Asier Martínez Jurio/Aquí Europa
According to the recently published Digital Decade 2024 report by the European Commission, Spain’s position is very notable in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitalization. However, it has fallen somewhat behind in the use of cloud services or in the number of technology specialists.
In 2023, 9.2% of Spanish companies used artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, exceeding the European Union (EU) average of 8%. In addition, Spain showed an average annual growth of 9.3% in the adoption of AI, almost four times higher than the community average of 2.6%, according to the Digital Decade 2024 report. This report evaluates the advances in digitalization of EU countries with a view to the 2030 objectives in areas such as technological skills, infrastructure and digitalization of companies and public services.
The chapter dedicated to Spain in the report highlights its progress towards the objectives of the 2030 Digital Decade and analyzes the Spanish Government’s roadmap to advance these objectives. Among the main strengths, the report highlights that, in 2023, 66.2% of the Spanish population had at least a basic level of digital skills, exceeding the European average of 55.6% and aligning with the European objective of 80%. .
However, the study also points out areas for improvement, such as the adoption of cloud services by Spanish companies. In 2023, only 27.2% of companies in Spain used cloud platforms, a figure lower than the European average of 38.9%. This low adoption of cloud services contrasts with the dynamism shown in other areas of digitalization.
In summary, Spain has shown significant progress in the adoption of AI and digital skills, standing out from the European average. However, it faces significant challenges in the adoption of cloud services by companies, which indicates the need for specific strategies to improve in this area and achieve the objectives of the 2030 Digital Decade.
Across the EU as a whole, the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses is progressing “too slowly,” according to the report, which highlights that “there has been no notable improvement in the adoption” of artificial intelligence and only 32 % of European companies have adopted data analytics.
The Commission also highlights that fiber optics only reached 64% of homes and that the deployment of the 5G network reached 50% of the territory of the community bloc, a reality that is far from the objective of high-speed internet reaching the 100% of families in 2030. Brussels assured that an investment of 200,000 million euros is required to meet the connectivity objectives that it has set for the beginning of the next decade and, in this sense, it indicated that 80% of the Technologies and services that the EU needs for its digital transformation are designed and manufactured in third countries.
