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Damianou: EC report proves Cyprus can play an active role in the Digital Europe of tomorrow

"The Digital Decade is not just a set of European goals. It is our common commitment to a stronger and more resilient European future. The progress recorded in the Report is the result of systematic work and strategic investments in recent years," Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Dr. Nicodemos Damianou has said, commenting on the Report's findings on Cyprus.

The new Digital Decade 2025 Report published by the European Commission saw Cyprus recording significant progress in the areas of digital connectivity and the integration of digital technologies - and specifically Artificial Intelligence - by businesses. Progress was also noted in terms of the digitisation of public services and access to electronic health data

In his comments, Damianou underlined, "Our performance in 5G infrastructure and stable Gigabit connectivity, the increased digital intensity of SMEs, but also the general maturation of the digital ecosystem prove that Cyprus can play an active role in the Digital Europe of tomorrow."

The Deputy Minister went on to note, "We continue our efforts for an effective transformation of the state and economy, with a plan, determination and methodical approach. The crucial next step is investing in human resources. We must ensure that all citizens have the skills to meet the demands of the new digital reality, but also to benefit from what the digital transition promises. Because for us, digital transformation is first and foremost a social policy."

A Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy statement on the findings, meanwhile, pointed out that the Report, which assesses the progress of Member States towards achieving the EU's common digital goals for 2030, recognises that Cyprus is consistently continuing its path towards achieving its national goals. The Report noted that Cyprus has already responded to a significant extent to the Commission's recommendations for 2024 (63% of the 11 recommendations), through new interventions and strategic measures that strengthen the reform effort.

At the same time, the Deputy Ministry pointed out that the Report also highlights the need to further strengthen the population's digital skills, in order to ensure the active and fair participation of all citizens in the new digital era without exception.

It is considered important that, according to the Eurobarometer for the Digital Decade, 81% of Cypriots believe that digitalisation substantially facilitates their daily lives, the Deputy Ministry's announcement suggested.

It also listed other key points within the Cyprus Report as being the following:

  • Connectivity: Cyprus records excellent performance, with 100% 5G network coverage and 89.1% coverage of fixed gigabit networks (VHCN and FTTP), where a 15.5% increase has been recorded, confirming the rapid progress in the implementation of modern telecommunications infrastructure.
  • Small and Medium Enterprises: 74.3% of SMEs in the country have at least a basic level of digital intensity, exceeding the European average. There is also significant progress in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, at a faster rate than the EU average, and specifically a very significant increase of 69.2%.
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Specialists: Employment in the ICT sector remains at satisfactory levels compared to the EU average, despite the small decrease that occurred in 2024. A positive element is the increased participation of women (23.7%), which remains above the EU average (19.5%).
  • Digital Skills: The percentage of the population that has at least basic digital skills is 49.5%, with significant differences depending on age and educational level, highlighting the need for further public awareness and strengthening targeted education and training actions.
  • Digitisation of Public Services: Cyprus exceeds the EU average rate of improvement in the provision of digital services to citizens, now approaching the European average, while remaining stable in terms of the digital services it offers to local businesses. The Report notes the importance of the new tools that the Government has recently introduced to serve the citizen, with tangible examples being the gov.cy portal, the Digital Citizen application, the Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant, as well as a number of new digital services, while the launch of the national electronic identity IDme.cy is also recorded by the European Commission.
  • Access to electronic health data: Cyprus shows a significant increase of around 10%, however it remains below the EU average.
  • Cybersecurity: The Report notes progress in cybersecurity, while welcoming the implementation of a wide range of measures to address existing challenges, such as public awareness and the adoption of new standards.

Note: In the indices where performance is not recorded for a particular year, this is due to the fact that data is collected every two years.

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