Four key accelerators are recommended by Digital Europe to deliver Europe’s energy and digital ‘twin transition’ most effectively and rapidly.
The accelerators, which were identified by the members of the digital trade association, are recommended to the European Commission and member states to focus on to drive forward the digital transformation of the energy ecosystem.
The four accelerators are:
- Data cooperation to enhance access to and the use of sustainability data.
In particular an energy sharing data space should be developed taking account of privacy and other data sharing requirements, with the industry as a key stakeholder in its development.
- Green network infrastructure to speed up connectivity.
The benefits that come from having access to troves of valuable data will fall short if it is not able to move quickly and efficiently or if it is not able to be processed. Thus high speed connectivity including 5G, WiFi and LTE is a prerequisite along with data centres as the ‘engine’ for big data processing.
- Investment to boost R&D and innovation in green tech.
In many cases European governments have separate spending plans for digitalisation and decarbonisation but to drive forward the twin transition these should not be looked upon as separate investment areas.
- Enabling regulation to create synergies between digital and green policies.
A strong regulatory framework is required that strengthens the link between digital and green policies and considers them in an integrated way, while organisations such as DG ENERGY and DG CONNECT need to be aligned on the common goal of telecommunications infrastructure in the energy space.
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Other accelerators which had been identified previously, and from which the four above were ranked, are setting KPIs to measure success in accelerating the twin transition, developing international standards for measuring digital’s enablement, launching a drive for green tech skills and creating action plans for the uptake of digital technologies across the most energy intensive sectors.
In addition to the accelerators, Digital Europe participants identified a small set of “winning and fast accelerating digital technologies” where Europe can lead.
These are cloud, AI, machine learning, IoT and edge control.
When combined, these technologies can be applied to deliver significant results in areas such as digital twins, enhancing flexibility and enabling end-user systems and platforms.
The study report also recommends the need for more use cases of digital technologies to demonstrate real added value and tangible impact for citizens, business and society as a whole.
In the foreword to Digital Europe’s report Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, director general, writes that the EU should use the current energy crisis as an opportunity to increase collaboration between the digital and energy sectors.
“We have the ‘what’ (a need to digitalise the energy ecosystem), the ‘why’ (to foster resilience and achieve our climate goals), and this report outlines the ‘how’ (investing in and using these accelerators and key winning technologies that will drive the transition forward).”
