4.5%. The country is on track according to its national trajectory.

The National Health Strategy 2030 prioritises e-Health and aims to digitally transform the sector through the development of cloud technologies, wireless communication networks (4G/5G) and high-speed optical data transmission networks. The National Strategy for e-Health and Digitalisation of the Health System 2030 was adopted to achieve these goals. It envisages the creation of a single health data space through the National Health Information System. This data space will facilitate citizens’ access to their health records and assist medical specialists in diagnosis and treatment. 

Patients can access information about available specialists online and through the Bulgarian Medical Association’s register of doctors (eBLS – Doctor Search), which enhances people empowerment.

According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 81% of Bulgarian people think that digital technologies will be important when accessing or receiving healthcare services (e.g., telemedicine, artificial intelligence for diagnosing diseases) during their daily life by 2030.

In June 2024, Bulgaria reached a significant milestone with the completion of ‘phase 3’ in the development of its national immunisation system. This phase focused on optimising medical and statistical reporting for all medical institutions. These statistics are now available electronically on a monthly and annual basis. The COVID-19 vaccination register has been upgraded to include all vaccine types, thus allowing better analysis of vaccine coverage and availability, and thereby strengthening the national immunisation programme.

In addition, the e-Health mobile app was enhanced in September 2024 to send notifications for upcoming preventive exams and vaccinations. Specialised modules such as ‘Child Health’ have been developed and the ‘Electronic Prescription’ module has been upgraded to improve the control of medicinal product prescriptions. E-Hospitalisation modules have also been improved, simplifying the admission and stay processes for citizens and healthcare providers. The Data Warehouse module has been upgraded to support 25 use cases, thus enabling analysis of critical health indicators such as morbidity, mortality, vaccination rates, hospitalisations and the spread of infectious diseases. The eRx application has been upgraded and now has new prescription-related functionalities.

June 2024 also saw the completion of the ‘CEF-TC-2019-2: Setting-up Generic Cross Border eHealth Services in Bulgaria’ project. This initiative is intended to enable seamless cross-border care and the exchange of patient information, particularly for summarised patient data and electronic prescriptions. The project timeline has been extended to 2026, supported by national funding, to further enhance the implementation of cross-border health services.

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy

In the realm of digital democracy and online safety, Bulgaria is taking some steps to combat disinformation and protect children online through initiatives such as the National Safer Internet Centre. However, while the prevalence of hostile and degrading online messages is lower than the EU average, it does still underscore the need for continued vigilance and education. Bulgaria’s efforts to improve digital literacy and critical thinking are crucial, but further action and broader public engagement are needed in order to truly empower individuals to navigate the online environment effectively.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, only 39% of respondents in Bulgaria said that, prior to the interview, they were aware that the rights which apply offline should also be respected online — well below the EU average of 59% — highlighting the limited awareness of digital rights among the Bulgarian population. However, this marks an increase from the 34% recorded in last year’s survey. 90% of Bulgarian citizens believe it is urgent for public authorities to protect children online from the negative impact of social media on their mental health. Similarly, 89% consider it urgent to address cyberbullying and online harassment, and to implement age assurance mechanisms to restrict access to age-inappropriate content.

Online participation in political and civic life is growing steadily in Bulgaria. In 2024, 21.07% of people used the internet to participate in consultation, for voting or sharing opinions online. This share is above the EU average and is trending upwards (the proportion was 17.86% in 2022), which is in line with the trend observed at the EU level (17.59% in 2022 and 20.45% in 2024). 

Individuals encountering hostile and degrading online messages: in 2023, in Bulgaria, 23.83% of individuals came across online messages that were considered to be hostile or degrading towards groups based on factors such as religion, ethnicity or disability. This figure was notably below the EU average of 33.5%. Young people (16-24) (26.55%) and adults (25-64) (26.88%) had equal exposure levels. Similarly, males (24.13%) and females (23.54%) encountered such messages at almost identical rates.

Individuals evaluating data, information and digital content: in 2023, 32.21% of individuals in Bulgaria stated that they had seen untrue or doubtful information on the internet. This was well below the EU average of 49.25%. However, only 11.78% of these individuals checked the truthfulness of the content they encountered. This suggests that, despite a lower incidence of misleading content, a relatively small proportion of individuals engaged in fact-checking. Young people (16-24) (32.6%) and adults (25–64) (36.84%) reported close levels of exposure. Similarly, their verification rates were almost the same, with 12.18% of youth verifying content compared with 13.53% of adults. In terms of gender differences, males (32.99%) and females (31.46%) reported very similar exposure rates and their verification rates were the same (11.88% for males and 11.68% for females).

The 2023 data on online interactions in Bulgaria suggest a relatively lower incidence of hostile and degrading online messages and potentially misleading information than the EU average. However, the data also indicate a worrying lack of critical engagement, with only a relatively small proportion of individuals taking steps to verify the accuracy of the information they encounter.

The 2025 Eurobarometer shows that 80% of Bulgarian people think that public authorities should prioritise shaping the development of Artificial Intelligence and other digital technologies to ensure that they respect our rights and values. This is slightly below the EU average (83%) but represents an increase of four percentage points compared to last year, reflecting the growing interest of the citizens in this respect.

Bulgaria remains vulnerable to disinformation and external interference in elections. A report by the Disinformation Observatory suggests that Bulgaria has been heavily targeted by disinformation from Russian networks and especially impacted by disinformation campaigns that have focused on the EU, NATO, the euro adoption process, the war in Ukraine, migration and COVID-19. However, the Foundation for Humanities and Social Studies has published a survey showing that propaganda and disinformation against the EU in Bulgaria has decreased over the past year. The number of publications – even when amplified by a special network of bots – was 50% lower in 2024 than in 2023 and has returned to the level it was at in the first year of the aggression against Ukraine.

Since last year, Bulgaria has aimed to combat disinformation and protect children online. This has included events at the National Safer Internet Centre (NSIC) on Safer Internet Day as well as ongoing efforts to enhance digital literacy, assist families and tackle illegal content (especially child pornography). The NSIC has received an award for long-term support in protecting children’s rights in the digital environment. In 2024, the NSIC processed 1.7 million signals or calls (such as from parents seeking help on issues related to, for example, video games) through its advisory helpline, with 79 000 signals received from international INHOPE partners about illegal content hosted on Bulgarian servers. A key success in 2024 was the closure of a Telegram channel with over 100 000 child pornographic images.

Bulgaria has also been actively addressing foreign influence and disinformation through international conferences; strategic communications initiatives by the Ministry of Defence; and collaboration with NATO and EU partners to strengthen resilience against hybrid threats. Recent measures are aimed to counter foreign influence on public opinion. In June 2024, an international conference organised in Sofia by the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea focused on countering disinformation and foreign influence. A study presented at the event showed that 40% of Bulgarians believe disinformation, especially on topics like military aid to Ukraine and Schengen membership. The conference discussed the monetisation of disinformation and its impact on voter behaviour.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) has formally designated Bulgaria’s CRC as the national digital services coordinator (DSC). The CRC has launched national-level implementation activities that include publishing information, setting up complaint mechanisms, handling complaints and notices, and identifying intermediary service providers. It has also engaged with stakeholders through meetings and workshops. New organisational rules and regulations for the CRC entered into force on 1 November 2024 in order to align it with the DSA.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Bulgaria’s green transition is a complex and evolving process that is driven by the need to align with EU climate goals while addressing significant domestic challenges. Bulgaria faces substantial obstacles, including political instability and public scepticism towards the green agenda. In addition, Bulgaria’s energy sector is heavily reliant on coal, and the transition to renewable energy sources is crucial to meeting EU climate targets and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Bulgaria can nevertheless benefit from the green transition through enhanced competitiveness, improved public health and increased resilience to climate hazards.

The green transition is linked to the digital transformation as part of Bulgaria’s broader reforms and investments. Bulgaria’s RRP includes measures to support both the green and digital transitions, aiming to strengthen economic and social resilience. However, the focus remains on overcoming immediate political and economic challenges before fully integrating digital solutions into the green transition. Bulgaria has received significant EU funding to support the green transition, but political uncertainty and public resistance have slowed progress.

The CRC is a member of BEREC’s Working Group on sustainability and has participated in other similar discussions at EU level.

The CRC attributes the scarcity of comprehensive studies on the environmental impact of digital technologies in Bulgaria to the absence of harmonised and comprehensive methodologies at EU level for measuring the various components of a digital ecosystem’s impact, including data centres and networks. Obstacles include a lack of standardised data on the environmental impact of ICT, particularly in relation to ECNs (electronic communications networks) and ECSs (electronic communications services); and technical challenges inherent in the sector (such as the complexity and globalisation of value chains and the difficulty of assessing systemic effects).

In Bulgaria, mobile service providers have proactively developed and adopted sustainability strategies for telecommunications, with specific measures and goals aimed at reducing their carbon footprint.

In 2024, only 8.24% of people in Bulgaria considered energy efficiency as important when purchasing ICT devices (well below the EU average of 19.35%) and only 4.10% considered the eco-design of the device as important by 4.10% (also well below the EU average of 12.04%). Those two eco-friendly criteria were less important for Bulgarian buyers than the price, performance (speed) and design of the ICT device.

Bulgarian people tend to recycle their devices much less than the EU average. 3.78% recycle laptops or tablets, 4.78% recycle desktop devices and 6.44% recycle mobile phones (the corresponding EU averages are 11.31%, 14.66% and 10.93%). Most of these devices are still in use or kept in the household.

Just 35% of Bulgarians feel that they are equipped to contribute to the green transition, compared with an EU average of 54%.

According to the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, 67% of Bulgarian people consider digital technologies important to help fight climate change (standing below the EU average of 74% and showing an decrease of seven percentage points since last year), while 74% of Bulgarian respondents think that ensuring that digital technologies serve the green transition should be an important action for public authorities (below the EU average of 80%).

Bulgaria has taken digital initiatives for climate action and smart cities, but no additional measures have been reported for this year. In March 2024, the Commission approved Bulgaria’s national industrial strategy in March 2024 (EU-funded), outlining measures for transitioning to a green economy and digitalising production by enhancing energy efficiency and promoting circular economy models. Bulgaria continues to build on the key funding initiatives under its current programme for 2021-2027 on ‘Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises’. This includes BGN 71.5 million (EUR 36.6 million) for clean technology innovation and circular economy projects; BGN 151.9 million (EUR 77.7 million) for improving resource efficiency, recycling, and waste management in enterprises; and BGN 149.1 million (EUR 76.2 million) for integrating digital technologies for low-carbon development.

Annex I – National roadmap analysis

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding

Annex III – Digital Rights and Principles 10

(1)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(2)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(3)

 The Best Practice Accelerator (BPA) is a platform that enables Member States to share successful measures and challenges encountered in their efforts to meet their Digital Decade targets and objectives. Best practices are made available to Member States via the BPA Repository and showcased in regular workshops, currently focused on three thematic clusters: Digital Skills, Green IT, and the Uptake of Digital Technologies.

(4)

 Most of the indicators mentioned in the country report are explained in the DESI 2025 Methodological Note accompanying the State of the Digital Decade report 2025.

(5)

 Special Eurobarometer 566 on ‘the Digital Decade’ 2025: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news-redirect/883227

(6)

When referring to national roadmaps, data used in this report are those declared by the Member States in their national roadmaps, on the basis of the Commission's guidance (C(2023) 4025 final). Data might reflect possible variations in reporting practices and methodological choices across Member States. No systematic assessment of the extent to which Member States followed the guidance was carried out.

(7)

The share of financial allocations that contribute to digital objectives has been calculated using Annex VII to the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation. Last data update: 16 May 2025.

(8)

This amount includes all investment specifically aimed at or substantially contributing to digital transformation in the 2021-2027 Cohesion policy programming period. The source funds are the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the Just Transition Fund.

(9)

Joint Research Centre, Nepelski, D. and Torrecillas, J. Mapping EU level funding instruments 2021-2027 to Digital Decade targets – 2025 update, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2025, JRC141966. Last data update: 10 March 2025.

(10)

 Based on a study to support the Monitoring of the Implementation of the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, available here . For a more detailed country factsheet accompanying the study, click here .

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 16.6.2025

SWD(2025) 294 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Digital Decade 2025 country reports

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

State of the Digital Decade 2025: Keep building the EU's sovereignty and digital future

{COM(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 290 final} - {SWD(2025) 291 final} - {SWD(2025) 292 final} - {SWD(2025) 293 final} - {SWD(2025) 295 final}

Contents

Executive summary    

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership    

Building technological leadership: digital infrastructure and technologies    

Connectivity infrastructure    

VHCN and FTTP    

Semiconductors    

Edge nodes    

Quantum technologies    

Supporting EU-wide digital ecosystems and scaling up innovative enterprises    

SMEs with at least basic digital intensity    

Take-up of cloud/AI/data analytics    

Unicorns, scale-ups and start-ups    

Strengthening Cybersecurity & Resilience    

Protecting and empowering EU people and society    

Empowering people and bringing the digital transformation closer to their needs    

Equipping people with digital skills    

Key digital public services and solutions – trusted, user-friendly, and accessible to all    

Building a safe and human centric digital environment and preserving our democracy    

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening    

Annex I – National roadmap analysis    

Annex II – Factsheet on multi-country projects (MCPs) and funding    

Annex IIΙ – Digital rights and principles    

Executive summary

Croatia has made significant strides in strategic technological sectors but still faces challenges in the widespread adoption of advanced digital technologies. Progress in areas, such as quantum communication, semiconductors, and cybersecurity has strengthened its growing contribution to EU competitiveness and sovereignty.

Croatia shows a substantial level of ambition in its contribution to the Digital Decade, having set 13 national targets, 77% of which are well aligned with the EU's 2030 targets. The country is following its trajectories moderately well with 63% of them being on track (on the basis of the 2024 trajectories defined for all 8 KPIs analysed). Croatia addressed 50% of the 12 recommendations issued by the Commission in 2024 by making some changes through new measures.

In 2024, the government continued its strategic reforms, with digitalisation efforts increasingly linked to strengthening industrial competitiveness, fostering innovation, and boosting technological sovereignty. To make the most of the digital transition, Croatia must tackle persistent gaps in edge infrastructure, SME digitalisation, the uptake of advanced technologies, and support for high-growth enterprises.

According to the 2025 special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade, 81% of Croatians consider that the digitalisation of daily public and private services is making their lives easier. On the action of the public authorities, 90% consider it important to counter and mitigate the issue of fake news and disinformation online. And on competitiveness, 91% consider it important to ensure that European companies can grow and become ‘European Champions’ capable of competing globally.

A competitive, sovereign, and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Croatia has made significant progress in FTTP and 5G deployment, surpassing the average EU growth rates. VHCN, although still below the EU average, progresses at a swift pace, driven by infrastructure programmes backed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). However, Croatia faces challenges in deploying stand-alone 5G networks, with limited progress and no specific measures in place to speed up the roll-out. Rural mid-band 5G coverage also remains well below the EU average, and a comprehensive demand-side strategy to stimulate uptake is only expected after 2027.

The country also holds a strong position in the adoption of data analytics. Although the basic digital intensity of SMEs grew faster than in the rest of the EU, it remains well below the EU average. Croatia continues to face challenges in the uptake of AI and cloud services, where adoption is lower than EU average. The start-up and scale-up ecosystem also remains weak, with only two unicorns recorded and limited venture capital activity.

The launch of a national quantum communication project and the launch of a semiconductor competence centre are expected to strengthen Croatia’s position in strategic technologies. The country has also started taking steps towards decentralising ICT infrastructure with the deployment of six edge nodes. However, the edge computing ecosystem remains underdeveloped and lacks a dedicated national strategy. The country's cybersecurity capacity has improved with the adoption of the Cybersecurity Act and the launch of the National Coordination Centre for Industry, Technology, and Research in Cybersecurity; however, key standards like Internet Protocol version 6 and Domain Name System Security Extensions remain far below the EU average, signalling persistent vulnerabilities in the national digital infrastructure.

Protecting and empowering EU people and society

Despite solid digital skills among young people, Croatia continues to face major challenges in digital inclusion, with persistent skill gaps affecting older adults, people with lower education levels, and the rural population. While the share of ICT specialists in employment has improved and matches the EU average, shortages remain, labour market mismatches persist, and brain drain continues to weaken the digital talent pipeline.

Public digital services for citizens have improved steadily and are broadly on track, but digital public services for businesses shows negative trends, including a decline in cross-border service availability. Preparations for the national Digital Identity Wallet are advancing, which will reinforce secure access frameworks. Access to health records is strong, but some key gaps remain: medical images are unavailable, some healthcare providers are not connected, and delegated access is not possible. Supporting a more inclusive and trusted digital transition, Croatia has intensified efforts to promote media literacy, cybersecurity awareness, and protection against online risks, particularly among young people.

Leveraging digital transformation for a smart greening

Green and digital priorities are receiving greater attention in Croatia, supported by major investments from the RRF. Croatia has made progress in digitalising its energy infrastructure and improving water management systems with digital monitoring solutions. However, the country still lacks a coherent national strategy linking digitalisation to climate objectives, and systematic monitoring of emission reductions through digital technologies has not yet been put in place. Consumer awareness of the environmental impact of ICT devices remains low, and voluntary sustainability efforts in the digital sector are still fragmented.

National Digital Decade strategic roadmap

Croatia submitted an adjustment to its national roadmap in January 2025, refining its set of measures and updating key connectivity targets. The adjustment was prepared with broad stakeholder consultation and addresses a substantial number of 2024 recommendations. The roadmap maintains a strong focus on strengthening digital infrastructure, SME digitalisation, digital skills development, and digital public services. However, gaps persist in the widespread adoption of advanced technologies, scaling up innovation-driven enterprises, and fully closing inclusion gaps in digital skills, particularly for older adults and rural areas. Overall, the Croatian roadmap includes 31 measures with a combined budget of 634.73 million, representing approximately 0.74% of the country's GDP.

Funding & projects for digital

Croatia allocates 20% of its total recovery and resilience plan to digital (EUR 1.4 billion) 1 . In addition, under cohesion policy, EUR 755 million, representing 9% of the country’s total cohesion policy funding, is dedicated to advancing Croatia’s digital transformation 2 .

Croatia is a member of the three European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs): the Alliance for Language Technologies EDIC, the Local Digital Twins towards the CitiVERSE EDIC and the EUROPEUM EDIC. Croatian organisations are indirect partners in the Important Project of Common European Interest on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS). Croatia is a participating state of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU) and of the Chips JU.

Croatia has contributed to the Best Practice Accelerator 3 by sharing one best practice under the Digital Skills cluster (‘Women in Digital – Girls in ICT’).

Digital rights and principles

According to a support study Croatia has been relatively active in implementing the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles, with 48 initiatives overall and 7 new initiatives launched in 2024. Croatia is most active in the area of solidarity and inclusion. Less activity has been identified with regards to a fair digital environment. Measures in the area of sustainability appear to have most impact on the ground, in contrast to those addressing putting people at the centre of the digital transformation. 

A competitive, sovereign and resilient EU based on technological leadership

Croatia continues to strengthen its digital competitiveness, making notable progress in enhancing its digital infrastructure and accelerating the digital transformation of its economy. The ICT sector plays an increasingly important role, contributing 5.32% to the country’s gross value added in 2021 – above the EU average  4 . This contribution stems primarily from the dominance of ICT services, which represent around 70% of the sector’s activity, followed by equipment sales and, to a lesser extent, hardware manufacturing. The sector has experienced steady growth in recent years, driven by strong government modernisation efforts and robust enterprise investments, particularly in digital technologies such as software development and ICT services  5 . These services, including software development and IT consulting, are increasingly contributing to Croatia’s export growth and competitiveness  6 .