On 26 January 2022, the European Commission put forward a declaration of rights and principles for everyone in the EU. It gives a clear reference point of the EU digital transformation and provides a guide for policy-makers and companies when dealing with new technologies.
The declaration addresses key aspects such as placing people and their rights at its centre, supporting solidarity and inclusion, ensuring the freedom of choice online, fostering participation in the digital public space, increasing safety, security and empowerment of individuals, and promoting the sustainability of the digital future.
These goals will be achieved in particular by extending high-performance broadband access for all citizens including in rural and remote areas, by building up digital skills and competences for the workforce to enable them to fully participate in the digital economy, by digitalising businesses and public services, and by making the latter more efficient and easy to use to the benefit of everyone.
The Horizon 2020-funded project, DESIRA published a report on the Needs, Expectations and Impact of digitalisation on agriculture, forestry and rural areas. This report synthesises the findings of 21 Living Labs set-up within the project across Europe.
“We believe in a human-centred digital transition. This is about who we want to be, as Europeans. To capture this better, we will formulate a set of digital principles. Such as access for all to the Internet; a secure online space; the right to learn digital skills; algorithms that respect people; the protection of children online. These important principles will complement the legal rights that already protect Europeans online like the protection of personal data or the freedom of expression.”
President Ursula von der Leyen, Leading the Digital Decade, Sines, 1 June 2021