Polish Presidency of the Visegrad Group

A summit of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries was held in Kraków on Wednesday. The meeting was organised by Poland’s V4 presidency to mark the 30th anniversary of the Group. The summit welcomed President of the European Council Charles Michel as its guest. It brought together the V4 prime ministers for, among others, a session on digital strategy.

The world after the pandemic

The heads of government discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the perception of widely understood digital technologies, especially digital infrastructure, supercomputers, and cloud computing.

“By stepping up our Visegrad Group cooperation we will make our voice heard during EU digital strategy decision making. We have an opportunity to take care of our region’s interests and stimulate its growth,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaking at the event. “The world momentarily came to a standstill because of the pandemic but only to move forward again, for the economic growth to be more digital. This is a process which must be characterised by efficiency, solidarity and courage in reaching for new sources of growth,” added the head of the Polish government.

The event culminated in the prime ministers’ signing of a declaration of mutual cooperation in digital projects, the so-called Digital Declaration.

Under the document, the V4 countries committed to:

1. Building a joint cooperation framework in digital affairs by, inter alia, establishing a mechanism of consultations on digital affairs to be held on working level;

2. working together to secure EU funds for digital transformation, in particular for joint V4 digital projects;

3. Establishing sustainable R&D cooperation between excellent science and research centres in the field of digitalisation (inter alia: computing and data infrastructure, Big Data, Industry 4.0, cloud and edge networks, high performance computing (HPC), quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, machine learning, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, smart and digital skills and competences, telecommunication, etc.);

4. Raising awareness among businesses (especially innovative SMEs and start-ups) of the V4 countries to the effect of creating incentives for establishing cross-border cooperation (including investments and financial opportunities);

5. Coordinating actions aimed at improving competitiveness and innovation potential of the V4 countries in digital affairs, as well as reinforcing digital transition and accelerating the adoption of key digital technologies by V4 administration and businesses;

6. Building knowledge resources, supporting joint international events’ organization by delegating experts and high level representatives (i.e. for UN Internet Governance Forum to be held in December 2021 in Poland);

7. Exchanging best practices and promoting V4 achievements in the field of digitalisation;

8. Cooperation in the preparation of relevant legislation at the EU level, which contributes to the creation and successful functioning of cross-border digital projects;

9. Identifying global challenges demanding for urgent actions (i.e. serious pandemics, natural disasters, etc.), where immediate and joint actions of IT experts and digital businesses in the V4 countries may successfully contribute to the timely solutions;

10. Undertaking other actions concerning new and emerging telecommunication and digital IT technologies.

“I am convinced that, in the spirit of solidarity and courage to seek a new social contract among EU member states, we will be able to enter a new, post-COVID-19 era with the hope for a better future,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Joint projects

Pursuant to the Declaration, the V4 countries decided to designate contact points for digital affairs and to set up an expert group. Its tasks would involve day-to-day coordination of joint V4 digital projects to e.g. develop new products, business models, investments and research in the field of digital transformation.

“The signing of the Digital Declaration marks a politically important signal of the government’s willingness to partner with business on digital projects. We will strive to sign up the biggest possible number of partners from V4 countries to flesh out the content of this document,” says Krzysztof Szubert, a Plenipotentiary of the Prime Minister for European Digital Policy, who on behalf of Poland was appointed to the expert group provided for under the Declaration.

Krzysztof Szubert is also responsible for hosting the IGF 2021 international digital summit, which will take place in Katowice between 6 and 10 December 2021.

The IGF summit will provide an excellent forum for further discussion on how to add impetus to the digital development of V4 countries.

For more on the IGF 2021 summit, go to https://www.gov.pl/igf2021