Digital Economy and Society Index: what is it and how does it work?

The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is an online tool to measure the progress of EU Member States towards a digital economy and society. As such, it brings together a set of relevant indicators on Europe’s current digital policy mix.

The DESI is composed of five principal policy areas which represent overall more than 30 indicators:

• Connectivity: how widespread, fast and affordable broadband is
• Human Capital/Digital Skills: the digital skills of the population and workforce
• Use of Internet: the use of online activities from news to banking or shopping
• Integration of Digital Technology: how businesses integrate key digital technologies, such as e-invoices, cloud services, e-commerce, etc
• Digital Public Services: such as e-government and e-health

To calculate a country's overall score, each set and subset of indicators were given a specific weighting by European Commission experts. Connectivity and digital skills ('human capital'), considered as foundations of the digital economy and society, each contribute 25% to the total score (maximum digital performance score is 1). Integration of digital technology accounts for 20%, since the use of ICT by the business sector is one of the most important drivers of growth. Finally, online activities ('use of Internet') and digital public services each contribute 15%.

The DESI aims to help EU countries identify areas requiring priority investments and action, in order to create a trulyDigital Single Market – one of the top priorities of the European Commission. 

In 2016 the Commission has combined the score of each country with the pace of their growth compared to the EU average.

Running ahead: Austria, Estonia, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands and Portugal score above the EU average and their score grew faster than that of the EU over the last year. These are countries that perform well and that have been developing at a pace that allows them to further distance themselves from the EU average.

Lagging ahead: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden and the UK score above the EU average but their score grew more slowly than that of the EU over the last year. These countries are good performers, but their development is now slow and, as such, they are lagging in comparison to the progress of the EU as a whole.

Catching up: Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia and Spain are those that score below the EU average but whose score grew faster than that of the EU over the last year. These countries are developing faster than the EU as a whole and are thus catching up with the EU average.

Falling behind: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia score below the EU average and their development over the last year was slower than that of the EU as a whole. By showing such a slow growth they are distancing themselves further from the rest of the EU. 

European countries lead the way in the adoption of digital technologies by businesses, compared to Japan and South Korea, which are either below or around the EU average.

Source: europa.eu