State of the Digital Decade 2026: Closing Gaps, Mobilising Investment

The European Commission published Annex 1 to the State of the Digital Decade 2026 report, presenting an EU-level assessment and EU-level recommendations to close structural digital gaps and mobilise investments for 2030 and beyond.

• Main announcement: The European Commission issues EU-level recommendations across semiconductors, quantum, HPC/AI (AI Factories and proposed AI Gigafactories), edge and cloud deployment, connectivity, cybersecurity, digital public services and the green-digital transition; it signals a Chips Act 2.0 review in Q2 2026, supports the Cloud and AI Development Act (aiming to triple EU data center capacity) and projects Member State semiconductor commitments of EUR 50.2 billion reported in National Roadmaps.
• Background and concrete details:Key funding and projects referenced include: 13 announced semiconductor projects totalling >EUR 32 billion, IPCEI ME-CT mobilising ~EUR 20 billion, EUR 3.7 billion for semiconductor pilot lines, EUR 2.6 billion for 19 AI Factories and 13 Antennas, EURO-3C EUR 75 million Telco-Edge-Cloud project, CEF Digital EUR 548 million invested in submarine cables (total CEF Digital submarine allocation >EUR 600 million overall), and targeted CEF calls (EUR 347 million allocated for strategic submarine cable projects, plus specific EUR 60m/€20m calls for repair modules/SMART cable equipment) — all verifiable commitments and project calls referenced in the Annex.