- Adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Act and a single framework for a European Digital Identity (eID) - Focus on Digital Skills - 2023 EU Digital Skills Year
At the EU Telecoms Council held on 6 December 2022, in Brussels, was attended by the Deputy Minister of State for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Mr. Kyriakos Kokkinos.
The Council adopted general approaches on two key legislative dossiers for the EU's digital transformation: The proposal for a regulation on artificial intelligence (AI), the so-called AI Act, which establishes a single, horizontal legal framework for AI in order to promote at European level, the development and adoption of reliable, safe and lawful AI that respects the values of the Union and fundamental rights, as well as to facilitate investment and stimulate innovation in AI. Ministers also agreed that, as the first legislative proposal of its kind in the world, it could provide a global model for the regulation of AI in other jurisdictions and, in doing so, promote the European approach to technology regulation on the global stage.
The proposal for a regulation on a single framework for a European digital identity card (eID), which seeks to ensure universal access for citizens and businesses to secure and reliable electronic identification and authentication through a personal digital wallet on their mobile phone (European digital identity wallet). Kokkinos pointed out that these are developments of key importance for digital transformation, and referred to the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy that Cyprus is implementing and the implementation of the National Electronic Identity Plan, which provides for targeted actions to promote the widespread use of electronic identity in citizens' transactions with the public, as well as the development of a national Digital Wallet, which will be announced in early 2023.
The focus of the discussions was on digital skills for the digital decade, with the participation, via videoconference, of the Deputy Minister of State for European Affairs of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Ms. Valeriya Ionan. In his intervention, Mr Kokkinos stressed that upgrading the skills of citizens is vital to ensure that the whole society benefits from the digital transformation, and referred to the need to increase funding for relevant education modernisation programmes, as well as to deepen cooperation with industry, especially in areas such as cybersecurity, where there is a huge shortage of specialists in Europe. In conclusion, Kokkinos informed his counterparts that Cyprus has developed a National Action Plan for Digital Skills, which is in line with the objectives set at European level in the context of the Digital Decade.
During the working lunch, the "27" exchanged views on the Union's open strategic autonomy and digital supply chains. Speaking during the discussion, Kokkinos, after noting that strategic autonomy should be a key objective of the EU, highlighted in particular the need to reduce strategic dependencies and increase resilience, while maintaining openness and global cooperation with partners sharing the same principles and values. In this context, he stressed that Cyprus supports the European initiative in relation to the Global Gateway Strategy, which aims to enhance the security of global infrastructure and supply chains in third countries.
(NΓ/EXP)
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