Digital Europe Programme

The Digital Europe programme is designed to bridge the gap between digital technology research and market deployment. On this page we summarise the key programme information.

What is the Digital Europe Programme?

The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) is an EU funding programme managed by the European Commission focused on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens and public administrations. It was established by a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council and forms part of the EU’s long-term budget for 2021–2027.

We rely on digital technology and digital infrastructure to communicate, work and do business. Recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to disruptions in global supply chains, have shown how important it is for the European Union not to depend on systems and solutions from other parts of the world. The Digital Europe Programme provides strategic funding to address these challenges, supporting projects in five key capacity areas and helping foster innovation across the economy. It supports industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the public sector in their digital transformation, partly through a reinforced network of European Digital Innovation Hubs. In 2023, a new capacity area was added to help address a semiconductor shortage by promoting capacity building under the Chips Act.

With an overall budget of over €8.1 billion, DIGITAL aims to shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy. It does not work in isolation: it complements other EU programmes such as Horizon Europe (for research and innovation) and the Connecting Europe Facility (for digital infrastructure).

Themes within the Digital Europe Programme

Supercomputing

The programme invests in world-class supercomputing and high performance computing, together with the data infrastructure needed to process and store ever-growing volumes of information.

Artificial Intelligence

Funding helps make artificial intelligence and related technologies widely available, including shared data spaces and testing and experimentation facilities that businesses and the public sector can use to develop and trial their solutions.

Cybersecurity

DIGITAL strengthens Europe’s cybersecurity capacities, supporting projects that build cybersecurity tools, infrastructure and expertise to protect networks, services and citizens.

Advanced Digital Skills

The programme funds training and courses that help the current and future workforce gain advanced digital skills in fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and high-performance computing.

Deployment of Digital Technologies

This area promotes the wide deployment and use of digital technologies across the economy and society. A reinforced network of European Digital Innovation Hubs helps companies and public administrations adopt advanced digital technologies, including cloud computing.

How does Digital Europe funding work?

The programme has an overall budget of over €8.1 billion. DIGITAL funding is awarded through calls for proposals published on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The EU contribution takes the form of grants. For most projects the funding rate is 50% of eligible costs, although some activities, particularly those serving the public interest, can be funded up to 100%. Budgets vary by call, ranging from a few hundred thousand euros to €10 million or more for large-scale projects. The work programmes set out the objectives, eligible activities and budget allocations for each topic.

Who can apply?

The programme is open to a wide range of organisations, including businesses (from start-ups and SMEs to large companies), public administrations, and research and education institutions. Funding is available to entities established in EU Member States and in countries associated with the programme, such as the EEA/EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and several others. Some topics, especially in cybersecurity, carry additional security conditions, so it is important to check the relevant call text before applying. National Contact Points can give applicants practical, on-the-ground information.

How to apply

Applications are submitted online through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The main steps are:

1. browse open and upcoming calls on the portal and read the call documents for each topic;
2. build your consortium and, if needed, use the portal’s partner search to find suitable partners;
3. prepare and submit your proposal before the deadline day;
4. await evaluation, where independent experts assess proposals against the published criteria and produce a ranked list.

Successful applicants then sign a grant agreement with the European Commission, which can take up to nine months from the call closing date.

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