Digital Product Passport Regulations : Digital Europe

The Digital Europe Programme is a funding scheme employed by the European Union that focuses on integrating digital technology with companies and consumers. It is fundamental for DPP implementation. Digital infrastructure plays a vital role in our everyday lives and work. We use digital technology to work, communicate, and answer crucial environmental problems.

Many things became more obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the EU realised how important it is not to rely on set systems from other parts of the world. Over the years, it has become apparent that there is a need for an improvement in the European Union’s digital capacities.

The Digital Europe Programme provides the necessary funding to solve some of these nationwide challenges. The programme supports key projects in areas like cybersecurity, supercomputing, advanced digital skills and artificial intelligence (AI). It aims to spread the use of digital technologies across Europe.

Who Does Digital Europe Support?

Whether you are small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), industries, or public administration, you can gain the support of Digital Europe. The Programme supports industries digital transformation using a reinforced network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH).

For example; In 2023, under the Chips Act, Digital Europe released funds to address a shortage in semiconductors by using the Chips for Europe Initiative to promote capacity building. The Digital Europe Programme has an overall budget of €7.9 billion which it aims to use to shape the transformation of Europe’s digital society.

The Digital Europe programme works in line with the European Union’s goals defined by the Commission. However, the DIGITAL programme doesn’t tackle problems singly. It works by complementing the funding that has already been made by other EU programmes like the Connecting Europe Facility and Horizon Europe.

Digital Europe And DPPs

The launch and deployment of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) will without a doubt involve various technological infrastructure. To support the quick implementation and acceptance of digital products passports in Europe, Digital Europe is one of the major sources of funds for DPP. They are also a major partner of the CIRPASS consortium.

Digital Europe is a part of the EU’s next long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework. It is fine-tuned to bridge the gap between digital technology research and deployment. In other words, it helps to bring the results of technological research to the public.

The investments under the Digital Europe programme support the European Union in achieving its goal of digital transformation and green transitioning. This helps to strengthen the European Union’s resilience and strategic autonomy.

Digital Europe And CIRPASS

The CIRPASS project kick-started with Digital Europe as one of its 30 main partners. Digital Europe programme joined the CIRPASS program to bring about a core network to develop the European Union’s vision for a standard Digital Product Passport across multiple value chains.

The CIRPASS consortium, funded by Digital Europe, is there to prepare the ground for the eventual implementation and adoption of DPPs from 2023. During the process of delivering DPP prototypes and reaching key data agreements, the partners like Digital Europe will help drop recommendations for data exchange systems and protocols.

Towards the deployment of Digital Product Passports, Digital Europe is crucial for communication, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement. This positions CIRPASS as a key project for cooperation and information transfer between global initiatives and Europe. Digital Europe’s work with CIRPASS and its partners is achieving the highest impact and facilitating the exploitation and sustainability of the project’s outcomes.

Final Words

Digital Europe is a funding programme that the European Union adopted that helps to integrate companies and their customers with digital technologies. For digital product passports to be properly adopted, there will be the inclusion of various digital technologies across the supply chain.

Hence, the Digital Europe programme is a necessary aspect of DPP as it works hand in hand with CIRPASS to clear the route for the implementation of a standard and acceptable digital product passport. 

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