23rd April 2026 |
Reports
The Digital Decade Policy Programme (DDPP) is the EU’s digital transformation compass. It sets out ambitious objectives and targets to be achieved by 2030 across the four points of a digital compass – government, business, skills and infrastructure.
The European Commission publishes a report annually to measure the progress towards achieving the digital decade targets and assess the State of the Digital Decade.
The 2025 annual report on the State of the Digital Decade, which includes the DESI (Digital Economy and Society Index), was published on 16 June 2025. The report indicates that the European Union is not on track to achieve its goals in areas vital to our competitiveness.
- Ireland continues to perform well, remaining one of the EU’s best performers in digital skills, showing strong workforce readiness.
- Ireland’s performance on digitalisation of business also compares well with other EU member states - especially on the percentage of SMEs selling online and on SMEs e-commerce turn over.
- Notably, Ireland ranks 5th among member states for the number of unicorn companies[1] , with 13 Irish unicorns recorded in 2024, highlighting the strength and dynamism of our digital and innovation-oriented economy.
- Ireland remains within the EU average on adoption on AI in SMEs and the shares of SMEs with at least basic digital skills.
- Ireland scores above 90% in four of eight KPIs measuring the digitalisation of public services: e-government users, digital public services for businesses, mobile friendliness and availability of online feedback mechanisms. However, Ireland is behind on the rollout of E-Health, but strong progress is underway.
- Finally, Ireland is making good progress on Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) coverage and Very High-Capacity Network (VHCN) coverage including in rural areas.
Digital Ireland - Connecting Our People, Securing Our Future, Ireland’s National Digital Strategy, is closely aligned with the Digital Decade framework, providing a whole of government strategic vision to digital transformation to 2030.
Ireland in the D9+
- The Digital 9+ (D9+) is a loose affiliation of like-minded member states, comprising the nine top-ranked European countries in the European Commission annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), plus a small number of other countries who share similar ambitions for the Digital Single Market.
- The countries involved are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland and Estonia, who are joined in the group by the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Niamh Smyth represents Ireland at the Digital 9+.
- Ireland is an active member of the D9+ group, as it provides a valuable forum for sharing best practices, deepening international relationships and supporting Europe’s global leadership in digital transformation.
- Ireland previously chaired the D9+ in early 2024 and hosted a successful Ministerial meeting at Dublin Castle, alongside the Digital Ireland Conference.
D9+ ministerial declarations:
Press releases on Ireland’s engagement with the D9+:
[1] Private startups valued at over $1 billion
Topics:
Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, The Business Environment